Apply for the Gary Marsden Travel Award if you need financial support beyond what is provided by CHI. GMTA covers, for example, additional childcare at home or travel companion tickets for caregivers of infants. The application deadline when attending CHI24 is March 9th. See here for details: https://sigchi.submittable.com/.
Jordan Aiko Deja, Aimée Sousa Calepso and Martina Schuß, CHI 2024 Global Plaza Chairs
In the conference’s recent editions, the CHI Conferences organizers have introduced the Global Inclusion and Equity Initiative (also known as Global Plaza) to make the conference one step closer to being more welcoming to newcomers and inclusive to all. The organizers recognize that participants, especially those from the Global South, experience additional challenges and need extra support to join and participate with the broader CHI community. In this edition, Global Inclusion and Equity is even more emphasized given the location of the conference.
In response to this, the CHI 2024 Global Inclusion and Equity Chairs present to you again the 2024 edition of Global Plaza as part of the CHI Conference.
We invite you to continue reading below to find out more about this initiative.
The success of the previous edition
The CHI 2022 organizing committee had the vision to make the flagship conference of SIGCHI their most inclusive and equitable version yet. And to achieve that goal the Global Inclusion and Equity Initiative was formed. The team was formed by Susan Dray, Annu Sible Prabhakar, Cuauhtemoc Rivera-Loaiza, Marisol Wong-Villacres and Eiad Yafi, with the invaluable collaboration of Jones Yeboah. The main result of this initiative was the Global Plaza (GP) project, which had as its main objective to provide a space (whether it was virtual or physical), for the exchange of ideas and fostering cross-collaboration between all attendees.
It was a resounding success, with more than 150 attendees to all the sessions, most of them over Zoom, and one on-site. In every session there was an evident demand of having this type of space available for everyone to join in. We hope that GP can become a tradition in all CHI conferences going forward. And this 2024, we intend to continue this initiative further.
What’s in store for this year
One of the Global Plaza goals is to make the conference more inclusive to those who need it and to provide a welcoming environment to those from underrepresented backgrounds. We have prepared the following events for you in this edition which will take place both in-person and virtually:
- Showcase research from Student (Game/Design/Research) Competitions.
- Language-Exchange and Language-specific sessions (we have expanded our language and region-specific sessions to more languages. See below.)
- Conversations with SIGCHI executive members and researchers from other regions
- Opportunities for collaboration and networking with chapters and researchers in nearby regions
Schedule of Sessions
Global Plaza will take place in several (and multiple Language-Specific) sessions this year. Everyone at CHI is welcome to join these sessions. Global Plaza will take place at Pakaloka “Charlot” Courtyard Back. The sessions are hybrid so even those who are not physically present can interact with in-person attendees during the sessions. Given that CHI 24 is happening in Hawai’i, we did our best to find the time zones that can best accommodate various groups across the globe.
Global Plaza in English for the North American audience
May 14, 2024 (Tuesday)
0900am (Hawai’i Time)/ 1100am (Los Angeles Time)
Ambassador: Jordan Aiko Deja
Venue: Pakaloka “Charlot” Courtyard Back
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/96507634500
Global Plaza in English and Chinese/全球广场会议（中文普通话)
May 14, 2024 (Tuesday)
0300pm (Hawai’i Time)/ 1030am (Beijing Time)
Ambassador: Jordan Aiko Deja and Xingyao Yu
Venue: Pakaloka “Charlot” Courtyard Back
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/96507634500
Global Plaza in English, Spanish and Portuguese/Sesión de la Plaza Global (en español)/em Português
May 15 (Wednesday)
0900am (Hawai’i Time)/ 0400pm (São Paulo Time)
Ambassador: Jordan Aiko Deja and Steeven Villa
Venue: Pakaloka “Charlot” Courtyard Back
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/96507634500
Global Plaza in English and in Hindi/ग्लोबल प्लाजा अंग्रेजी और हिंदी में
May 15 (Wednesday)
0430pm (Hawai’i Time)/ 0800am (New Delhi Time)
Ambassador: Jordan Aiko Deja and Ankit Patel
Venue: Pakaloka “Charlot” Courtyard Back
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/96507634500
Global Plaza for the European Audience
May 15 (Wednesday)
0800pm (Hawai’i Time)/ 0800am (Central Europe Summer Time)
Ambassador: Jordan Aiko Deja and Martina Schuß
Venue: Online
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/96507634500
Support and Funding
We are working closely with the different funding mechanisms to be able to help those experiencing challenges in participating in the CHI Conference. We are currently working on securing support such as:
- Helping the young researchers to acquire their SIGCHI membership so they can apply for GMTA and get discounts when registering (especially for those coming from developing countries).
- Support for registration (both virtual and in-person).
How to Apply for Support
The Global Plaza Chairs are constantly seeking newer ways to help and support those who experience challenges participating in the CHI community. If you encounter specific difficulties or challenges, we invite you to submit them through these forms. If these forms do not address your issues, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at global@chi2024.acm.org.
I need Support: Click this link.
How Can I Help?
In the spirit of building bridges and nurturing connections, the Global Plaza initiative is also open for more volunteers who are willing to extend a helping hand in making the CHI Conference more globally inclusive. If you would like to volunteer at activities such as helping virtual attendants feel welcome at Global Plaza, spreading the word about this event, leading sessions in your native language, or have any new ideas for the event, please reach out to us via email at global@chi2024.acm.org.
