Spent the last day of SIGGRAPH taking in what we could of the sites we had missed. The atmosphere at the conference centre was pretty low-key as the majority of the attendees (I heard one of the conference staff mentioning that there were 20,0000 attendees this year) were packing up and heading home. Finally got a chance to take in the new tech demos. I remembered this was my favourite part of the SIGGRAPH 2006 conference in Boston and had really been looking forward to taking them in. The display area was a bit smaller, but didn't disappoint. Highlights included a dual projector table top, interactive display screen and stop-motion mechanical sculptures (see pics and video posted on Facebook). We also managed to take in the final screening of the animation festival, which was fantastic, and the SIGGRAPH studio. Most of the demonstrations were shutting down, but we got to get a close up look at the work created by some of the artists and developers whose presentations we had taken in earlier on in the week and Cara got to check out some new pens and tablets that were being demo-ed.
It was a little sad to say good-bye to SIGGRAPH 2008. Though it seemed to be a bit smaller (or maybe it was just that the conference centre was bigger?) than the Boston conference, there seemed to be a wider variety of presentations offered. Some themes I noticed being repeatedly mentioned included open source, mapping interfaces, the impact of mobile devices and the melding of technology with more 'human' processes.
We left the conference centre in the early afternoon and took the metro to Hollywood and Highland, which was saturated in hectic and disorienting tourist madness. Cara and I dutifully walked the Walk of Fame, snapped shots of footprints and impersonators outside Graumann's Chinese Theatre and hiked down to Sunset Boulevard for a quick peek before hightailing it back to the hotel.
Today (Saturday) was a much better site-seeing experience. Melissa and Andre took us down to Venice Beach where Cara and Andre surfed. We walked the boardwalk for a couple of hours which was every bit the circus sideshow we expected (wonderful). Then we went to the Pacific Pier at Santa Monica Beach and checked out Jeff Ho's surf shop. Afterwards we went back to Venice Beach for dinner at a Cuban restaurant. All in all, a terrific time.
Pics posted on Facebook:
SIGGRAPH album
Venice Beach
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
SIGGRAPH 2008, Day 3 & 4, August 13-14, 2008
Well, yesterday was so busy, I didn't even get a chance to post an entry. Crazy! I woke up early yesterday to attend a two hour course on "Spacial Grammars" which opened my mind to the realization that there's more to design than just balancing elements in a frame.
Afterwards Cara and I finished off the rest of the exhibition floor and had some lunch before taking in a three hour class on Computational Journalism. The class discussed, changes in journalism connected to Web and other electronic media including visualization and journalism (graphic representation of interactive graphs and statistics, interactive presentation graphics), policy and process changes, and user generated content. The presenters included representatives from the University of California, the LA Times, Current.com and Wired Magazine. The session focused on many issues associated with the use of new technologies in journalism including, benefits, techniques, resource problems, etc. I took far too many notes to post (sorry!).
After the journalism class, Cara and I dragged ourselves back to the hotel grabbed a quick sushi dinner, returned to the hotel and pretty much collapsed in our beds.
This morning, we woke up and took in a two hour panel discussion titled, "Design and Computation: Craftsmanship". The presenters were mainly artists and designers and architects who spoke about the works they produce (unbelievably beautiful), their use of technology in producing these works, and their thoughts about how their creative process relates to the idea of craftsmanship.
We grabbed some lunch around noon and took in a bit more of the Art and Design Galleries.
This afternoon (at this moment, in fact), I'm attending another three hour panel discussion. This one's titled, "Know Your Legal Rights: A Legal Primer for Software Developers, Artists and Content Creators". The panel is comprised of four lawyers who specialize in patent and copyright for electronically produced media. I've not taking notes as they have given everyone a handy booklet that includes all the presentations and related handouts.
After this presentation ends, we'll high-tail it back to the hotel and get ready for the reception tonight. It's being held at Dodger Stadium (Dodgers vs Mets). Should be fun. I'll post some pics on Facebook.
Whew! Tomorrow's the last day. It's a little sad to realize SIGGRAPH 2008 is wrapping up, but also a bit of a relief. The pace has been hectic and I need a break!
