We on the committee are all imagining the things that could go horribly wrong at the conference. (Most recently: forgot to put together a list of changes to the program after it went to print. Thank goodness for revision history on the program DB! Else: CHAOS, MADNESS!)
But my time now is all on nitty-gritty organizational disasters. What goes wrong for you personally at conferences? Leave them in the comments, and let's get a top 10.
My contribution: forgetting my power cord!
Cheers,
Steve
P.S. There's a mall connected by skywalks to the Hyatt that has a store that sells power adapters for mobile phones. I bet you could find a laptop cord there, too!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Why can't Workshop #1 be next to #2 which is next to #3?
As the symposium approaches, we thought we'd give you a little peek into the sordid underbelly of making the event work. At the same time, I can apologize for perpetuating my SIGCSE pet peeve: workshops scattered in irrational patterns.
Can't good symposium leadership put Workshop #1 next to #2 next to #3?
I've now been Workshops Coordinator, Program Chair, and Symposium Chair three years running, and not a one of those years has had the workshops lined up properly.
So, what's the deal? Early-binding, late-binding, and resource allocation.
The early-binding is the workshop numbers. Unfortunately, those are published rather early in the process. This year, that was even before we had finalized the prices for A/V equipment and for power. So, allocation of workshops to rooms was purely on the basis of rough room size and our guesses about which workshops would be popular. Even the exact number of seats in each room is only now being settled as we choose the balance of theatre- and classroom-style seating. The process was complicated even more when we determined that we wouldn't have wireless in the Hilton meeting rooms, forcing us to shuffle some Wednesday workshops into newly
reserved convention centre space.
The late-binding is the actual association of workshops to rooms. Sure, we published room numbers for the workshops, but because those room numbers don't go into the proceedings, we had some grace to make adjustments on the basis of all those other factors listed above plus
early registration numbers! (Many thanks to our Publications Chair Dave Musicant for gracing us with that grace by virtue of his sleepless nights this very weekend!)
Our grace ends this weekend as the publication deadline for the program looms. At that point, the workshop-room assignments will be quite literally bound.
So, we moved some workshops around to save money on provision of power to seats and use of A/V equipment and to put apparently popular workshops into larger rooms.
(The ultra-popular workshops right now, by the way, are two cell phone related offerings, Workshops #6 on iPhones and #22 on Android. You're too late for #22; it's full!)
Now we're almost done, and the mapping from numbers to rooms is a mess.
So as you wander aimlessly about searching for your workshop, please excuse us for the dubious UI, and let your mind drift to other things. Like the way all your favourite papers are running against each other in the same session. That's entirely the PCs' fault. ;^)
See you in a month and a half!
Cheers,
Steve
Can't good symposium leadership put Workshop #1 next to #2 next to #3?
I've now been Workshops Coordinator, Program Chair, and Symposium Chair three years running, and not a one of those years has had the workshops lined up properly.
So, what's the deal? Early-binding, late-binding, and resource allocation.
The early-binding is the workshop numbers. Unfortunately, those are published rather early in the process. This year, that was even before we had finalized the prices for A/V equipment and for power. So, allocation of workshops to rooms was purely on the basis of rough room size and our guesses about which workshops would be popular. Even the exact number of seats in each room is only now being settled as we choose the balance of theatre- and classroom-style seating. The process was complicated even more when we determined that we wouldn't have wireless in the Hilton meeting rooms, forcing us to shuffle some Wednesday workshops into newly
reserved convention centre space.
The late-binding is the actual association of workshops to rooms. Sure, we published room numbers for the workshops, but because those room numbers don't go into the proceedings, we had some grace to make adjustments on the basis of all those other factors listed above plus
early registration numbers! (Many thanks to our Publications Chair Dave Musicant for gracing us with that grace by virtue of his sleepless nights this very weekend!)
Our grace ends this weekend as the publication deadline for the program looms. At that point, the workshop-room assignments will be quite literally bound.
So, we moved some workshops around to save money on provision of power to seats and use of A/V equipment and to put apparently popular workshops into larger rooms.
(The ultra-popular workshops right now, by the way, are two cell phone related offerings, Workshops #6 on iPhones and #22 on Android. You're too late for #22; it's full!)
Now we're almost done, and the mapping from numbers to rooms is a mess.
So as you wander aimlessly about searching for your workshop, please excuse us for the dubious UI, and let your mind drift to other things. Like the way all your favourite papers are running against each other in the same session. That's entirely the PCs' fault. ;^)
See you in a month and a half!
Cheers,
Steve
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Local Attractions during SIGCSE
We've just posted a list of location attractions in Milwaukee, just in case you need something besides the SIGCSE Symposium to occupy your time!
View the list at
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Registration is now open!
Registration for the SIGCSE 2010 Symposium is now open.
You can register wither online or by mail. To get started, visit our registration gateway at http://sigcse.org/sigcse2010/attendees/registration.php.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Planning Visit to Milwaukee
Gary and I just finished our planning visit to Milwaukee, the second of four visits we'll make for SIGCSE 2010: site selection (Jan 2008), planning visit, program committee meeting (Oct 2009), and the conference itself (Mar 2010).
It's been a bit cooler than we predicted at SIGCSE 2009, only 27°C, but still shorts weather!
In our spare time, we've gotten to know Milwaukee. There are more nearby restaurants than at any location we can recall in the last 10 years, including two Thai and one Italian just across the street from the Hyatt. The lake was a lovely walk but might be too far in winter. However, the riverwalk is only two blocks away. In case of blizzard, we can all follow the gerbil-tunnel walkway Hilton-Convention Centre-Hyatt-Federal Building-Mall and eat there!
If you're a fan of public sculpture, you might enjoy a walk around the area. My favourite is the whimsical ladybugs at 618 N Water Street, but there are fish, Fonz, balls, historical statues, and abstract pieces around to enjoy, especially along the river walk.
Of course, Gary and I also did a certain amount of work. We're striving to create a conference layout that's convenient and comprehensible, within the constraints at hand. Hopefully, the space, food, A/V, and internet will all come out well and then it's up to Tom, Ellen, and especially YOU the SIGCSE contributors, to pony up the one minor remaining piece: technical content! :)
It's been a bit cooler than we predicted at SIGCSE 2009, only 27°C, but still shorts weather!
In our spare time, we've gotten to know Milwaukee. There are more nearby restaurants than at any location we can recall in the last 10 years, including two Thai and one Italian just across the street from the Hyatt. The lake was a lovely walk but might be too far in winter. However, the riverwalk is only two blocks away. In case of blizzard, we can all follow the gerbil-tunnel walkway Hilton-Convention Centre-Hyatt-Federal Building-Mall and eat there!
If you're a fan of public sculpture, you might enjoy a walk around the area. My favourite is the whimsical ladybugs at 618 N Water Street, but there are fish, Fonz, balls, historical statues, and abstract pieces around to enjoy, especially along the river walk.
Of course, Gary and I also did a certain amount of work. We're striving to create a conference layout that's convenient and comprehensible, within the constraints at hand. Hopefully, the space, food, A/V, and internet will all come out well and then it's up to Tom, Ellen, and especially YOU the SIGCSE contributors, to pony up the one minor remaining piece: technical content! :)
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Volunteer to help SIGCSE!
Go here to volunteer to help out at future SIGCSE conferences! (You know you want to!!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Home