Planning to be in Philly through Tuesday, August 4th? Join us for a conversation about clients, the public, and their growing involvement in professional work.
Challengers or Unexpected Allies? The Growing Power of Public Voice on Professional Work (add to your agenda)
Time: Tuesday, August 4, 2026, 3–4:30pm
Location: Sheraton Hotel, Mezzanine, Philadelphia Ballroom South
Across domains, empowered clients and publics increasingly challenge professionals' standing while also emerging as valuable sources of knowledge, coordination, and support. The symposium brings together five papers that examine the changing relationship between professionals and their audience. Together, the presentations will tackle questions such as:
- How do employees respond to public scrutiny?
- How do professionals categorize clients, and with what consequences on service delivery?
- When can outsiders facilitate professionals' innovation work?
If you are interested in expertise, authority, scrutiny, or collaboration, we hope you'll join us on Tuesday in Philly.
Authors:
Natalya Alonso (Simon Fraser University), Pascale Frické (UNSW), Curtis Chan (University of Alberta)
Xian Zhu (McGill), Xiaoli Lu (Tsinghua University)
Valerio Iannucci (Boston University)
Olivia Jung (UCLA), Patricia Satterstrom (NYU), Fletcher Dementyev (Columbia), Maura Danehey (NYU), Sara J. Singer (Stanford)
Qiusi Yan, Yachen Guo, and Siyin Chen (HKUST)
Discussant:
Andrew Nelson, University of Oregon
Organizers:
Valerio Iannucci (Boston University)
Qiusi Yan (HKUST)
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Qiusi Yan
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Hong Kong
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