courses

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Deadlines and Extensions

1. Can I submit after the deadline?

No. The deadline is absolute. All submissions receive equal consideration up to the published deadline. Please respect other contributors and allow time for unforeseen circumstances in your submission, including (but not limited to) network connectivity, equipment failures, job impacts, life or family events, etc. These are outside of SIGGRAPH 2005's direct control and cannot be administered fairly. TOP

2. Why is this so absolute?

Firstly, the answer is fairness and equal opportunity for consideration. This respects the contribution process for all submissions. Secondly, courses deadlines were designed to maximize submission development and quality for all contributors. Submission deadlines are set as late as possible, but they must also support quality in review, production, and delivery at SIGGRAPH 2005. TOP

3. Are partial or incomplete submissions considered?

No. Contributors are required to minimally complete all submission guidelines by the published deadline. The Courses Committee will evaluate the merit of each completed proposal as it was submitted at the deadline even if it does not meet the author's personal quality objectives. Please allow enough time to meet your own quality goals. TOP

4. How will SIGGRAPH 2005 address network failures?

SIGGRAPH 2005 is only responsible for the availability of the submission server. If the Courses Chair is notified of a hardware or service failure for the submission system, the Courses Chair will authorize an appropriate adjustment (and will prominently post notices at several locations). All other network failures between your location and the SIGGRAPH server will not be exempted from the deadline. Please submit early to avoid connectivity-support problems or last-minute submission server performance.

Note: The local clock on the submission server determines the final submission deadline time. TOP

5. The SIGGRAPH 2005 English Review Service failed our schedule, so it is SIGGRAPH's fault that my proposal is late. Can I have an extension?

No. The English Review Service makes no guarantee for service turn around. It is also not a part of the SIGGRAPH 2005 Courses program. Please schedule your work appropriately. TOP

Submissions

6. How do tutorial, half- and full-day courses differ?

SIGGRAPH 2005 supports three basic course formats:

Full day: seven hours, typically, four presenters, scheduled at 8:30 am - 5:30 pm with three breaks at 10:15 - 10:30 am, 12:15 - 1:45 pm, and 3:30 - 3:45 pm.
Half day: 3.5 hours, typically two presenters
Morning sessions run 8:30 am - 12:15 pm with one break at 10:15 - 10:30 am.
Afternoon sessions run 1:45 - 5:30 pm with one break at 3:30 - 3:45 pm.
Tutorial: 1.75 hours, typically one presenter, no scheduled breaks.

TOP

7. Why specify an intended audience in the Submission Procedure Checklist? The average SIGGRAPH-conference attendee should be sufficient detail, no?

No. The attendee population is actually widely variable. Your detailed audience identification aids proposal evaluation by the review committee (program balancing) and proper marketing to interested conference attendees. TOP

8. My course was accepted last year. Doesn't that mean it is good enough for acceptance this year?

Repeat proposals are usually well written due to prior experience. However, this does not guarantee acceptance. The merits of each proposal are weighed relative to all submissions within a given year. Selection factors such as content improvement, industry relevance and currency, past attendee feedback, past attendance patterns, course materials, and overall program balance will influence repeat session priorities. Proposals should clearly offer compelling reasons for repeating a course in the rationale section. Repeat proposals should also state how they have addressed any issues identified in previous attendee feedback. TOP

9. We have taught our course before at SIGGRAPH or elsewhere. Should we submit this year?

Yes. If your proposal significantly improves upon your previous presentation, represents timely innovation, or addresses a foundational subject in the field, it will seriously be considered in building 2005's balanced program. Please detail in the rationale section of your proposal all significant factors that should be considered during selection. TOP

10. Does SIGGRAPH 2005 tend to favor or avoid specific levels of material (beginning, intermediate, advanced)? Should we submit this year?

SIGGRAPH 2005 will serve a wide, international audience of many capabilities. The richest, most engaging courses are desired no matter what their level. This is your opportunity to address a community need with your expertise. The committee will offer the best-balanced program possible with available submissions and resources. This includes the need for a good mixture of beginning, intermediate, and advanced presentations in 2005. TOP

11. We have a great idea for an untried course topic. Should we submit this year?

SIGGRAPH 2005 seeks innovation both in topic and presentation! New ideas that relate to some aspect of computer graphics and interactive techniques are most welcome for consideration. Your proposal should clearly state this relevance in the rationale section of your proposal. TOP

12. Do you support anything other than Portable Document Format (PDF)? It is easier for me to provide files in [your file type here]? Everyone can read those, right?

