Many of you have attended the annual SIGGRAPH conference and have gotten some idea of the large number of volunteers it takes to produce a high quality conference of that size and diversity. In fact, SIGGRAPH 98 had 500 volunteers and over 1000 contributors. SIGGRAPH is very grateful to these volunteers and contributors, and they are all listed in the conference publications.
Most people are not aware of the numerous other activities that take place throughout the year, and throughout the world. We celebrate the organization's 30 years of volunteer activities during 1999 - 2000. SIGGRAPH depends on the time, energy, and skill of these many dedicated volunteers, and we continually seek new volunteers. As you follow the series of articles on SIGGRAPH activities worldwide, perhaps you will find an activity in which you would like to participate, or perhaps you will have an idea for a new activity. SIGGRAPH is your organization, and your ideas and involvement are important.Here is a summary of these activities and the volunteers who make them happen.
Executive Committee
The SIGGRAPH Executive Committee is the governing body to whom all the
other committees report. All are elected except the Director for
Publications, who is appointed by the SIGGRAPH Chair. Members of the
Executive Committee are:
Steve Cunningham, Chair
Alain Chesnais, Vice Chair
Nan Schaller, Treasurer
Mary Whitton, Past Chair
John Hart, Director for Communications
Mike McGrath, Director for Education
Scott Lang, Director for Professional Chapters
Stephen Spencer, Director for Publications
Nick England, Director at Large
Theresa Marie Rhyne, Director at Large
Warren Waggenspack, SIGGRAPH 99 Chair
Patrick McCarren, ACM Program Director, ex officio member
Dino Schweitzer, Conferences Chief Staff Executive, ex officio member
The Conference Advisory Group is made up of volunteers from the
annual conferences and from the Executive Committee. Their role is to
provide both strategic and tactical planning advice to the conference
chairs. Members are:
Walt Bransford
Steve Cunningham
Warren Waggenspack
Jackie White
Lynn Pocock
Dino Schweitzer (staff)
Public Policy Committee and Volunteer Recognition Task force report to the
SIGGRAPH Chair. The Public Policy Committee provides information on
relevant external activities, such as proposed legislation, to SIGGRAPH
members and others in the technical community and provides education on the
implications of technology to the non-technical community. Members of the
Public Policy Committee are:
Bob Ellis, Chair
Myles Losch
David Richard Nelson (Web development)
Laurie Reinhart
Advisory Group:
Judy Brown
Oscar Garcia
Nahum Gershon
Mike McGrath
Mike Zyda
The Volunteer Recognition Task Force was formed to advise on
recognition policies for volunteers. The goals are to assure that
volunteers feel that their efforts are appreciated and valued and to
see that volunteers receive public credit for their efforts. Members
of the Volunteer Recognition Task Force are:
Judy Brown, Chair
Scott Lang
Scott Owen
Since the office of SIGGRAPH Vice Chair evolved from Vice Chair for Operations, many of the operational committees report to the Vice Chair. These include Special Projects, Small Conferences and Workshops, Traveling Art Show, Awards Committees, and liaisons to other societies.
The Special Projects Committee supports new and innovative projects that
benefit the SIGGRAPH membership and the computer graphics community.
Members of the Special Projects Committee are:
Bob Powell, Chair
Judy Brown
Oscar Garcia
Betsy Asher Hall
SIGGRAPH recognizes exceptional professional achievement with three international awards: The Steven A. Coons Award for long-term creative impact on the field of computer graphics; the Computer Graphics Achievement Award for a significant single event, or idea, that provides a quantum leap in the state of the art of computer graphics; and the SIGGRAPH Outstanding Service Award for outstanding service to SIGGRAPH by a volunteer. The Technical Awards Committee, chaired by Bert Herzog, selects the recipients of the Coons and Achievement Awards, and the Service Awards Committee selects the recipient of the Service Award. In both cases, Committee members are anonymous.
SIGGRAPH sponsors or co-sponsors over a dozen sharply-focused conferences on a variety of graphics-related topics. SIGGRAPH is also in-cooperation with many other conferences, symposia, workshops, and events. The Small Conferences and Workshops Coordinator is Chuck Hansen. Each workshop depends heavily on volunteer support for organization (typically 3-4 volunteers), program committees (typically 10-14 volunteers), local arrangements (typically 2-4 volunteers) and student volunteers for on-site logistics.
The SIGGRAPH Traveling Art Show is composed of a selection of work from the annual conference and has traveled in the United States, Europe, and Japan. The Traveling Art Show Chair is Huguette Chesnais
The SIGGRAPH Vice Chair is responsible for liaisons with other societies. SIGGRAPH has a formal agreement with Eurographics and Multimedia Content Association of Japan (MMCA), the Society that sponsors the Nicograph conference. Midori Kitagawa De Leon serves as Liaison to MMCA.
