Y2K CHI Local SIG Sampler
March 2001 Local SIGs column
Each month, I compile a sampling of what is happening in the world of CHI Local SIGs, and I post that compilation to the chi-announcements@acm.org mailing list. Each sampling provides selected details of recent or upcoming Local SIG activities, as well as news of relevance to all Local SIGs.
Since I am writing this column on the eve of a new year, it seems fitting to compile a CHI Local SIG sampler for the entire past year, though at a much higher level than the monthly version.
So, here is a sampling of what happened in the world of CHI Local SIGs during the year 2000.
Chapters Anew & Resurrected
Seven chapters were newly chartered during 2000: DC_CHI (Washington, DC USA), BelCHI (Belgium), CHISPA (Spain), PhiCHI (Philadelphia, PA USA), CHI Austria, SanD CHI (San Diego, CA, USA), and GMU SIGCHI (a student chapter at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia USA).
Four chapters announced their pre-chartered beginnings: SIGCHI Finland, SIGCHI Romania, IsraCHI (Israel), and IndiaSouth-CHI.
Two dormant chapters based in the US state of Texas -- Lone Star CHI (Dallas) and CHI-Austin -- showed signs of resurrection by year's end. (For more on the phenomena of Local SIG dormancy and resurrection, see the April 00 issue of SIGCHI Bulletin.)
Meetings Galore
The monthly sampler is always filled with information about meetings sponsored by Local SIGs.
Meetings of particular significance this past year included: CHI-SA 2000, South Africa's first HCI conference; NordiCHI 2000, the first Nordic conference on Computer-Human Interaction (sponsored by SIGCHI.dk, West Sweden CHI, & SIGCHI Finland); and SIGCHI_NZ's first Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction (New Zealand).
Several additional full-day or multi-day conferences were sponsored by CHI Local SIGs during 2000. A vast number of shorter meetings (e.g., 2 hours in length) were also sponsored. Meetings usually featured one or more speakers and sometimes featured site visits (often to usability labs), design sessions or other types of workshops, elections of officers, Local SIG strategy discussions, or social activities (e.g., dinner). Some meetings were co-sponsored by other HCI organizations, and a couple could be attended via the internet (e.g., MOCHI's April meeting; for more information about the southeastern Michigan & northern Ohio USA chapter, see the July 00 issue of SIGCHI Bulletin).
SIGCHI's largest chapter, BayCHI (San Francisco Bay Area, CA USA), sponsored the most meetings during a single month -- 6 in May, evidence of the activity of its several Birds-Of-a Feather groups. (For more information about BayCHI, see the November-December 00 issue of SIGCHI Bulletin.)
The most intriguing social meeting of the year was held by MilwauCHI (Milwaukee, WI USA) in December. It featured "bowling, subs, disco music, fog, and black lights."
CHI 2000 in The Netherlands featured my annual full-day workshop for leaders of CHI Local SIGs (see the September-October 00 issue of SIGCHI Bulletin) as well as informal gatherings of members of a large number of chapters around the world.
Changes Galore
Changes in the world of CHI Local SIGs during 2000 included not only the new and resurrected chapters identified earlier, but also new officers and other volunteers, new services, new logos and websites, new t-shirts & mugs, and new policies.
CHI*Atlanta (GA USA) adopted an intriguing "Minuteman policy" of asking for help in running the affairs and functions of the group. The new approach recognizes the fact that members are busy professionals with a frequently unpredictable schedule and may be able to volunteer some time one month, but not the next. Rather than asking members to volunteer for a specific role, title, and term, the council invites members to come to council meetings and committee meetings when they can - as Minutemen and Minutewomen who want to contribute to the cause and become involved. Once there, members work with others to evaluate the needs for the upcoming month and volunteer their time and talents as appropriate to the current need.
SIGCHI adopted a new policy to govern the chartering of CHI Local SIGs. Before a charter is granted, a chapter's potential members and area of service should be discussed with any overlapping chapter or other HCI organization. Evidence of mutual discussion among the overlapping groups is required before an overlapping chapter is approved. (SIGCHI's goal is to avoid both enforced monopolies over membership groups as well as unnecessary fragmentation of the membership. It is hoped that members will work out what is best for HCI in their locality.)
SIGCHI's tutorials-to-go program, introduced in late 1999, provided no value whatsoever to Local SIGs during 2000. Changes are in the works to enable the program to provide value during 2001.
ACM eased Local SIGs' task of completing the required annual report by providing a form that can be completed and submitted via the web. Additional web-based tools (e.g., electronic voting & membership processing) that were to become available to Local SIGs during 2000 were delayed but are expected to appear sometime during 2001.
And More
Much, much more happened in the world of CHI Local SIGs during 2000. For example, lots of services existing prior to 2000 (e.g., newsletters, job banks, & libraries) continued to be offered. But since this is only a sampling...
To keep up-to-date on what is happening in the world of CHI Local SIGs, check the CHI Local SIGs webpage (http://www.acm.org/sigchi/local-sigs) every so often for news items and changes to the listing of CHI Local SIGs. To get the monthly CHI Local SIG sampler via email, subscribe to chi-announcements@acm.org; for instructions, see http://www.acm.org/sigchi/listserv/.
Richard I. Anderson, Local SIGs Chair
