CHI Local SIGs: Easy to Find at CHI 99 and, Increasingly, Throughout the World
October 1999 Local SIGs column
CHI Local SIG members were easily spotted at CHI 99. Bright orange ribbons sporting the name and location of the wearers' Local SIG were affixed to their badges, and many often wore their Local SIG's t-shirts.
The CHI Local SIGs booth was also easily spotted at CHI 99. Though stuck in the far corner of the conference commons, the large, bright sign and world map which first adorned the booth's walls at CHI 98 were back, effectively attracting conference attendees.
Pinpointed on the world map in the booth were a record number of CHI Local SIGs. As the chart below shows, CHI Local SIGs have been rapidly increasing in number. And the greatest amount of the increase in recent years has occurred outside of the United States.
Number of CHI Local SIGs Over Time (courtesy of Steven Pemberton)
The CHI 99 Local SIGs Workshop
Leaders of 31 Local SIGs from 13 different countries gathered for the third annual CHI Conference Local SIGs Workshop, a full-day affair entitled, "'The CHI Local SIG is the Limit': Overcoming Limitations to the Early and Ongoing Success of a Local Chapter of ACM SIGCHI." Categories of challenges facing Local SIGs -- challenges identified at the CHI 98 workshop (see the April 99 Local SIGs column) -- provided a workshop structure via which the participants first described how their chapters were/had experiencing/experienced and addressing/addressed the challenges, then proposed or considered ideas about additional strategies. Fran Sinhart, ACM Local Activities Coordinator, provided updates about ACM's support of Local SIGs, and I, workshop leader and SIGCHI's Local SIGs Chair, provided updates on SIGCHI's support.
Sshhh -- the Workshop is in Session (photo courtesy of Steven Pemberton)
We addressed:
- limitations, unique and shared
We discussed many Local SIGs' limiting factors and explored how they might be
overcome or avoided by
others. (Limits that appear to be unique or irrelevant to a situation
might be common or are only yet to be confronted.)
- ingredients essential to the success of a Local SIG
We identified essential ingredients
and examined the extent to which the leaders had considered them in the design of
their Local SIGs.
- initiatives generated at last year's workshop
We discussed progress made towards
tutorials-to-go, a common infrastructure, information kits, sharing things
generated during the workshop, etc.
- linking Local SIG and SIGCHI (or CHI Society)
membership
We examined proposals for eliminating the
disconnect between CHI Local SIGs and SIGCHI via linking Local SIG and SIGCHI (or CHI Society) membership --
via making local sigs an integral part of what is presently their parent
organization in name only.
- the concept of a Local SIG congress
We discussed what a congress of
Local SIGs can be and can achieve, and we took the first steps towards
creating a body that could be the key to overcoming and transcending many
of the limitations Local SIGs face today.
More Scenes from the Workshop (photos courtesy of Alp Tiritoglu)
Other Conference Activities
Local SIG leaders also ran local-sig-related sessions during the conference. Raquel Prates, Juliana Salles, and Clarisse de Souza presented a session entitled, "Consolidating
a New HCI Community: The Brazilian Experience." Peter Boersma, Eddy Boeve, and Boyd de Groot led "Making Minds Meet in Your Local Chapter: The Case of SIGCHI.NL," a session about local chapter use of the web. And leaders of most of the European Local SIGs met again to continue to try to figure out how to overcome limitations to their success due largely to ACM's lack of legal status in Europe.
And there was socializing. Some Local SIGs organized special social gatherings. Many of the workshop attendees got together for dinner. And conference attendees who had played a role in the development or operation of a CHI Local SIG were treated at the CHI 99 Volunteer Appreciation Reception.
Quite Sure that was Apple Juice in those Mugs (photo courtesy of Alp Tiritoglu)
Speaking of Appreciation...
My great appreciation goes to the many who contributed to making Local SIGs easy to find at CHI 99, and who are making Local SIGs increasingly easy to find throughout the world. To the workshop attendees and their Local SIGs: Raquel Oliveira Prates (Brazil SIGCHI); Mike Atyeo & Tina Groves (CapCHI); Joanna McGrenere & William Hunt (ToRCHI); Kori Inkpen (VanCHI); Jan Bakus (WatCHI); Boba Mannova & Pavel Slavik (Czech SIGCHI); Yannick Jestin (Toulouse SIGCHI); Apala Lahiri Chavan (India SIGCHI); Fabio Paterno (SIGCHI Italy); Alfredo Sanchez & Cleotilde Gonzalez (CHI Mexico); Aldo Paula & Steven Pemberton (SIGCHI.NL); David Ribeiro Lamas (Universidade Fernando Pessoa SIGCHI); Vladislav B. Valkovsky (Russia SIGCHI); Don Patterson (BayCHI); Michael Korn (San Diego CHI); George Kissel (ConnCHI); Jackie Dane (CHI-Atlanta); Stacie Hibino (CHI-Squared); Anna Marie McKinnon (GB/SIGCHI); Jennifer Perkins (MOCHI); Alp Tiritoglu (KC-CHI); Edward Guttman (NYC-CHI)' Chris Rockwell (BuckCHI); Tom Cocklin (CHIFOO); Carolyn Gale (KATCHI); Roger Tilson (CHI-Austin); Grant Skousen (NUCHI); Celeste Combs (Puget Sound SIGCHI); Erling Amundson (Milwau-CHI); Lars-Erik Holmquist & Christina von Dorrien (West Sweden CHI); Markus Stolze (SwissCHI). To SIGCHI for its sponsorship of the workshop. To Fran Sinhart of ACM for attending the workshop and providing year-round support. To Rosemary Wick Stevens and CHI 2000 for providing t-shirts to the workshop attendees. To BayCHI (particularly to Diane Cerra and Clark Streeter) and to SIGCHI for their sponsorship of the badge ribbons and booth. To the volunteers who staffed the Local SIGs booth. To Gary Perlman for organizing a system via which past conference proceedings were brought to CHI 99 and given to Local SIGs for their libraries. To the CHI 99 Conference Office for its help prior to and during the conference. And to all others whose names and important roles have slipped my mind as I write this column late at night.
Richard I. Anderson, Local SIGs Chair