No, please submit in PDF format. We expect our reviewers to support at least one review type that is self contained and available on many operating systems (Windows, Mac OS, Unix, Linux, etc.). PDF provides easy standardization (universal viewer support, graphics, embedded fonts, etc.) for both the reviewer and the proposer (for example, it preserves intentional formatting by the submitter). Even ASCII clear text is not "universal" due to carriage-return differences, column widths, lack of graphics, etc. SIGGRAPH Courses have the greatest reviewing success using the PDF format for consistent results. TOP

13. What are Spotlight Courses?

Thematic presentations that highlight and lead emerging ideas within the ACM SIGGRAPH community. They ask questions, survey ideas, offer directions, and then invite their interested audiences into taking next steps within local and global communities or between SIGGRAPH conferences.

SIGGRAPH 2005 Spotlight Courses will focus on Open Source Computer Graphics. TOP

14. The 2005 Spotlight Courses Call for Participation talks about specific topic areas. What are these? Do I need to use them?

This year's theme focuses on the growing practice of open-source computer graphics. The example topics are just a few interesting perspectives on the phenomenon that have potential for further development inside and outside ACM SIGGRAPH. Contributors can use any mixture of these or other ideas to create their proposals.

Spotlight Courses only require that the proposals somehow add insight to the practice of open-source computer graphics. Ideally, they should also offer their audiences ways to further use or develop ideas within the ACM SIGGRAPH community. TOP

15. Does submitting a Spotlight Course proposal guarantee acceptance?

Spotlight Courses are a new experiment for SIGGRAPH 2005. Depending upon quality and quantity of submissions to showcase the theme, the jury will decide if there is enough merit for this special track. Proposals are evaluated first as courses and then secondly as contributions to the special theme. TOP

16. What are quality Course Notes?

Quality course notes are any combination of materials (text, images, video, source code, demos, etc.) that can assist people during your course and beyond the classroom. Clear examples, explanation of techniques, and annotations of experience, for example, are always appreciated. This material should help attendees accurately understand your presentation and build a useful context for application. SIGGRAPH 2005 courses are highly encouraged to consider contributing source code to supplement and enable the learning process wherever possible.

The sample Course Notes for the submission outline and demonstrate both the types of material and quality to be included with the conference documentation. The submission sample does not need to be complete, but it should be sufficient to evaluate for jury selection. (See Program Background and Insights for more information about the review process.)

Here is a detailed sample of Course Notes with examples of recent submissions (3MB PDF).

Here are SIGGRAPH 2005 slide templates for help with proposal preparations. TOP

17. Our Course Notes are completely done. Should we put them all in the download area as part of our submission?

No. A representative sampling of the quality of your notes is all that is required. Complete sets can overwhelm and complicate the review process. It is better to show a subsection that demonstrates detail, annotation, and supplemental materials than provide the entire set. (See Program Background and Insights for more information about the review process.) TOP

18. We have a great idea for a hands-on course, but I don't see a Creative Applications Lab for SIGGRAPH 2005. Did we miss it?

No. There is no Creative Applications Lab for 2005. Proposals that can leverage attendee equipment and/or wireless networking are encouraged. TOP

19. We have a great full-day course with fabulous speakers lined up. It requires more than four speakers to present. Can we get the additional speakers' expenses reimbursed as well?

Sorry, no. Any presenters beyond a given course format's supported reimbursement must be handled by the respective individuals. The SIGGRAPH 2005 Courses Program is balanced to share the entire conference's expense budget at the published levels. This includes global costs for venue, high-quality presentation technology, infrastructure, networking, and professional support (to name a few factors).

For details on expense reimbursement for course speakers, please see Presenter Recognition Guidelines and Courses Expense Policy. TOP

20. We know your "real" email address. Is it okay to write you there?

No. Please use the established email addresses provided on the web site. This ensures that all members of our committee are properly copied on your messages. Our response quality will invariably be higher if you respect this convention. TOP

21. Our company has a great new product that is of general interest to the SIGGRAPH community. Can we submit the product announcement as a course?

Please don't. It will be rejected since its topic does not fit any of the submission categories. TOP

Upon Acceptance

22. Our course was accepted. Now it is time to submit our Course Notes. Unfortunately, we have not had time to complete everything to the level of examples that we submitted during the review process. This will be okay, right?

No. We may have a serious problem. If the final course materials fail to meet or exceed the quality of the accepted proposal, the Courses Chair may elect to cancel your course. TOP

23. I'm a course organizer who has one or more lecturers who have not completed their Course Notes. Your publication deadline is fast approaching. Can we have an extension?

No. Unfortunately, all deadlines for the Courses program (proposal, course notes, etc.) are closely tied to publication and production. They cannot be extended. In absolute worst -case scenarios, the Courses Chair may elect to cancel your course. TOP

Program Background and Insights

24. What is the history of SIGGRAPH Courses?

2005 will be the 29th year of SIGGRAPH Courses. The annual conference has a long tradition of workshops, tutorials, and courses throughout its history. During those years, the Courses program has grown in format, style, and content. Today's formats include full-day, half-day, and tutorial (1.75 hour) presentation sessions. Recent presentations have expanded to include hands-on participatory content, intranet wireless interactive content, and special-venue presentations. Course materials have advanced from simple paper handouts to printed notebooks to sophisticated, media-rich digital materials on optical storage.

