The **draft** schedule for CHI 2021 is now available. Please note that it is still under construction and subject to change. (e.g. workshops/symposia are not yet done).
https://programs.sigchi.org/chi/2021/program
CAUTION: "Convert to my local time" feature converts times based on time zones as of today, not as of the conference dates. So, please use "conference time zone (UTC +09:00)" and convert times by yourself.
CHI 2021 will run on a professional online conference platform called Delegate Connect. We already gave an outline in a previous blog post. Our draft program is now being built into Delegate Connect, using our master action plan. This involves taking our design and timing decisions and populating the platform, just as you might set up a physical event.
Generally speaking, we will have three different kinds of room at CHI 2021 (presentation and interaction formats) for the different venues at CHI. Papers, Journals, Case Studies, Awards, and alt.chi will use a live streaming room. Presentations in each of these venues will entail playing a 5-min pre-recorded video presentation, and a 5-min live Q&A for each talk (Please see the other blogpost about videos for further details about why we are opting for video presentations. The 5-min pre-recorded videos are also provided as on-demand content for asynchronous access throughout the conference. Regarding engagement with authors, attendees will be able to interact through a chat box next to the live stream screen. They will also be able to send questions through a Q&A box below the live stream. After the presentation, the presenter and the session chair will appear, in a webinar style, to ask and answer some of the questions posed by the attendees. This format has been trialed in other conferences in 2020 and we hope provides an engaging experience for attendees.
By contrast, Panels and Keynotes will use a live streaming room. The big difference with the previous venues is that presentations will not be pre-recorded, but live. The Q&A will also happen live using the questions posted in the Q&A box, and/or the comments in the chat box.
Interactivity, LBWs, SRC, and Doctoral Consortium (poster presentation) will use “round table” type rooms, which are a built-in feature of the online platform that aims to look like a regular online conference room where everybody in the room can talk and interact. These rooms are meant to replicate a traditional booth or poster stand, where presenters welcome and engage with those who approach them -- In this online version, it will be those who visit their room. The 5-minute pre-recorded videos are also provided as on-demand content for asynchronous access throughout the conference.
Workshops, SIGs, Courses, and the Doctoral Consortium will use Zoom rooms, which will be linked through Delegate Connect. The reason we are using these kinds of rooms instead of the built-in round table type of rooms is to offer additional functionality that is essential to these venues, which are not available in the table rooms, e.g. break out rooms.
Over a year of effort has gone into the selection and design of the platform experience for CHI 2021. There might be features you wish each type of room had, but the key aspect for CHI 2021 is the people! We as the global HCI community need to attend and be present at CHI. This means trying, as we might in a physical event, to be there, to be present and to listen and learn. We have spread the events across time zones so that everyone can attend.
If you are a delegate please try to devote the time to attend fully.