Afterwards Cara and I finished off the rest of the exhibition floor and had some lunch before taking in a three hour class on Computational Journalism. The class discussed, changes in journalism connected to Web and other electronic media including visualization and journalism (graphic representation of interactive graphs and statistics, interactive presentation graphics), policy and process changes, and user generated content. The presenters included representatives from the University of California, the LA Times, Current.com and Wired Magazine. The session focused on many issues associated with the use of new technologies in journalism including, benefits, techniques, resource problems, etc. I took far too many notes to post (sorry!).
After the journalism class, Cara and I dragged ourselves back to the hotel grabbed a quick sushi dinner, returned to the hotel and pretty much collapsed in our beds.
This morning, we woke up and took in a two hour panel discussion titled, "Design and Computation: Craftsmanship". The presenters were mainly artists and designers and architects who spoke about the works they produce (unbelievably beautiful), their use of technology in producing these works, and their thoughts about how their creative process relates to the idea of craftsmanship.
We grabbed some lunch around noon and took in a bit more of the Art and Design Galleries.
This afternoon (at this moment, in fact), I'm attending another three hour panel discussion. This one's titled, "Know Your Legal Rights: A Legal Primer for Software Developers, Artists and Content Creators". The panel is comprised of four lawyers who specialize in patent and copyright for electronically produced media. I've not taking notes as they have given everyone a handy booklet that includes all the presentations and related handouts.
After this presentation ends, we'll high-tail it back to the hotel and get ready for the reception tonight. It's being held at Dodger Stadium (Dodgers vs Mets). Should be fun. I'll post some pics on Facebook.
Whew! Tomorrow's the last day. It's a little sad to realize SIGGRAPH 2008 is wrapping up, but also a bit of a relief. The pace has been hectic and I need a break!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
SIGGRAPH 2008, Day 2, August 12, 2008
Another full day at SIGGRAPH! Cara and I attended a 2 hour class this morning on 3D and 2D animation. The instructor, Andrew Glasner, who has chaired the research presentations comittee at SIGGRAPH in the past, took the group through the process of creating a 3D animation film.
Afterwards we met up with my cousin Chris, who is attending the conference as an exhibitor and spent a couple of hours exploring the exhibition floor. I've posted pics on Facebook.
In the afternoon we took in an amazing panel discussion titled, "As the World Turns: Debating and Examing Online Digital Earth Technologies. The presenters included Theresa-Marie Rhyne of North Carolina State University who has been involved in a Google Earth virtual campus project at NCU; Dean Johnson from Western Michigan University who spoke about X3D ( geospacial mapping application) and the development of web standards surrounding geospacial applications; Adam Hill who explained NASA's World Wind Java an opensource application and opensource dataset component, and Michael Jones representing Google Earth who's portion of the discussion was titled, "The Power of the Geo-web".
After the Digital Earth Technologies panel presentation we went back to the hotel and Baasje's cousin Melissa picked us up and took us to "The Groves" (where segements of "The Hills" are often shot) for dinner and some shopping. We finally ate at Chipotle's, which Cara has been itching to do since we got here. Fun times!
Afterwards we met up with my cousin Chris, who is attending the conference as an exhibitor and spent a couple of hours exploring the exhibition floor. I've posted pics on Facebook.
In the afternoon we took in an amazing panel discussion titled, "As the World Turns: Debating and Examing Online Digital Earth Technologies. The presenters included Theresa-Marie Rhyne of North Carolina State University who has been involved in a Google Earth virtual campus project at NCU; Dean Johnson from Western Michigan University who spoke about X3D ( geospacial mapping application) and the development of web standards surrounding geospacial applications; Adam Hill who explained NASA's World Wind Java an opensource application and opensource dataset component, and Michael Jones representing Google Earth who's portion of the discussion was titled, "The Power of the Geo-web".
After the Digital Earth Technologies panel presentation we went back to the hotel and Baasje's cousin Melissa picked us up and took us to "The Groves" (where segements of "The Hills" are often shot) for dinner and some shopping. We finally ate at Chipotle's, which Cara has been itching to do since we got here. Fun times!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
SIGGRAPH 2008, Day 1, August 11, 2008
Well it's only day one, but we've done so much already that it feels like it's day twenty. It's a good sign.
Our flight was delayed yesterday so we didn't make it to LA in time for the Sunday pre-check in. Which meant we had to brave the line-ups today (which thankfully weren't too long) this morning.
