Member’s Check (BP3)

November 10th, 2015

Members Check 

October 31, 2015

In late July of this year, five OCT Group members traveled to St. Louis, Missouri to attend XSEDE 15, our third conference as a team. XSEDE, also known as the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment, is a collection of integrated advanced digital resources and services. Our primary goal for attending the XSEDE 15 conference was to conduct Members Check interviews with members of the XSEDE community. The two main purposes of Members Check interviews in research are to validate the accuracy of the preliminary findings and to begin to share emerging insights.

The XSEDE 15 conference was the perfect opportunity for us to conduct Members Check interviews because numerous dispersed groups within the scientific community came together. This event is oftentimes the only opportunity some virtual organizations have to communicate face-to-face.

Interviewing members of the XSEDE community allowed the OCT Group to get a firsthand look into the functioning of virtual organizations. We gathered invaluable data during the countless hours of communication with those whom we are studying. Even more importantly, we had a lot of fun doing it.

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The XSEDE conference served as a bonding time for the attending members of OCT Group. Although we frequently see one another on campus or during meetings, traveling to St. Louis brought our team closer together; we weren’t pulled in many different directions because of our classes, internships, jobs, sports, and extracurricular commitments.

After long days of interviews, we looked forward to the comfort of conversation during our daily team dinners. During these dinners, we not only reflected on our research activities, but we also collaboratively brainstormed on how to improve our strategies for the next day.

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Towards the end of our trip, we had a few hours to spare before we left for the airport to return back to Orange, California. It isn’t a trip to St. Louis if you don’t visit the legendary Gateway Arch, so we headed over to the landmark for a memorable view of the city. After a long week of interviews and analysis, this was the highest point of the trip…literally.

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OCT Group’s trip to the XSEDE 15 conference in St. Louis was no doubt a success. We not only gathered valuable data and conducted significant amounts of research, but we also learned more about the XSEDE community as a whole. We immersed ourselves within the community during the conference and built many lasting relationships. The OCT Group is actively analyzing the interview data and research findings will soon be ready for dissemination.

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