Presentations as rites: Co-presence and visible images for organizing memory collectively

Organizational use of communication technology has led to the recognition that co-presence is sometimes irreplaceable. Understanding the relationship between communication technology and co-presence is therefore an important organizational concern. This dissertation focuses on that interrelationship as it unfolds in presentations, a common organizational form that involves both co-presence and very simple communication technology---PowerPoint(TM) presentation technology.; First, I present results of a phenomenological study describing presentations within a high tech R&D setting. I reason that since presentations involve both co-presence and presentation technology, careful examination of each should reveal their significance and interrelationship. Analysis indicates that Durkheim's (1995) classical work on rites is a good source of insight here. In Durkheim's view, participants' synchronized collective action (organizing) constitutes the group and evokes positive affect for it, which participants then associate with a visible image which is the collective focus of attention. Co-presence therefore enables feeling of the group, while technology affords stabilization of the feeling.; I begin the second stage of my argument by noting that the communicative effects of presentations can be accounted for by drawing from a rich tradition of research on memory. Specifically, I employ a tri-partite memory approach that posits memory for habits, emotions, and ideas, which I term iterative memory, affective memory, and reflective memory, respectively.; The communicative effects of presentations are then accounted for in two stages. The first is framing, in which participants collectively shape their relations and their attention through collectively mobilizing and charging iterative and affective memory. The second is understanding, in which participants shape their understanding through collectively mobilizing and charging reflective memory, within the frame of collectively shaped relations and attention.; The end result is that through collectively organizing their behavior, participants collectively shape their attention and relations in ways that also shape their understanding. This process is socially recognized as "communication." The memory approach to Durkheim's perspective also suggests an explanation for current popularity of presentations: through collectively organizing interaction, participants collectively shape memory in ways that afford collective memory effects significantly greater than aggregation of individual efforts.