The SIGMM Conference Ambassador’s Programme 2019

The ACM SIGMM (Special Interest Group in Multimedia) provides a forum for researchers, engineers, and practitioners in all aspects of multimedia computing, communication, storage, and applications. We do this through our sponsorship and organisation of conferences and workshops, supporting student travel to such events, discounted registrations, two regional chapters, recognition of excellence and achievement through an awards scheme and we inform the community of our activities through the SIGMM Records and through mailing lists.

There are many areas with which SIGMM has, or would like to have, an overlap or a connection however because of the focus of our conferences we tend not to have papers from those areas appearing, though sometimes they do at our specialist workshops.  The aim of this programme is to develop links with topics relevant to the area of multimedia, that the typical delegate to the ACM MULTIMEDIA Conference might be interested in but who’s conferences s/he might not attend.

The SIGMM Executive invites applications from SIGMM members to the SIGMM Conference Ambassador’s Programme. Applications will consist of the proposer’s name and background including some evidence that s/he is connected to a named related area (for example has published in that area, attends conferences in that area, etc.), and a target conference including date, location and URL. The proposal should also include an outline budget.

A selection panel will then approve a number of applications or Conference Ambassadors who will attend their nominated conference, funded by SIGMM (economy travel, conference registration, moderate accommodation).  The Conference Ambassador will then presents a short summary of that area, covering aspects like what is most important, what was “hot” at that conference, at our next ACM MULTIMEDIA Conference (Nice, France, October 2019), from the perspective of a MULTIMEDIA delegate who can’t or didn’t attend that conference.

In addition, the Conference Ambassador will select and invite a paper from that target conference .. perhaps the best paper or a best paper candidate, but the criteria is that the topic is something that the MULTIMEDIA community would find most interesting. That paper from the other conference is re-presented by one of its authors at the ACM MULTIMEDIA conference in Nice, France, October 2019, funded by SIGMM (travel, registration, moderate accommodation).

The Conference Ambassador then writes up their presentation at MULTIMEDIA as a contribution to the next issue of SIGMM Records but not appearing in the conference proceedings.

Proposals will be evaluated based on likely interest and novelty from the MULTIMEDIA community, the possibility of launching new collaborations with that area, and cost-effectiveness of the budget.  Submissions will be assessed by a selection committee who will report to the SIGMM Executive who make the final selection.

Submissions should be sent by email to the SIGMM Chair at alan.smeaton@dcu.ie and to Vice-Chair at niculae.sebe@unitn.it and should be in PDF of up to 2 pages max.

An initial selection will be made from submissions made on or before a closing date of 14th January 2019.  For informal enquiries contact SIGMM Chairalan.smeaton@dcu.ie.

Information on joining SIGMM can be found at https://www.acm.org/special-interest-groups/sigs/sigmm