About EPIC

EPIC promotes the practice of ethnography to create value in industry, organizations, and communities.

EPIC is a nonprofit membership organization, global community, and annual conference that supports the professional development, learning, and leadership of people who practice and promote ethnography.

EPIC People hail from all sectors—industry and consultancies, governments, universities and design schools, NGOs and research institutes. We’re united in our work to ensure that innovation, strategy, products, and services are anchored in deep understanding of culture and people in their everyday lives.

Our community offers a wealth of resources to support and inspire you all year:

  • Job Board: Find and post regular or freelance positions
  • Library: A constant companion for practitioners, our treasure trove of articles and video is the most extensive collection of peer-reviewed work on ethnographic practice in the world
  • Perspectives: Regular articles and expertise from members and guest authors
  • Talks: A webinar series exploring theory, methods, career development, and best practices
  • Courses: Powerful, actionable learning with small cohorts and expert instructors
  • Annual Conference: The premier international gathering for ethnographic practice

EPIC is powered by participation and your membership is vital to sustaining the collective work of our community.

Become a Member

History of EPIC

In 2005, Ken Anderson and Tracey Lovejoy conceived of a new kind of conference—one that was not discipline specific and could speak to practitioners and academics about a type of work that was bringing increasing value to business. The label “ethnographic” was chosen not to indicate a methodology, but to illustrate a mindset around the intersection of theory and practice, the basis for the kind of innovation ethnography provides. With the support of Microsoft and Intel, the conference was first held at their respective corporate campuses. Since that time, EPIC has grown an increasingly active international presence, hosting the conference around the world. In 2014, EPIC set a new objective grow beyond the annual conference. EPICpeople.org was launched to support practitioners with professional resources and community engagement all year.