Conference Information
Computing at CSCW

Wireless Internet Access

CSCW 2004 will provide free 802.11b/g wireless Internet access in (and just outside of) the session rooms (Continental A/B/C) and the Internet room (Marquette). This service will be available Sunday through Wednesday (24 hours per day). The network names (SSIDs) are CSCW-A, CSCW-B, and CSCW-C (corresponding to the session rooms). The network is not encrypted. Please exercise caution as any data sent over unencrypted networks is vulnerable to hackers and snoops. Additionally, the Hilton provides wireless access in the guest rooms and some public areas for $9.95/day.

Back channel Communications

There are two main back channel communication systems in use at the conference. Real time chat is available through internet relay chat (IRC) on the FreeNode network. You can use your favorite IRC client, or download a client such as Xchat (http://www.xchat.org/) for Windows or Colloquy (http://colloquy.info/) for Macs. Using your IRC client, connect to irc.freenode.net. From there we have four different channels for communication:

• #cscw - General conference communications
• #cscwA - Sessions in Continental A or International North
• #cscwB - Sessions in Continental B or International South
• #cscwC - Sessions in Continental C

For more information about using IRC, download this Introduction to IRC.

The other communication system in use is MessyBoard, courtesy of Adam Fass and Randy Pausch at Carnegie Mellon University. This system provides a virtual bulletin board where users can post pictures, notes, links, and a variety of other objects through a browser interface. We will have four different MessyBoards in use during the conference:

• http://www.messyboard.org/cscw - General conference communications
• http://www.messyboard.org/cscwA - Sessions in Continental A or International North
• http://www.messyboard.org/cscwB - Sessions in Continental B or International South
• http://www.messyboard.org/cscwC - Sessions in Continental C

We encourage participants to create and utilize other venues for communication, such as wikis, weblogs, and instant messaging. If you've created such a venue, post a message about it on the MessyBoard and we'll try to make sure it gets posted in the email room.

Internet Room

We encourage participants to bring their own laptops and make use of the wireless Internet connections. For those who do not have access to the wireless network, the Internet Room will have 4 computers for Internet access. The Internet room is located in the Marquette room on the 3rd floor of the hotel, and is free for conference participants.

Relescope

Researchers from UIUC and IBM Research have develped a computer program that given the literature in the ACM Digital Library, a specific volume of conference proceedings, and a specific conference attendee list, will generate individual reports for attendees outlining what talks they might be interested in and who at the meeting they might actively seek out. Conference participants can access the online Relescope project at http://www.relescope.com/cscw2004.

Relescope is a research project by Suvda Myagmar (UIUC), Stephen Farrell, Christopher Campbell and Paul Maglio (IBM Research). Neither the ACM nor CSCW are responsible for its content. Stephen Farrell is the contact person for questions or problems.

PDA Friendly Web Page

A small-screen-friendly version of the conference schedule is available at www.acm.org/cscw2004/pda/. We'll also be updating the PDA site with announcements and other information during the conference.

Presentation Support

For information about resources available for presenters, please see the Presenters' Information page.

Power

There will be few, if any, electrical outlets available in the technical session rooms (Continental A/B/C). Power outlets will be available in the Demonstrations and Posters area (Williford), and in the Internet room (Marquette). Electrical power in the United States is 110 volts/60 cycles AC. CSCW does not provide extension cords, power converters or adaptors.

Technical Support

Help with making Internet connections will be available during the conference in the Internet room (Marquette).

For an emergency computer repair, here are some resource locations. The flagship Apple Computer store is located on Magnificent Mile. You may want to see this store just as a tourist, even if you don't need apple supplies on your trip. A CDW retail store is located at 315 W. Grand (two miles from Hilton). A CompUSA store is located near Magnificent Mile (two miles from Hilton). And a Radio Shack is located on State Stree less than a half mile from the Hilton. This would be your closest choice for cabling and assorted emergency network gear.

Copying and Additional Resources

The Hilton has a business center that can provide basic photocopying and other services. If your needs go beyond, there is a Kinkos at 700 S. Wabash, directly west of the Hilton. They have PC and printing facilities within. They have a full line of copying services and a limited assortment of business supplies. That specific Kinkos can be reached at 312.341.0975 or at usa1044@kinkos.com.

Last updated: November 8, 2004