Come to Bath? Report on HCI2003 for UN? Read about the Keynotes here ...

It's time for the annual HCI conference again and UN is repeating its call for part-time reporters, which was a great success last year.

Are you going to be in Bath for part or all of HCI2003 "Designing for Society" (it takes place from September 8th to 12th)? Do you fancy turning your thoughts into a well-formed piece of copy for more than just the folks back in the office?

As well as a round-up of international HCI research and the chance to network with the academics up the road, there is Industry Day for the practitioners and some lively keynote speakers. So there is plenty of choice if you care to share a perspective or two. Get in touch by emailing editor@usabilitynews.com.

Details do not have to be finalised till the conference, but it would be good to know that you are interested. Specifically, the keynote speakers below have been confirmed for HCI 2003, and someone has already bagged the Minister, so if you do want to cover a keynote, better say so sooner than later!

* Bob Regan, Macromedia, Wednesday 10th September:
Bob is the Senior Product Manager for accessibility at Macromedia. In that role, he works with designers, developers and engineers from around the world to communicate existing strategies for accessibility as well as develop new strategies. He has a Masters degree from Columbia University in Education and is currently a doctoral student in Education at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. His dissertation research looks at accessibility policy implementation strategies. He spent six years as a teacher and technology leader in Chicago and New York City. Working with teachers and students across a range of ages and subject matter.

* Gordon Smillie, Microsoft Limited, Thursday 11th:
Gordon is the Group Director for Microsoft's enterprise customers across all partners and consultancies. He has been a member of the Microsoft UK Executive for over three years and was previously the Director of .NET Developer. Before joining Microsoft in April 1994, Gordon held various sales and management positions in Trinzic, IBM and Kodak. A Business Studies graduate, he holds a Diploma in Marketing and is Microsoft's representative in the House of Commons.

* Andrew Pinder, the UK Government's e-Envoy, Thursday 11th September: Andrew was appointed the Government's e-Envoy on 31 January 2001. He reports directly to the Prime Minister and works alongside the e-Minister, Patricia Hewitt who has overall responsibility for the Government's e-agenda. As e-Envoy, Andrew is leading the drive to get the UK online, ensuring that the country, its citizens and businesses derive the maximum benefit from the knowledge economy. After 18 years in the Inland Revenue, where he became Director of IT, Andrew moved to the private sector, becoming Director of Operations and Technology at Prudential Corporation, before joining Citibank Investment bank as head of European Operations and Technology. Prior to his appointment as e-Envoy in 2001, he was engaged in a number of new technology-related start ups and, as a partner, in a small venture capital firm.

* Hiroshi Ishii, MIT Media Lab, Closing Plenary Friday 12th September: Hiroshi is a tenured Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, at the MIT Media Lab. He co-directs Things That Think (TTT) consortium and directs Tangible Media Group. Hiroshi's research focuses upon the design of seamless interfaces between humans, digital information, and the physical environment. He is active in the research fields of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). He served as an Associate Editor of ACM TOCHI (Transactions on Computer Human Interactions) and ACM TOIS (Transactions on Office Information Systems).

Associated Link: Further details

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