The Finance Committee reports to the SIGGRAPH Treasurer and advises on
financial strategy. Members of the Finance Committee are:
Nan Schaller, Chair
Alain Chesnais
Steve Cunningham
Stephen Spencer
Mary Whitton
Patrick McCarren, staff
Dino Schweitzer, staff
The Nominations Committee is chaired by the SIGGRAPH Past Chair and
selects the candidates for SIGGRAPH elections each year. Members of the
Nominations Committee for the past two years are:
Mary Whitton, Chair
Wayne Carlson, 1997
Steve Van Frank, 1997
Holly Rushmeier, 1998
The Director for Communications is responsible for issues of membership,
such as increasing the membership and adding value to the membership, and
for communications with members and the computer graphics community. There
are ongoing committees for general communications activities and online
information, and there is a committee to celebrate the 30th year of the
SIGGRAPH organization during 1999-2000.
Members of the Communications Committee are:
John Hart, Chair
Carolyn Williams, Promotion and Membership
Judy Brown, Special Projects
Bonnie Mitchell, Conference Booth
Gary Paxinos, Information Director
Bob Judd, FY98 Information Director
In addition, the Information Director chairs an Online
Committee whose members are:
Gary Paxinos, Chair
Bob Judd, Past Chair
Dave Shreiner, Webmaster
Bob Holzman, Postmaster
Bonnie Mitchell, Web Page Design
John Michael Pierobon, online schedule
David Spoelstra, S99 Network Chair
SIGGRAPH will be celebrating 30 years as an organization with events at the
SIGGRAPH 99 conference and throughout the following year. Members of the
SIGGRAPH 30th Year Celebration Committee are:
Judy Brown, Chair
Ann Eakes
Esmail Bonakdarian
Tom Halverson
Robert Kooima
John Michael Pierobon
Bob Powell
Midori Kitagawa DeLeon, "Envisioning the Future" art show chair
Juan Lopez Michelone, Professional Chapters Representative
Rosalee Wolfe, Education Committee Representative
The Director for Education chairs a committee to promote both computer
graphics education and the use of computer graphics in education. Members
of the Education Committee are:
Mike McGrath, Chair
Valerie Miller ,Treasurer, Student Projects for Interactive Concepts in
Education (SPICE), Website maintenance
Scott Owen, Website
Rejane Spitz (South American Information Source, including Spanish and
Portuguese language Website maintenance)
Jiaoying Shi, Asian representative
Gitta Domik, Visualization curricula
Mike McGrath, Engineering curricula
Jacki Morie, Common Curriculum (with Barbara Mones-Hattal)
Barbara Mones-Hattal, Student posters and Animation Competition and
Exhibition (SPACE)
Mk Haley, SPACE, SIGGRAPH Student Activities, Editor of STUFF newsletter
Colleen Case, Traveling SPACE, Interactive Television Project for
Collaborative Learning, Booth Manager
Rosalee Wolfe, Representative to 30th Celebration Committee, Computer
Science Curricula
SIGGRAPH has a long history of innovation in publishing, making full
use of color, as well as use of different media such as videotape,
slides, and CD-ROM. Publications Committee is chaired by the
Director for Publications and has the following members:
Stephen Spencer, Chair
Mike Bailey, Slide Sets Content Editor
Kevin Ferguson, Slide Sets Production Editor
Gordon Cameron, Newsletter Editor
Karen Sullivan, Newsletter Cover Editor
Dean Diavatopoulos, "One More Time" Booth Manager
Parisa Kasravi, "One More Time" Booth Assistant Manager
Lou Katz, CD-ROM Production Editor
Kristina Spencer, CD-ROM Production Editor
Tom DeFanti, SIGGRAPH Video Review Editor-in-Chief
Dana Plepys, SIGGRAPH Video Review Administrator
James Rose, SIGGRAPH Video Proceedings Production Editor
SIGGRAPH Professional Chapters span the globe, and within their local
areas, they continue and expand on the work and achievements that are
presented at the annual conference. They have a central committee, chaired
by the SIGGRAPH Director for Professional Chapters.
The Professional Chapters Committee, PCC has the following members:
Scott Lang, PCC Chair
Colleen Cleary, PCC Publications sub-committee Chair; Computer Graphics
Professional Chapters Editor; Professional Chapters Conference Booth Manager
Garry Paxinos, PCC Communications sub-committee Chair; Professional
Chapters Webmaster
Aliza Corson, PCC Events sub-committee Chair
Rob Rothfarb, PCC Conference Events sub-committee Chair
Michael McCarthy, PCC Start-Up sub-committee Chair
Arnulfo Zepeda, PCC International sub-committee Co-Chair; Professional
Chapters Website Translator (Spanish)
Thierry Frey, PCC International sub-committee Co-Chair; Professional
Chapters Website Translator (French)
Heidi Dunphy, PCC At-Large Member; Professional Chapters Conference Booth
Manager
Joe Salazar, PCC At-Large Member
Juan Lopez Michelone, PCC At-Large Member, Professional Chapters
Representative to 30th Year Celebration Committee
In addition to the PCC, there are Other Professional Chapters Volunteers,
including:
Rod Paul, Professional Chapters Party Organizer
Julie Haddon, Professional Chapters Party Organizer
Lynn Finch, Professional Chapters Logo & Merchandise Designer
There are 40 Professional Chapters world-wide at the present time with each chapter having a core group that averages 10 - 15 people per chapter.