Lessons from CHI: Part 2

First impressions are important, and everyone knows the "radio personalities don't look like their voice" thing -- just like everyone knows, "researchers don't look like their names." It's for this reason that you don't need to tell them. It's also for this reason that you needn't tell them what you thought they looked like.

I have a feeling my relationship with a young rising star didn't start off too well given my, "Man -- I kind of expected you to be a fat guy!"

This is a specific case of generalized concept of: "Oh! I imagined you to be much uglier," and the "Oh! I imagined you to be much prettier," human relationships lesson.

Lessons from CHI: Part 1

Two nights ago in the hot tub, these words sent me into the deepest spiral of self loathing of my short academic career:

Woman who had been listening to me trash another researcher: "Oh, I am ----'s girlfriend."

There are three lessons to be taken away from today's episode:

1. Never wear identification when possible (i.e. do not be the "I wear my conference badge even when I'm not at the conference" guy).
2. Give false identifying information where necessary (e.g. "I am Paul Dourish").
3. Refrain from "constructively criticising" other researchers unless full privacy is assured (i.e. do a full 360 degree scout, and post a guard if necessary -- undergrads are appropriate for the guard task).

CHI 2006 Memories

CHI 2006 was, without question, the best conference I have ever attended. Aside from really having a group of close friends to spend time with, I got to meet many of the famous HCI people under good circumstances, present my first paper to the CHI audience, and acted out a great (humourous) bit that actually got people to laugh! This entry will not be of interest to the general audience.

I had a great time with the likes of C, M, K, P, C, S, and A, just talking about research work in general, chatting about personal stuff, and doing things like staying up way past my bedtime, and playing cards like there was no tomorrow. We experienced Montreal, experiencing the juxtaposition and contrast of the new and old, quiet and loud, conservative and liberal, all first hand and in person and with one another. I liked Old Montreal's beautiful streets and cute little shops, the delicious and overpriced food, the grand solemn power of le Bascillica Notre Dam, and the excellent buskers that we heard playing just about everywhere.

I liked that I could meet many of the great HCI researchers, finally feeling like I was "worthy" somehow, and discovering that they were (for the most part), wonderful people who would have talked to me before had I had the courage earlier. Even more encouraging was that they were all helpful, providing insightful points of discussion and thought. I really appreciated that, and now respect the CHI community and its senior members all the more. Thanks -- I really appreciated it.

At the beginning of each day, presenters have 40s to motivate attendees to their talks (40s multiplied by the # of papers in a day = 30 minutes!). My mad minute went off beautifully. I capitalized on the word "coupling" in my paper title. Roughly, the thing went something like this (as I said, it was something of a performance, so there were acting notes in my notes).

Costume: Nice neat shirt -- just like the one a first-time presenter would wear.
Shuffle up to the podium, look around nervously, and breathe out as if nervous.
Take a deep breath, slowly reach into shirt pocket and pull out a small paper napkin as if it had notes.
(Speaking slowly, as if to read, looking up and down between paper and audience -- as if to deliberately "make eye contact.") Hi... My name is Tony, and I'm interested in (move closer to microphone so the word comes out awkwardly loud) coupling... (pause briefly) ... on tabletops. (move away from microphone) If you are also interested in coupling ... on tabletops, please meet me in room 516ab at 11:30.
(If no laughter) Pause for laughter
(Switch to more normal tone, smile)
We will in fact be talking about coupling on tabletops, which is a way of describing how people work with one another. We will discuss how thinking of working together as "tightly coupled" and "loosely coupled" may not be the best descriptor of group work.

Reports from my spies in the audience tell me that I successfully made everyone feel uncomfortable and sympathetic for me (an acquaintence told me, "I just thought you were going to BOMB and I kept thinking: come on man, come on man! You can do it!"). And everyone laughed! It was brilliant. Big thanks to C, S and K for helping me practice and polish the mini-presentation. I especially liked that the next guy actually pushed me off the stage -- it was quite comedic.

The talk went over quite well. Admittedly, it was a bit of a rollercoaster -- there were a few times when I lost my place in the one-man monologue, but it was largely smooth and went off without too much of a hitch. I liked that most of my jokes went off without too much of a hitch, but I will admittedly need to more carefully construct them so that they are more concise... perhaps, I wasted a little too much time on jokes. Aside from the usual rounds of pats on the back, I was especially pleased with three comments, "You have a very relaxed, conversational tone", "It was excellent that you simplified, interpreted and walked through the results", and "My own talk would have been so much different -- your talk went balls out with the jokes, and I realised that I could, too."

The amazing thing was that after the talk, several people came up to speak to me in private. Amazingly, one of them said, "Yes, I actually want to talk to you about your prior work." To my blank stare, he followed up, "... on VideoArms." I looked at him, laughed, and said, "So you're the 'other guy' that read that work?" Along those lines, I also met the guy who was the first to cite my work in a published paper. Brilliant! :-) (To the non-geeks, a citation is academic equivalent of someone giving you a digg or positive feedback on ebay.

This CHI was undeniably the best CHI that I have been at. What I discovered this time was that it's really about the people at CHI and the chance to meet and talk with them and get their feedback on work. It is this that makes CHI and conferences worth attending.

Quotes/Memories that Might Grow Up to be Entries

• "Hey Tony, don't get up. Stay in bed." - M, from the, "Out of context quotes" department
• "There's nothing significant about this graph," from the, "Think about what you say" and "Clever presentation jokes" departments
• "Right on schedule," - A, from the "Clever things to say when your demo crashes" department
• "You know, if you want to sleep with me, you should just up and say it. There is no need to concoct all of these so-called circumstances where sleeping next to me quote-unquote is the only solution to the problem," - C (A BOY), responding to my latest attempt to help out another (potentially roomless) friend
• The student conference fee was ridiculous this year -- especially given the lavish circumstances the student volunteers (chosen by a random process) experienced. The surplus should have been used to help other students, or even better, they shouldn't have gone up at all. -- from the "Bitch about the organization" department
• "Tony, you're so trustworthy," - K, from the "How best can I capitalize on this misplaced faith" department
• "Tony! So glad to see you," - S (x2!), from the "OMG someone famous recognized me" department
• "Boo!" - Me and C, from the "pwning random strangers in the elevator while not not scaring our own friends" and "Worst imagined case scenario" departments
• "Man! Whoever knew CHI would be such a babefest!" - C, from the "New grad student stuck in a male-dominated program" department, via IM

In the next few entries, look for a series on "CHI Lessons" that I learned this year.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

My friends invited C and I to Shiru-Bay Chopstick Cafe, which is not my usual fare of go big or go home.

C: I don't know if you like this place.
T: How come?
C: Well, it's not really your kind of place.
T: Huh? How so?
C: I went there with some friends, and ... yeah, it's really not your kind of place.
T: What do you mean?
C: Well, it's for people with delicate palates.
T: What! Are you saying that I'm not good enough to eat there?
C: Things are a very delicate and tasty.
T: ...
C: Portions are too small.
T: Dude! You could have at least said it in a respectful way! What if I'd said, "It's for skinny girls."

So that it's clear, we were laughing about this, but seriously folks: better to blame the establishment than your partner.