Workshops

Workshops provide a valuable opportunity for small communities of people with diverse perspectives to engage in rich discussions about a topic of common interest. Interaction among participants is important, so participants must have informed positions based on prior experience.

Workshops can focus on research or applied topics. Innovative, controversial, or highly-practical topics are particularly suitable for workshops. Each workshop will result in a SIGCHI Bulletin article that gives the CHI community a new, organized way of thinking about the topic and that suggests promising directions for future research.

Workshops are held on the Sunday and Monday of the conference week. A workshop may be one, one and a half, or two days in length. Most workshops have 20 or fewer participants. Provision will be made for a few larger workshops on research issues, including the Basic Research Symposium. Please consult one of the Workshops Co-Chairs before proposing a Workshop with more than 20 participants.

Sample Workshop Proposals are available as examples of each workshop submission component (on the CHI 98 website).

Review Process

Workshop submissions wil be reviewed by a committee representing a cross-section of HCI researchers and practitioners. Review criteria include the workshop's potential for generating stimulating discussions and useful results, the expected community interest level in the topic, the organizers' ability to demonstrate through the proposal that the workshop will be well-organized, and the overall balance of topics in the Workshops program.

Format

A workshop submission has three parts: a proposal, an extended abstract, and a call for participation, as follows.

Proposal

Prepare a three-page proposal for the Workshops review committee. In the proposal, describe the topic, the plan for conducting the workshop, and the organizers' background. Please keep in mind that workshops are low-budget, low-tech forums for discussion.

Topic should include:

• goals of the workshop
• clear and detailed description of the topic
• importance and timeliness of the topic

Plan should include:

• preliminary schedule of workshop activities, with estimated times
• breakdown of subtopics within the general topic
• desired number of participants
• participant selection criteria
• facilitation of workshop activities
• pre-workshop activities
• dissemination of results

Organizers' background should include:

• relevant biographical information
• relevant past experience with workshops at CHI or elsewhere

Extended Abstract

Prepare a one-page extended abstract of the workshop suitable for publication in the CHI 99 Extended Abstracts. It should contain a summary of the workshop's goals and issues. It must be prepared in the Conference Publications Format, except that no abstract is required.

Call for Participation

Prepare a 250-word call for participation suitable for publication in the CHI 99 Advance Program. It should describe the workshop and the participant selection criteria. It should be included in your submission packet in hardcopy and also emailed in plain text format to the Workshops Co-Chairs.

For examples of submissions, go to the CHI 98 Sample Workshop Proposals.

Upon Acceptance

Organizers will be notified of acceptance or rejection by mid-October 1998. Organizers of accepted workshops will receive an Author Kit with detailed instructions on how to submit final camera-ready materials, which are due 8 January 1999.

Organizers are responsible for:

• working with the Workshops Co-Chairs to identify mailing lists and other opportunities for soliciting diverse participation
• selecting, inviting, and confirming participants
• distributing position papers and other pre-work- shop materials to participants in advance of the workshop
• developing a final agenda of workshop activities

At the Workshop

The organizer is responsible for facilitating discussion, maintaining productive interaction, and encouraging participation. The emphasis should be on group discussion, rather than on presentation of individual position papers. Diversity of perspectives should be encouraged.

Each workshop will produce a poster for display during the conference. CHI 99 provides meeting rooms, coffee breaks, and overhead projectors for workshops. Participants are charged a modest registration fee.

After the Workshop

It is important for workshop results to be communicated to a larger audience. In addition to a poster for display during the conference, each workshop will produce a report for publication in SIGCHI Bulletin. Additional avenues of communication, such as a Special Interest Group (SIG) meeting at the conference, are encouraged.

Submissions

1. Your submission must be in English.
2. Electronic and fax submissions are not accepted.
3. Submissions which arrive after the deadline will not be considered.
4. Your submission should contain no proprietary or confidential material and should cite no proprietary or confidential publications.
5. Responsibility for permissions to use video, audio or pictures of identifiable people rests with you, not CHI 99.
6. We strongly suggest the use of express mail or a courier service for speedy delivery. Customs labels should bear the words "Educational materials with no commercial value."

Checklist

Please follow the steps in this checklist to ensure completeness in your submission.

• Read the conference overview.
• Fill out Cover Page One.
• Prepare a proposal for review, as described above.
• Prepare an extended abstract (1 page) in the Conference Publications Format, as described above.
• Prepare a 250-word workshop call for participation, as described above.
• Prepare an electronic version of the call for participation in plain text format.
• Collect Cover Page One, the proposal, the extended abstract, and the workshop call for participation, in the order given, in a packet. Make 7 copies of the packet. Use 8.5 x 11 inch or A4 paper.
• Make sure each copy of the packet is stapled, not loose or held by clips.
• Send the 7 packets to the Send To address shown.
• You may include a stamped, self-addressed reply postcard, which we will mail to acknowledge receipt of your submission.
• Email the electronic version of the call for participation to the Workshops Co-Chairs at the email address shown.