Local SIGs: Diversity Within Unity

Richard I. Anderson

The Purpose of a Local SIG

Local SIG Diversity

Factors that Affect a Local SIG's Purpose

Nature/State of the Local Community

Stability and Nature of Leadership

Resources Available to the Local SIG

Relationships of the Local SIG

Other Factors

Local SIG Unity

Welcome and Thanks

The Purpose of a Local SIG

As argued in the April '97 Local SIGs column, the purpose of an organization is one of the seven key elements of its design. If a local SIG forgets its purpose and/or does not meet a real need, the local SIG is not likely to thrive.

What is the purpose of a Local SIG? Should all Local SIGs be alike? What factors affect or should affect what a local SIG offers?

Local SIG Diversity

The differences among local SIGs are many. Some meet monthly; some meet less often and only in association with other conferences. Many offer a technical program akin to sessions of SIGCHI-supported conferences, but the nature of the program varies greatly among chapters. Many provide a mix of additional services, such as job listings, lending libraries, consultants directories, tutorials, newsletters, social events, and support for "Birds-of-a-Feather" groups, but the mix varies greatly among the chapters. Some meet in auditoriums; some meet in corporate conference rooms; some meet at universities; some meet in cafes. Some hold their meetings in only one location; others move their meetings among multiple locations. The largest has more than 700 members; the smallest serves just a few. Some offer programs that are open to and free to the public; some charge non-members a fee. Some serve entire countries; some serve a single city (and its immediately surrounding area). Etc.; etc.

Partly responsible for the many differences among local SIGs are differences in local SIG purpose. Here are a few examples of local SIG purposes as described in contributions to the CHI 97 Local SIGs Workshop (see the October '97 column for a description of this workshop). Though some of these purpose descriptions are incomplete and some of the purposes have changed a bit since the workshop, this sampling still accurately reflects differences that exist among local SIG purposes.

"It's a place were colleagues are found, facts are exchanged, issues are discussed, experiences are shared, and ideas are born."
Mark Shurtleff about LoneStar CHI

"Our goal is to be an informal focal point for professionals in the area to check in when they have time, and a point of contact for people who would normally not have professional contact through their work assignments."
Thyra Rauch about TriCHI

"Its aim is to promote an increased knowledge and greater interest in the science, technology, design, development, and application of methods/tools/techniques for HCI.

Another goal is to gain more cooperation between academy and industries. At the moment, most members are from universities, but we are trying to get more people from private companies. In this way, we try to spread more culture on HCI.

We also want to inform SIGCHI of activities & interest existing outside of North America."
Maria Francesca Costabile about Italy SIGCHI

"The main goals are:

Creating an HCI community in Russia;
Stimulation of cooperation and exchange of ideas between researchers from the ex-USSR and the West;
Providing information access for members;
Organizing meetings and discussions;
Raising money to support Russian HCI researchers from non-profit organizations."

Victor Kaptelinin about MosCHI

"The goal of the chapter will be to act as an international focus for the Dutch user interface design scene."
Eddy Boeve about Netherlands SIGCHI

"The goal of BayCHI is what the goal of SIGCHI was when it was formed -- to support and advance the discipline of Computer Human Interaction."
Don Patterson about BayCHI

Factors that Affect a Local SIG's Purpose

Why do local SIG purposes differ? Here is a list of some of the reasons, as compiled by participants in the CHI'97 Local SIGs Workshop:

Nature/State of the Local Community

level of HCI expertise/exposure/awareness
attitudes toward HCI
extent of diversity (occupation, interest in kinds of knowledge, research & practice, software vs. information systems vs. hardware vs. ...)
size of the community
age (& number of kids?)
pre-existing relations among members
nature of technology available to members
job market/security
relationship between local academia & local industry
industrial make-up
local academic curricula
density of the population / proximity of members to each other
local culture
willingness to be multi-disciplinary (easy in U.S.; hard in Europe)
relative isolation
local regulations

Stability and Nature of Leadership

who do they know / are they "known"
personality & level of enthusiasm
vision/interests

Resources Available to the Local SIG

facilities
volunteers (degree of volunteer turnover)
institutional interest (corporate & academic)
money
communication means

Relationships of the Local SIG

to other groups in the area
to SIGCHI (which is still very "American")
to the CHI conference
to CHI as a discipline
to other SIGCHI local chapters

Other Factors

state of CHI as a discipline
availability of other info on HCI (books, other conferences, other local groups, the web, etc.)
technology trends

In short, there are many factors that affect a local SIG's purpose. And since many of these factors vary from location to location, it is very appropriate for some local SIGs to have purposes different from other local SIGs.

Local SIG Unity

Although there are many differences, these is considerable commonality. As the ACM Chapter Toolkit states, "ACM chapters exist as a means of achieving (ACM) purposes, and to serve the computing and information processing community, and public, at the local level". And, of course, all SIGCHI chapters have HCI as its focal domain.

Because of this commonality, local SIGs are able to learn from each other, as was true at CHI 97 and as has been increasingly true via additional access to information about other local SIGs and additional interaction among chapter leaders. My goal is for each chapter to be a part of a community of local SIGs to help it fulfill all purposes appropriate to its locale.

Welcome and Thanks

Welcome to CHI-Squared, newly chartered September 24, 1997 and based in Chicago, IL, USA, and to the Netherlands SIGCHI, newly chartered July 15, 1997. Other chapters are actively involved in the chartering process, including Mexico SIGCHI (where the chartering process got a boost at the Mexico Reunion in September), CHI-Atlanta (where a local SIG will be resurrected), and BulSIGCHI (a chapter that will serve Bulgaria). To keep up to date with what is going on, visit SIGCHI's Local SIGs webpage (http://www.acm.org/sigchi/local-sigs/) every so often; you may discover a local SIG in your area or in an area you plan to visit.

Thanks to Kenny Kutney of GB/SIGCHI, who, until the summer of '97, was responsible for implementing updates to the Local SIGs webpage. And welcome to Kenny's replacement, Keith Instone (SIGCHI Information Director), who is making alot of great contributions.

Thanks to Don Patterson of BayCHI, who has been helping Local SIGs identify people in their areas with an interest in HCI. And thanks to others, including Gary Perlman of BuckCHI, Steven Pemberton of Netherlands SIGCHI, and Fred Jacobson of BayCHI, who have also been lending a hand to other Local SIGs.

Thanks to PSCHI, which has been investigating a SIGCHI request for soliciting and donating software to support HCI activities in Russia.

And, thanks to CHIFOO leaders for meeting with me near Portland, OR, USA to address some of the issues addressed at the CHI 97 Local SIGs Workshop -- a workshop in which they were unable to participate. Workshops akin to the CHI 97 Workshop and to the CHIFOO get-together are likely to be held at CHI 98 and elsewhere.

Richard I. Anderson, Local SIGs Chair rianderson@acm.org

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Vol.30 No.1, January 1998
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