Disney Research's Mk Haley discusses her position as SIGGRAPH 2013 conference chair and looks ahead to the show.
Tell us about yourself from a personal level. I am pretty excited to be chairing the conference not only for its 40th anniversary, but, personally, my 25th conference in a row. Two pretty neat milestones. I have worked with some amazing teams both professionally and personally, and often interconnect my SIGGRAPH professional and personal worlds in support of each other. I studied design as an undergrad, and was pretty quickly attracted to the computer graphics and animation program that was just beginning at the University of Massachusetts. One of the first in the country to have artists mucking about with code and terminals and plotters, giant CAD machines, Commodores, and a lot of classes in the Computer Science and Math Departments.
Eager to do more after seeing the possibilities at my first SIGGRAPH in 1989, I went to grad school in Southern California, enjoyed some fine late-night hours with a donated VAX 11/780, and got to visit the JPL artists in resident program. I was thrilled to be asked by Walt Disney Imagineering, So lets get this straight, you are an artist who can code on a Unix box? Can you start tomorrow? It seems silly during this day and age to even specify that you create using a computer - it is presumed. But choosing to do so a long time ago has really allowed me some fun adventures across both my left and right brain.
What do you bring to SIGGRAPH in terms of this professional experience? As conference chair, I have some really unique insight into far more programs that one might, having served across many of the conference programs in some capacity already. I had a deep understanding of their strengths and opportunities for evolution. I also bring with me some business and project management models that suit the efficient operation and evolution of the conference well, and am working to integrate the business side of the conference more closely with the juried content side to meet the needs of not just the attendees, but all critical contributors to the experience.
What made you take on the volunteer position of conference chair? I was encouraged to, I was excited to tackle such an interesting challenge, and I certainly feel an obligation to serve an organization that has given me so much. Conference chair is a massive and multi-year commitment, and you have to have your employer onboard to support that effort before you can even consider it. I was teaching at Carnegie Mellon University and working with Disney Research when asked to serve in this role, and both were hugely supportive of the idea. Disney especially has single-handedly had the most influence on my being able to support the conference for so many years, and as a result, gain some really valuable professional development opportunities.
I was a graduate student when I started at Disney in 1994 (SIGGRAPH Orlando, super convenient!) and even as an intern, my management team took the lead to figure out how to shuffle our schedules so that I could support the conference and still hit my deliverables. I was authorized to have fancy things like a pager before I was senior enough to have one, because it allowed my team confidence that they could reach me while I traveled for SIGGRAPH. Disney, and every other company that supports team members volunteer efforts with flexible schedules or time to travel, are a huge part of why the conference can even happen each year.
From on-site volunteers, to content creation and serving on juries, this is a volunteer-run conference, and that only happens when industry supports it. I am forever grateful for that encouragement and support to volunteer in smaller, and now giant, ways.
What other SIGGRAPH positions have you held? Egad, there is a bunch . Started in 1989 as a Student Volunteer in Boston, and I saw some mind-boggling things that year (fractals, fur, and Pixars Knick Knack in 3D)! I had to come back. I have served as director for communications, as part of the Education Committee, as Student Volunteer chair in 1997, as Emerging Technologies chair in 2001, as director of Encounters in 2008 and 2009, was invited to be tagged a SIGGRAPH Pioneer after 21 years of work in the field, and now conference chair for 2013. This is my 25th year in a row volunteering in support of the conference in one way or another. (Yes, indeed, I have a lot of SIGGRAPH T-shirts.)
What can attendees expect this year at SIGGRAPH? Attendees can expect really focused and high-quality content. Each venue chair came to me with a specific plan for their program, justification for why it was a great idea, and focused outreach to ensure the highest quality submissions. Emerging Technologies, for example, had a focus on assistive technologies, the Computer Animation Festival strove to get a global and diverse jury to have as many lenses as possible evaluating the content. We have been sure to focus on the quality of the entire experience with our mantra of service, community and delight across every aspect of the planning, selection, and execution process.
For example, in the area of service, the submission and review process was streamlined for our juried content. All our hotels for the conference are within walking distance, and we are providing resources to our first-time attendees to help navigate what can be an overwhelming experience. In service to our community, we are tailoring a custom session to address the history and concerns of our members embroiled in the dynamic changes seen in the past few months in the visual effects industry. We are working to support those in our community who lost jobs this past year, and we are celebrating 40 years of the People of SIGGRAPH with a really fun app (http://siggraphpeople.siggraph.org). Add yourself! And delight is difficul
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
29/04/2024
(L-R) Mark Gatiss and Polly Walker on set
Monday 29 April 2024 Further casting is now confirmed for Bookish (6x70), a brand-new drama created by Emmy Award-wi...
29/04/2024
A groundbreaking initiative offering training and mentoring to 30 women journali...
29/04/2024
Even though we've been doing this for over 40 years, a spark of excitement r...
29/04/2024
L3Harris is delivering manpack radios to U.S. Army CH-47 Chinooks as part of the Air-to-Ground Networking Radio program, providing seamless, resilient communica...
29/04/2024
He writes in Defense One: Despite the near-universal acknowledgement throughout the U.S. government and defense industrial base of the criticality of resilient ...
29/04/2024
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/04/2024
Codemill aims to revolutionize media workflow efficiency at this years NAB Show by introducing Just-In-Time (JIT) playback technology in Accurate.Video Validate...
