Image credit: ACM SIGGRAPH Professional and Student Chapters
It’s no surprise that one of the moments we all look forward to most is the annual SIGGRAPH conference. Whether you attend in North America or Asia, everything from the innovative technical talks, imaginative art displays, and emerging technologies to the spontaneous hallway conversations with new friends creates a rare moment for many that keeps them coming back year after year. But what happens on Friday morning, after the event is over? The exhibition hall empties, the posters come down, and each person carries their own version of the week with them on their flights back home. Until next year?
Not quite! This is where the chapters community comes in — a home base for creativity and connection that isn’t limited to a single week each year. ACM SIGGRAPH Chapters in cities all over the world continue showing the best of our international network through events, collaborative programming, and community-building efforts that bring thousands of people together all year long. Chapter activities can take many forms, from screenings of the Computer Animation Festival Traveling Show, mini conferences, hands-on workshops, virtual portfolio reviews, and more. Each group brings its own influence, concentrating on topics including academics, virtual film production, or artistic exploration.
“My personal experiences with professional and student chapters over the years have shown me how diverse and resilient our community is. In my own student chapter at Indiana University, I found community in the graphics world that led me to my first conference experience in 2017. When everything shifted online during the pandemic a few years later, I expected that sense of connection to fade. Instead, the flexibility of the chapters community came forward to fill the gap. In events like the virtual chapters party and other online chapter events, I was able to engage with SIGGRAPH folks from all over the world without having to book a plane ticket. And now, as chair of the Professional & Student Chapters Committee, I help steward the efforts of these same communities through our grants programs, leadership development workshops, and opportunities for cross-chapter collaboration. It’s incredibly rewarding to see how chapters continue to grow and evolve while staying grounded in what makes them meaningful: the people who stay creative and curious enough to keep it going.” —Amira Malcom, ACM SIGGRAPH Professional and Student Chapters (PSCC) Chair
If you’ve ever left the SIGGRAPH Conference wishing you could hold on to that energy a little longer, chapters offer a way to do exactly that. With more than 50 chapters in our global community (and more on the way!), the PSCC helps build opportunities for students, professionals, academics, and practitioners to stay engaged in the field of computer graphics and with each other. If you want to find a local chapter in your area, you can search our global network here. If you’re interested in starting a chapter or getting more involved, reach out to us at pscc@siggraph.org — we’d love to hear from you.
