ACM SIGGRAPH Executive Committee Representatives to the Conference Advisory Group

The duties and composition of the Conference Advisory Group

The ACM SIGGRAPH Conference Advisory Group (CAG) handles basic issues of the annual SIGGRAPH conference.

This includes, but is not limited to:

• Strategic planning, both single and multi-year.
• Defining and implementing policy that has multi-year impact.
• Soliciting and selecting conference and CAG chairs.
• Assisting conference chairs and committee members in all issues.
• Helping with conference budget preparation.
• Resolving single and multi-year conference issues.
• Selection of conference sites.
• Development and evaluation of RFPs for contracted services.
• Reviewing and assessing CAG, conferences, and conference programs.

The CAG consists of the following voting members: four conference chairs (the current year's, the past year's, and the next two years'), the CAG chair and two Executive Committee (EC) representatives. The Chief Staff Executive (CSE) is a non-voting member. All meetings are open, and guests are invited as needed. The CAG is also supported by professional staff that provides administrative services.

The responsibilities of the EC representative to CAG

The responsibilities of an EC representative to the CAG include, but are not limited to:

• Being a full working member of CAG.
• Serving as an information conduit between EC and CAG. This includes attending all CAG and EC meetings, alerting CAG when issues come up that should be handled by EC, and bringing appropriate issues to the attention of EC.

The qualifications of an EC representative to CAG

The ideal candidate will have the following qualifications:

• Familiarity with the culture and processes of the annual conference, ideally as a previous conference committee member.
• Familiarity with the ACM SIGGRAPH organization.
• An understanding of ACM SIGGRAPH strategic plan , goals, and priorities
• An understanding of which kinds of issues should be dealt with by the ACM SIGGRAPH EC or President.
• A working knowledge of the computer graphics and interactive techniques industry.
• The confidence of the members of EC.
• The confidence of the members of CAG.
• The ability and willingness to devote time as necessary to CAG work. This is estimated to be 2 to 4 hours weekly plus attendance at four to six CAG meetings, four EC meetings, and the annual conference, as well as other meetings deemed necessary each year.
• The ability and willingness to reply promptly, i.e., within 24 hours, to all telephone, email, and mail communication on CAG and other ACM SIGGRAPH issues. When this is not possible, EC and CAG should be made aware of the temporary unavailability.
• The ability and willingness to perform work on a wide variety of issues that might involve interaction with many people, leadership of small groups, assembly of material, and creation and presentation of reports.
• The ability and willingness to communicate with others on issues that are sensitive and controversial.
• The ability to listen to concerns of others and to know when private conversations should remain confidential and when it is appropriate that these conversations be shared.
• The willingness to fairly represent CAG decisions in addition to his/her own views if they differ from the majority of CAG.
• Respect for the work and opinion of others.

Term of office

The terms of an EC representative to the CAG will be two years in duration and will begin on July 1. A representative may serve at most two consecutive terms. The terms of the two EC representatives will be staggered, one selected annually.

Nomination and Selection

The candidates for the open EC representative to CAG position will be determined each year at the spring EC meeting, generally held in May. Candidates will be solicited prior to this meeting and may be nominated or self-nominated. Each candidate will provide a written position statement as backup for the EC meeting.

Candidates who are also members of the EC will leave the room for the discussion and vote. The representative must be selected by a majority. If this is not achieved on the first ballot, there will be run-offs between the top two candidates until such a majority is reached.

Initial policy prepared by Nan Schaller and Walt Bransford, February 2, 1999

Revised by Judy Brown, January 16, 2001

Revised further by Judy Brown and approved by ACM SIGGRAPH Executive Committee, June 12, 2002.