Scientific visualization, multimedia, biomedical graphics
The SIGGRAPH professional chapters contribute in many ways to the international SIGGRAPH, and indeed to ACM itself. They are the source of many enthusiastic and talented volunteers who move from work in a professional chapter to work for both the parent SIGGRAPH and ACM. They provide a link to the grass-roots computer graphics enthusiast and practitioner who, if not employed in an academic institution, might never hear of SIGGRAPH. For many prospective members, they are the first point of contact to our international professional organization. With events open to the general public, they promote SIGGRAPH to a wider audience. Strengthening the professional chapters strengthens the entire organization.
The SIGGRAPH professional chapters struggle, however, to prove their worth to the parent SIGGRAPH. They must enhance their relationship with their parent body and gain its recognition. They can only do this with strong support on the Executive Committee. The Professional Chapters Steering Committee and its Directors have done much in the past few years as the chapters' advocates. More, however, remains to be done before the organization completely accepts the chapters as an integral and equal partner with the global SIGGRAPH rather than as its poor cousins.
As the co-founder of the Vancouver SIGGRAPH professional chapter and a member of the executive committee for several years, I have seen the problems facing the chapters. Some of these stem from their relationship with SIGGRAPH itself. As a volunteer at the global level (Computer Graphics professional chapters editor and then editor), I have also experienced from the other side the problems in the relationship between the two. The chapters need greater moral, financial, and promotional support, as well as recognition and a greater role in the life of the parent SIGGRAPH. They must work hard at the local level to prove that they warrant these. But they must also have a determined champion as their director on the Executive Committee, so that both sides are encouraged to strive for greatest benefit from the relationship.
Computer Graphics Pioneer, Information Systems Professional (Canadian Information Processing Society).
Electronic mail: mair@siggraph.org
1996 ACM SIGGRAPH Election Information
ACM SIGGRAPH General Information