CHI has developed in directions similar to, but not the same, SigGRPH. There are lots of people, many different types of papers, demos, posters, etc. One really well executed concept here is CHI Madness. At the beginning of the day each speaker, who will participate that day, gives a 30 second preview of his ‘talk’ by using audio-visuals and coming on stage. Thus in about 30 minutes one gets a preview — or should we say summary — of the day. This preview helps you decide where to go in the day. More importantly for a person like me, it gives me a high level picture of the day. I wish such a think is made available at most conferences and is even recorded, easily indexed, and posted on the web so it is available every day to people to see and make decisions.
My decision to come here was good — I did meet many interesting people and hope to do that over the remaining two days also.
It is clear that a major theme emerging here is how to spread applications of computing to uncommon areas and to more less-privileged people. Another focus seems to be on Green technology. I am intrigued by the notion of Green technology — is there something real there or is it just something that is ‘feel good’ and hence is the fad of the day.