Hi. I'm very excited about Sketching this year. We have a fantastic
group in a remarkable and historic location. Here is an update with some
information and a couple of requests for information from our team.<br>
<br>
CONTENTS<br>
- Please book your hotel room by June 28<br>
- Shirts and food<br>
- Presentations<br>
- Conference price<br>
- Contact information<br>
- Thanks<br>
<br>
CONFERENCE HOTEL<br>
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The conference hotel is Le Meridien Hotel in Philadelphia. It's a half-mile walk from the conference location. You can call or email Rebecca Fass at <a href="tel:215.422.8208" value="+12154228208" target="_blank">215.422.8208</a> or <a href="mailto:rebecca.fass@lemeridienphiladelphia.com" target="_blank">rebecca.fass@lemeridienphiladelphia.com</a>, and mention the Sketching in Hardware Conference to get the special
rate. They will be holding the rate until
next Tuesday, June 28, after that the rooms are subject to regular rates. This is by far the lowest rate you will find anywhere near the conference location, so please be sure to take advantage of it.<br>
<br>
SHIRTS AND FOOD<br>
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Please send us your t-shirt size so that we know how many to buy in what
size. If you don't send us your size, we're going to guess and can't
guarantee a shirt that'll fit you. The shirts are cool, and you want
yours to fit. If you've sent us your size before, we probably have it,
but please send it again just in case.<br>
<br>
Tell us if you have food preferences/constraints, especially allergies, and we'll do our best to accommodate.<br>
<br>
PRESENTATION TOPICS<br>
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One of the unusual aspects of the Sketching conference is that everyone
presents (yes, that means you). I would like everyone to give an 18
minute talk. The format is quite open and the content is up to you, but
it should have two qualities:<br>
<br>
1. It should be about something that is exciting to you.<br>
<br>
2. It should be 18 minutes long, and no longer. We are going to be very strict about time limits.<br>
<br>
If possible, we request that presentations should be on something that
you haven't talked about elsewhere. Also, we ask that biographical
retrospective be kept to less than 5 minutes in a presentation. In the
past, we've had participants present everything from reviews of their
recent research, to descriptions of specific projects from their
portfolio, to demonstrations of new devices and software, to describing
the work their students have done, to impassioned challenges to the
community.<br>
<br>
Your audience will be technically sophisticated, but not necessarily
engineers, so please calibrate the technical content of your
presentations accordingly.<br>
<br>
Because of the large number of participants this year, we would like to
encourage people to team up and present together, if it makes sense for
them. If you want to go this route, let me know and we will allot extra
time.<br>
<br>
In addition to the presentations, we have had panel discussions and
group conversations before. If you'd like to tap the brainpower of the
group in the form of a discussion question or panel discussion, send me
your topic and I will try make room on the schedule. Past discussion
topics have included the challenges of open source hardware and teaching
physical computing.<br>
<br>
IMPORTANT: please tell me what you're going to be talking about soon.
Abstracts are not necessary, but a title and a one- or two-sentence
description of what you're planning will help me plan the schedule. If
submitting an abstract is required by a sponsoring institution, please
submit one in CHI Extended Abstract format (<a href="http://www.sigchi.org/chi2010/authors/format.html" target="_blank">http://www.sigchi.org/chi2010/authors/format.html</a>), and we will publish it on <a href="http://sketching10.com/" target="_blank">sketching11.com</a> as part of the official conference documentation.<br>
<br>
This year I will also leave some time for "unconference"-style breakout
sessions on Sunday. Think about topics you'd like to gather a small
group of folks around for that portion of the event.
<br><br>Finally, tell me if you have preferences to speak in the morning or the afternoon, and I'll try to accommodate.<br>
<br>
To reiterate from the invitation: The theme for 2011 is Invention and Improvement. Benjamin Franklin clearly saw that
the trajectory of technology was not just toward incremental solutions
to known problems, but in creating opportunities that had not been
imagined. He saw that inventions build on each other, and work together
to spawn new ideas. This year's meeting will look at how invention and
improvement play off each other, where they conflict, and how
electronics as a creative medium has progressed since last year.<br>
<br>
PRICE<br>
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The price for this years' conference is $450. This includes meals, t-shirts and all supplies. We believe that
this is low for an event that provides all this, but if it's too high
for your budget, please let me know and we'll work something out.<br>
<br>
If you have put down a deposit, please PayPal $350 to <a href="mailto:paypal@thingm.com" target="_blank">paypal@thingm.com</a>.<br>
<br>
If you have NOT put down a deposit, please PayPal $450 to <a href="mailto:paypal@thingm.com" target="_blank">paypal@thingm.com</a>.<br>
<br>
If you have trouble with PayPal, or need to pay through another channel,
please contact me and we'll work something out. We can provide receipts
on request.<br>
<br>
CONTACT INFORMATION<br>
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Throughout the conference, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at <a href="mailto:mikek@sketching11.com" target="_blank">mikek@sketching11.com</a>. If you need an urgent reply, my mobile phone number is <a href="tel:%2B1-415-235-3468" value="+14152353468" target="_blank">+1-415-235-3468</a>.<br>
<br>
THANKS<br>
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Once again Justin Bakse and Greg Schomberg designed Sketching in
Hardware's website and t-shirt. They are fantastic designers, and a
pleasure to work with. You can find them at <a href="http://www.tsfim.com/" target="_blank">http://www.tsfim.com</a><br>
<br>
Phil van Allen and Art Center College of Design are our fiscal sponsors once again this year, and have been fantastically helpful. Thank you.<br><font color="#888888">
<br>
-- <br>
Mike Kuniavsky<br>
<a href="mailto:mikek@sketching10.com" target="_blank">mikek@sketching11.com</a></font></div>