29/04/2024
April 29, 2024
-- TF1 Chooses Broadpeak to Power Targeted Advertising for New...
29/04/2024
LOS ANGELES Allen Media Group (AMG) has partnered with LG Electronics to bring 223 Local Now FAST channels to LG's free streaming service, LG Channels, avai...
29/04/2024
OTTAWA Ross Video has announced the introduction of Raiden, a data-driven weather graphics software that combines data gathering, processing, and visualization ...
29/04/2024
Panalux, a leading rental provider of lighting and power solutions for the motion-picture industry and part of Panavision's end-to-end service offerings for...
29/04/2024
Cobalt Iron Inc., a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced that it has received a patent on its technology for dynamic autho...
29/04/2024
SDVI, the leading platform provider for cloud-native media supply chains, today announced that Rally Access Workstation, a fully managed solution for editing in...
29/04/2024
Premier Sports, a premium sports broadcaster, has selected QuickLink's Remote Commentary solution for introducing professional, high-quality remote commenta...
29/04/2024
Glookast has chosen Jigsaw24 Media as the only UK channel partner to represent their portfolio of ingest and workflow optimisation products. The agreement, sign...
29/04/2024
Clear-Com played a pivotal role in the seamless coverage of the recent solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Leveraging its cutting-edge Eclipse HX Digital Matrix i...
29/04/2024
PlayBox Neo will promote its complete range of television channel management, graphic branding and playout solutions to EMEA region media content owners and bro...
29/04/2024
Lingo, RuPaul's word-twisting game show, returns for season two on CBS Friday, May 24. Two episodes air that night, and stream on Paramount Plus, too....
29/04/2024
ESPN and Amazon Prime Video are reportedly close to scoring television rights to the National Basketball Association, according to published reports....
29/04/2024
Judge Judy and Hot Bench, CBS Media Ventures' genre-leading court shows, have been renewed through the 2025-26 TV season in more than 95% of the country, Gr...
29/04/2024
Premier Sports, an Irish-based premium sports broadcaster, has selected QuickLink's Remote Commentary solution for introducing professional, high-quality re...
29/04/2024
The awards celebrate the craft of behind-the-scenes TV talent and the best programmes of 2023
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 29, 2024
The awards cel...
29/04/2024
The team at Milk had to create and deliver the VFX and environment work for the royal residences featured in the drama from scratch
By Jenny Priestley
Publis...
29/04/2024
CEO Bob Bakish is expected to leave the company as early as today, with a new leadership committee likely to run the company on an interim basis
By Jenny Pries...
29/04/2024
Albena Ivanova, director, media and entertainment and strategic products at CHAOS talks to TVBEurope about her route into the industry
By TVBEurope Staff
Pub...
29/04/2024
The acquisition gives Grand Technix the opportunity to expand its footprint in the audio visual and broadcast technology sectors
By Jenny Priestley
Published...
29/04/2024
29 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces James J. Robinson's debut feature First Light
First Light
Principal Photography is underway on Firs...
29/04/2024
Capitol Broadcasting recently became the inaugural company honored with inductio...
29/04/2024
April 29th, 2024 UNINTERRUPTED AND TRIBECA ENTERPRISES PARTNER FOR SECOND-ANNUA...
29/04/2024
Rebrand and refresh: SailGP talks bringing its graphics operations inhouse for a...
29/04/2024
Reflecting on a Storied Career: Sean McManus Looks Back While Keeping an Eye on ...
29/04/2024
Drones Take Flight Inside MSG: How Sky Candy Studios is Upping the Excitement fo...
29/04/2024
Back to All News
Netflix Announces a Diverse Lineup of Polish Titles to Debut i...
29/04/2024
Tonight on Smoke and Mirrors: Fanyana feels embarrassed about his sexual mishapDon't miss Monday, 29 April's riveting episode of South African soapie Sm...
29/04/2024
Talk about commitment. When startup SEA.AI, an NVIDIA Metropolis partner, set out to create a system that would use AI to scan the seas to enhance maritime safe...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
27/04/2024
On April 26, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik joined CNBC's Mor...
27/04/2024
PORTLAND, Oregon Audinate Group Limited, the developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, announced significant new additions to Dante Connect, its cloud-based D...
27/04/2024
TORONTO Bell Media has launched 10 English and French-language FAST channels featuring entertainment, factual, news, and sports programming. The new free stream...
27/04/2024
An extensive new analysis of the news segments in the broadcast evening news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS has found that broadcasters devoted most of their...
27/04/2024
GERMANTOWN, Md. EchoStar's Hughes Network Systems has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland....
27/04/2024
Harry Pappas, one of three brothers who founded Pappas Telecasting Companies in 1971, died April 24. He was 78 years old....
27/04/2024
ATLANTA and LONDON Mexican telecommunications and broadcast company Televisa has selected Synamedia for an overhaul of its broadcast distribution....
27/04/2024
Participate in the Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this surve...
27/04/2024
SDVI Rally Access Workstation Earns Two Top Awards at 2024 NAB Show
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
SDVI, the leading platform provider for clo...
27/04/2024
Berklee's Music and Health Institute Launches Community Health Musician Cert...
27/04/2024
Charter Communications reported higher first-quarter profits despite continued cord-cutting and competition for broadband customers....
Disney Research's Mk Haley discusses her position as SIGGRAPH 2013 conference chair and looks ahead to the show. 
