A great thing about a conference is connecting with new people over shared topics. However, CHI is so big it can be a challenge to even meet people you know! This year we are trying to make it easier to connect with new people in a self-organised way.
This year, CHI has a temporary food court for lunch. You, yes you, can organise a lunch table on any topic that you like. Maybe you want to talk to other people about AR, the importance of explainable AI, something that was said in the keynote or anything else.
It’s really easy. In the morning, go to the registration desk and ask for a lunch reservation form. Fill it out and leave it on one table in the food court area. Then at lunch, simply buy and bring your own lunch, then go to the table and discuss.
Want to join a discussion table, super easy. Take 5 minutes to look at the topics on tables that are reserved, get some lunch and sit down at the table you want to talk about. You don’t need to register or know the other people.
We hope this will give all attendees both the chance to shape CHI and engage with new people over interesting topics. Its an experiment, and if you propose a topic or take part in a discussion, we’d really appreciate your feedback to pass forward to next year.
David McGookin, Joanna Bergström-Lehtovirta and Anusha Withana
Lunch@CHI Chairs
Email: lunch@chi2019.acm.org