SIGGRAPH Courses are exciting forums for learning and exchange at the conference. Courses offer in-depth examinations of a wide variety of topics in computer graphics and interactive techniques. They are also excellent magnets for individuals with matching interests. Time spent at course breaks, receptions, and even hallway conversations can sometimes reveal powerful opportunities for collaboration between course colleagues. TOP

25. Can you tell me more about the review process?

The SIGGRAPH 2005 Courses Committee represents only a small fraction of the dedicated volunteers who help decide the conference courses program. The process employs a network of qualified contributors to review and professionally evaluate each conference submission.

Each submission is targeted for five or more reviews to ensure a balanced evaluation perspective. Reviewer expertise is assigned for best fit, and any conflicts of interest are readily identified before the review process begins.

Once all submissions are organized and assigned, reviewers carefully read and evaluate the clarity and quality of the submission statements against numerous review criteria. More specifically, reviewers must evaluate proposal factors such as:

Relevance and organization of topics
Recognition and delivery of audience needs
Experience and effectiveness of presenter slate
Attention to submission details
Any course history and related improvements
Quality and richness of final course materials

Written and numerical feedback is reviewed by the entire Courses Committee and deliberated during the final selection process. Aberrations and opinion spikes are weighed appropriately so that fair consideration occurs during selection. (Consensus, rather than single opinions, decides the final selections.)

After hundreds of combined volunteer hours go into the deciding the conference program, the selection results are scheduled to determine resource conflicts. Shortly thereafter, the jury results are communicated and review feedback is provided. TOP

26. What makes a good proposal great?

Topics and proposals come in all shapes and sizes. Well-written proposals effectively communicate their ideas so that reviewers can assess the learning benefits to the course audience and community at large.

Strong proposals clearly answer questions like:

Topic
How relevant is this course to computer graphics and interactive techniques? Does it introduce new or emerging ideas? Does it significantly advance a previous topic? Does it support fundamental needs of the field? Is it timely with other events or practices?
Organization
How are ideas and concepts organized? Does the syllabus lay out an effective teaching plan? Are important topics developed with adequate teaching detail and flow? What goals are fulfilled by the end of the session?
Speakers
Why are the speakers qualified to present their topics? What roles do they play? How will they contribute to the presentation (speaking, course materials, etc)?
Audience
Do the proposers identify and understand the needs of their audience? Does the material match the appropriate learning level of the attendee? Do the marketing statements describing the course provide sufficient insights to help attract appropriate attendance?
Course Notes and Materials
Does the course-note sample provide sufficient detail to evaluate quality of information, flow, visual examples, etc.? If the notes are presentation slides, were they annotated with speaker explanatory notes to support post-conference review? Do they reach beyond the syllabus in detail? What type of additional support material was outlined (reference pages, source code, datasets, demos, etc.)?
History
What history does this course have with the annual SIGGRAPH conference or other events? How has it improved from those presentations? How recent were those presentations? Have previous SIGGRAPH courses appeared in this area? Does this add to them in new ways?
Length and Format
Does the presentation justify the length of the presentation and number of presenters? What are the advantages of the format proposed for the course?
Flexibility
Does the course offer flexibility to present a shorter format? If yes, does the proposal clarify the tradeoffs and losses due to the reduction? If no, does it justify the importance of the original format?

Conversely, some elements that weaken a proposal are:

Vague, Sparse, or Unclear Answers
Are answers to questions sparse or unclear in detail (summaries, abstracts, syllabus, prerequisites, etc)?
Incomplete and Missing Answers
Were all the requisite review materials received? Was anything missing (when required)?

TOP

27. Our proposal reviews were highly positive and outstanding, and we still didn't get accepted. Why is this?

Ideally, everyone would have a chance to present their best work at the conference. It would certainly make the selection process easier! Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Many great proposals do not make the cut because we lack rooms, resources, and schedule time. Besides any weakness directly identified in review feedback (weak syllabus, weak course notes proposal, weak presentation slate, etc.), here are possible reasons for rejection:

Excellent but could not prioritize high enough to accommodate proposed length.
Excellent but had no format flexibility to use a smaller time slot.
Excellent but did not show enough improvement over previous presentations.
Excellent but exceeded presentation resources.
Good but overlapped with better proposals in a given area.
Good but lacked strong or timely relevance.

TOP

28. Anything else about SIGGRAPH 2005 Courses?

The 2005 Courses Committee appreciates the tremendous effort that each and every volunteer contributor makes in preparing and submitting work to the conference. You make a difference in the quality and experience of the annual conference.

No matter what the outcome, we look forward to meeting and thanking you personally at the conference. Best wishes for a great course submission! TOP