Once we'd finished checking in we hit the Art and Design Galleries, which are fabulous this year. My favourite piece was called the "Dream Pillow" - an actual pillow that is touch sensitive and, depending on how it is touched (how much pressure, how quickly or slowly) displays a visual representation of a series of dream images. Beautiful. I posted a few pics on Facebook and would've posted more, but the volunteers were pretty tight about keeping an eye out for cameras...
After viewing about a quarter of the Art and Design Galleries (we'll take in more later on in the week). We got into line with about a thousand other conference attendees to enter one of the halls to watch the keynote speech and awards.
The key note this year was given by Ed Catmull, president of Disney and Pixar. Here are the notes I took while he was speaking (sorry they're so choppy).
“The story is the most important thing” – original idea behind success, abstract summary of methodology, became popular/adopted by others, original meaning became lost
Explanation of meaning:
What’s most important, great ideas or great people? – Great people – Pixar's development team switched from coming up with ideas to just putting together teams of people who work well together after it was determined that ideas were better generated by a cohesive production team.
Pixar's "post mortems", evaluation session held with the team upon a project's completion – success depends on ability for all team members to be honest (not deferring to others out of respect, not being polite). For this session to be productive, equal authority must be given to all team members. Not a pat on the back session for mangers to recognize employees' achievements.
How to create a healthy community / how to build trust:
Stronger as part of a larger community, participate, give back – not holding back ideas/resources and keeping them within the organization
Early identification of problems, authority given to all members to “stop the production line”, as a manager, not to have to hear about things before a meeting
Dealing with crisis – as a “creative team” every project being tackled has never been done before, therefore you should not be able to perceive the outcome (e.g. a successful outcome). If you do know the outcome, then it is not creative.
The goal is not to create success but to create pathways for dealing effectively with crisis when it happens.
After the keynote, we spent some time exploring the conference area and getting oriented. Tomorrow's a big day - we hope to take in quite a few events and spend some time on the exhibition floor. Later on in the evening Cara and I be meeting up with Baasje's cousin, Melissa who will be taking us out for an authentic California dining experience (our suggestion). Should be a good day. But first I need to grab some sleep in a big way...'night!
Our flight was delayed yesterday so we didn't make it to LA in time for the Sunday pre-check in. Which meant we had to brave the line-ups today (which thankfully weren't too long) this morning.
Once we'd finished checking in we hit the Art and Design Galleries, which are fabulous this year. My favourite piece was called the "Dream Pillow" - an actual pillow that is touch sensitive and, depending on how it is touched (how much pressure, how quickly or slowly) displays a visual representation of a series of dream images. Beautiful. I posted a few pics on Facebook and would've posted more, but the volunteers were pretty tight about keeping an eye out for cameras...
After viewing about a quarter of the Art and Design Galleries (we'll take in more later on in the week). We got into line with about a thousand other conference attendees to enter one of the halls to watch the keynote speech and awards.
The key note this year was given by Ed Catmull, president of Disney and Pixar. Here are the notes I took while he was speaking (sorry they're so choppy).
“The story is the most important thing” – original idea behind success, abstract summary of methodology, became popular/adopted by others, original meaning became lost
Explanation of meaning:
What’s most important, great ideas or great people? – Great people – Pixar's development team switched from coming up with ideas to just putting together teams of people who work well together after it was determined that ideas were better generated by a cohesive production team.
Pixar's "post mortems", evaluation session held with the team upon a project's completion – success depends on ability for all team members to be honest (not deferring to others out of respect, not being polite). For this session to be productive, equal authority must be given to all team members. Not a pat on the back session for mangers to recognize employees' achievements.
How to create a healthy community / how to build trust:
Stronger as part of a larger community, participate, give back – not holding back ideas/resources and keeping them within the organization
Early identification of problems, authority given to all members to “stop the production line”, as a manager, not to have to hear about things before a meeting
Dealing with crisis – as a “creative team” every project being tackled has never been done before, therefore you should not be able to perceive the outcome (e.g. a successful outcome). If you do know the outcome, then it is not creative.
The goal is not to create success but to create pathways for dealing effectively with crisis when it happens.
After the keynote, we spent some time exploring the conference area and getting oriented. Tomorrow's a big day - we hope to take in quite a few events and spend some time on the exhibition floor. Later on in the evening Cara and I be meeting up with Baasje's cousin, Melissa who will be taking us out for an authentic California dining experience (our suggestion). Should be a good day. But first I need to grab some sleep in a big way...'night!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)