Demo chair duties

Demo Chair Overview

Conference Handbook - Demo Chair Overview

The Demo Chair is responsible for assembling the system demos to be presented in the main conference program. This includes selecting the Demo Committee (if one is needed), requesting demos, selecting appropriate ones, creating descriptions for the conference program, making sure that demo display requirements are conveyed to the Local Arrangements Chair, etc.

Two kinds of demonstrations are possible:

• resembling a conference paper: in a theater-style setting as part of the regular program,
• resembling a poster session: on tabletops in a separate room or in a hall, parallel to the exhibits but scheduled for a specific time slot.

Typically, system demos are meant for non-commercial systems.

The Demo Chair should work very closely with the Program Chairs, to coordinate the amount of time in the program available for demos, the meeting space, and the demo descriptions for the conference Proceedings.

Call for Demos

Some issues to bear in mind:

• Balance of demos accepted­topic areas, underrepresented or neglected areas, etc.
• Sophistication and experience of demo-giver

Information to Request in Demo Calls

It is suggested that system demonstration proposals include the following information:

• Demo Title:
• Author:
• System Description:
• System dictionaries and other resources:
• System software requirements:
• Demo Requirements:
• Hardware Requirements:
• Software Requirements:
• Internet Service Requirements:
• Systems Operations Specialist: (full contact information)

Sample Call-for-Demos

• NAACL 2001 Call-for-Demos
• ACL 2002 Call-for-Demos