Message from Richard and Stephana, Co-Chairs Panels are especially engaging experiences for the audience, involving multiple participants and multiple styles to explore a range of perspectives on controversial or emerging topics related to the conference theme and/or its special areas of emphasis. To ensure your panel meets the requirement of being especially engaging, contact us with your panel ideas as early as possible. Our overall goal is to help audience members broaden their understanding of the issues and perhaps even modify their views.
About Panels
In keeping with the conference theme of "connect," panels must be designed to be especially engaging, and panel proposals must explain how the panel format will achieve that kind of audience experience. Panels last 90 minutes.
Formats of Panels
All panels must target a specific audience, and submissions need to identify this audience and explain why the panel is appropriate for it. Remember that CHI2004 is an international conference that brings together an audience with a great diversity of experiences.
Consider using a combination of different styles of presentations in a panel. Genuinely design your panel for a stimulating and original audience experience. The conference facilities are flexible, so consider creative use of the space. Panels consisting largely of a series of short talks — a panel format that has become the norm at CHI conferences — will not be accepted unless the submission adequately justifies that format, explaining how that format is best for the audience experience. All panels must be designed to be especially engaging, and submissions must explain how the panel format will achieve that kind of audience experience.
In keeping with the conference theme of "connect," panels can find inspiration for engaging formats from other disciplines and media. Panel formats or elements to consider include:
Roundtables, debates, interviews
Skits, improvisations, contests
Talks, demonstrations, video clips
Narratives, cases, design projects
Audience participation
Participation of people not at the conference or of people involved in other conference venues.
Themes of Panels
All panels must address topics related to the conference theme of "connect" and/or its special areas of interest. Hence, we seek panels that address controversial or emerging topics regarding establishing connections, such as between the HCI profession and other professional communities, or among HCI practices in different parts of the world and different professional environments, or among people via mobile communication, or browse the Conference Overview and Special Areas for topics of particular interest to CHI2004.
All panels must explore a range of perspectives — perspectives that differ in ways that have significant implications, and proposals must describe those implications. Submissions that focus on perspectives that differ only superficially will not be accepted. Note that there are lots of people with expertise of relevance to this CHI conference. We encourage the presence of a strong diversity of panelists and the involvement of people new to CHI conference panels, to benefit the audience experience.
Submissions
The final submission must include a two-page extended abstract and a panel proposal of no more than six pages. All submissions must be in English.
The two-page extended abstract of the panel must be suitable for publication in the CHI2004 Extended Abstracts. It should include the title of the panel, names and affiliations of the panelists, an abstract, keywords, an overview of the panel topic and format, and a summary of each panelist's contribution. The extended abstract must be in the CHI conference publications format (download the Conference Publications Format).
The proposal of no more than six pages must include:
A list of all panel members including names, affiliations, phone numbers, and email addresses (each person listed must have agreed to be a member of the panel; please identify a primary contact person for the panel).
A description of the topic, stating the controversial aspects of the issue to be discussed and the relevance to the conference theme "Connect" or to one of the conference's special areas of interest.
A description of the target audience (be sure to explain why this panel is appropriate for the identified target audience).
A description of the format you will use to run the panel and why it was selected (be clear about how you will ensure an engaging experience for the audience; include a list of any non-standard technology support or physical arrangements for the stage that your panel will require).
A compilation of contributions from the panelists (the panelists should each generate a short summary of their views on the panel topic and how they are going to express these views -- examples, demos, stories, pitches, …; each panelist's summary should reveal how his or her perspective differs from the perspectives of the other members of the panel and the implications of those differences).
The extended abstract and proposal should be combined into a single PDF and mailed to chi2004-panels@acm.org. Final panel submissions must be received by 6 October 2003, 5PM (17:00) PST; submissions that arrive after this deadline will not be considered. The panels co-chairs will confirm receipt of your submission via email by 13 October 2003.
Confidentiality of Submissions
Confidentiality of submissions is maintained during the review process. All submitted materials for rejected papers will be kept confidential in perpetuity. All submitted materials for accepted papers will be kept confidential until the date of the conference, 24 April 2004. Submissions should contain no information or materials that will be proprietary or confidential at the time of publication, and should cite no publications that will be proprietary or confidential at the time of publication.
Requests for Our Input (optional)
We urge you to contact us with your ideas for a panel as early as possible so we can help you develop your ideas prior to final submission. If you do not solicit our input, you will not receive the benefits of early feedback about how to better match your submission to the final review requirements.
If you solicit our input, we will help you assess relevance to the CHI2004 theme or areas of special interest, the panel’s importance to CHI conference attendees, and the appropriateness of panel format and type for achieving an especially engaging audience experience. At your request, we will also try to help you identify good, potential panelists.
Note that receipt of our input is not a guarantee that your panel proposal will be accepted. Final submissions will be subjected to a review process (as stated in the next section), which will determine which panels will be accepted for the conference.
You must solicit our input by 1 September 2003. Contact us via email to chi2004-panels@acm.org.
Review Criteria
Criteria to be applied by reviewers will include those identified above, including the extent to which:
The panel focus is a controversial or emerging topic that is relevant to the conference theme and/or one of its special areas of interest.
The panel is targeted to an appropriate, specific audience.
The panel format is appropriate for the topic and ensures an especially engaging experience for the audience.
The panelists have appropriate expertise and include people new to CHI conference panels.
The panelists represent a range of significantly different perspectives.
Review Process
A multidisciplinary group drawn from industry and academia will independently review each final submission.
Upon Acceptance
Panel organizers will be notified by 24 November 2003 of acceptance. If a final submission is accepted, the panel contact person will receive instructions for modifying the extended abstract should any modifications be needed for publication.
The panels co-chairs will interact with the contact person of each accepted panel as needed prior to CHI2004.
At the Conference
Participants will present their panel in a scheduled session. Presentations of panels are 90 minutes long.
Presenters are encouraged to bring their own laptops for their presentation. CHI2004 will identify local vendors for on-site rental equipment at presenters' expense (details forthcoming) but due to budget constraints will not be able to provide computer support in every session. A digital projector (800x600 or better) will be provided for Macintosh or PC laptop projection.
Panel Submission Checklist
Read all the above material.
As early as possible (but no later than 1 September), contact us with your panel ideas so we can help you figure out how to meet the requirements of a panel for CHI 2004, especially the requirement that the panel be an especially engaging experience for the audience.
Prepare a two-page extended abstract in the Conference Publication Format that includes all the appropriate information as outlined above inthe Submissions section.
Prepare a panel proposal of no more than six pages that includes all theappropriate information as outlined above in the Submissions section.
Create a PDF file that is the combination of the extended abstract and the panel proposal; test the PDF file to make sure it prints correctly.
Send the PDF file to the panels co-chairs at chi2004-panels@acm.org so that it is received by 6 October 2003, 5PM (17:00) PST.
