The ‘PeopleWhoMake Computers Less Computer-y’ Conference
As meeting professionals grapple with how to use technology to enhance face-to-face engagement at their events, a conference for people who make computer-human interaction their life’s work offers a few possibilities.
A flexible smartphone made of electronic paper was just one of the futuristic tech tools unveiled at theCHI 2011Conference, held at the Vancouver Convention Centre on May 7–12. That comes as no surprise. CHI is shorthand for the Special InterestGroup onComputer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI) of theAssociation forCom- putingMachinery (ACM). The full name of the conference is evenmore of amouthful: theACM CHI 2011 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Yet the focus is less on computing systems
than youmight expect. For participants atCHI— which has been held for 30 years, andwhich this year attractedmore than 2,700 people—it’s all about human interaction: with technology, and with each other. “What I tellpeople about this client,”saidJaneé
Pelletier, CMP, vice president of Conference & LogisticsConsultants, “is that these are the people who make computers less ‘computer-y.’” The group is unlike many engineering or computing societies, where “there’s a lot of technology for technology’s sake,”saidPelletier,whomanages the logistics forCHI’s conferences. “That is notwhat this group is like at all.” Thatmay be a result of the cross-disciplinary
natureof SIGCHI’smembers andattendees.These are“engineers andscientists andthe ‘big thinkers,’” Pelletier said,“but they alsohave sociologists,psy- chologists, andpeoplewhoare interestedindesign and ergonomics. There’s a lot of design around, ‘Okay,we’vemade amouse,buthowcanwemake themouse fit your hand?’ This is the group that wasdemo-ing virtual reality inthe ’80s,before any- one ever heard of aWii orXbox; this is the group that came up with touch-screen computers. The people in this Special InterestGroup understand that technology is a tool; it’s not an end in itself.
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They areworking tomake computers that enhance and improve everyday life.” More than 100 people work at the confer-
ence, “and only two of us are paid to do it,” she said. “The volunteers are very invested, and some of them work so many hours that I forget that they’re volunteers.”Moreover, SIGCHI truly talks about itself“as a community,”Pelletier said,“and more thananyof theother clients that Iworkwith, they’re friends.They’ve seeneachotherat these con- ferences for 30 years. It’s a very collegial group.” HowCHImelds high-techwith high-touch is
instructive formeeting professionals across every industry.
MoreThanDisplays At the37paidbooths intheCHI2011exhibithall, “therewere things thatwill blowyourmind,” Pel- letier said. “They are 10 to 20 years down the road.” In addition, therewas a strong poster pro- gram,withmore than 200 posters, called “works in progress.” But thisbeingtheComputer-HumanInteraction
group, animportant elementof the conferencewas something calledsimply Interactivity—interactive demo stations located in meeting rooms and the ballroom. “These areworks that are being devel- oped in the university setting,” Pelletier said, “which may or may not be commercially viable.”About 21 different performance-based demos took place as part of Interactivity this year, including a number of smartphone apps, such as Graffito, a technology designed for festivals. “There’s a big, white screen, and everybody logs onto the same app,” Pelletier said. “You can use yourphone likeapaintbrushandit showsuponthe screen.Ten,20,or100people canalldoit atonce. It’s interactive,digitalart-making,andit’samazing.” While some of the tools in Interactivity were
ILLUSTRATION BY MICK WIGGINS
At CHI, it’s a commonly accepted practice to get up and leave during one session to go to another if “something more inter- esting is going on in another room.Within their culture, that’s perfectly acceptable. It encourages presenters to make sure that what they’re presenting is engaging.”