SIGCHI's tutorials-to-go

Abstract

SIGCHI's Tutorials-To-Go (TTG) program enables local SIGs to sponsor professional tutorial events for their members, both for the purposes of professional development and outreach to others who might eventually become members of the local SIG. These events are based on successful CHI conference tutorials, chosen by a committee of SIGCHI members and agreed to by the developers/ instructors of each tutorial. Local SIGs are expected to organize their own tutorial event to meet the needs and abilities of their organization. The TTG committee provides guidelines and examples. Local SIGs are expected to cover all event costs including the cost of the tutorial instructor. This may be done by charging participants, soliciting sponsors, etc. SIGCHI will underwrite the instructor expenses in case the local SIG fails to cover them. However, one goal of the program is for it to pay for itself by providing revenue both for the local SIG and SIGCHI. The reason for returning revenue to SIGCHI is to expand the program over time in order to support tutorials for local SIGs in regions where covering costs might be riskier. The long-term benefit of the TTG program is strengthening the sense of community and collegi-ality among HCI professionals at both the local SIGs and international SIGCHI level. The program intends to promote the development of the field of HCI internationally. Finally, the program provides SIGCHI professionals who develop successful tutorials another opporttmity to enhance their value and reputation as professional colleagues who make a contribution to the field. The inaugural TTG event embodied all of these attributes. In June 2001, CapCHI organized a tuto-rial given by Susan Dray that was based upon her CHI 1998,1999 and 2000 tutorial entitled, Understanding User's Work in Context: Practical Observation Skills. The CapCHI coordinator of this event was John F. Meech who reported "... we now have effective procedures in place for organizing tasks and roles. We would be happy to pass on this experience to other local SIGs that might be considering running a tutorial... One of the most difficult things to ascertain is the level of knowledge of attendees and their expectations. We had a wide range of backgrounds and a relatively large number of students... Those attendees who were relatively new to the topic found the pacing and structure about right. My overall impression was that the workshop was very well received. We would definitely recommend Susan's workshop to other …