Q&A with Mk Haley

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

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