Workshops

Info at a Glance

All times are in Anywhere on Earth (AoE) time zone. When the deadline is day D, the last time to submit is when D ends AoE. Check your local time in AoE.

  • Organizer submission deadline: March 5th, 2024
  • Organizer notification: March 19th, 2024
  • Call for participation released by workshop organizers and individual workshop website up and running: on or before April 16th, 2024
  • Organizer publication-ready deadline: July 30th, 2024
  • Workshops can define a specific submission deadline as necessary to fulfill whatever selection process they have, but need to consider the publication-ready and early registration deadlines. 

Message from the Workshop Chairs

We invite you to submit proposals for workshops at Mensch und Computer. Workshops are a gathering place for attendees with shared interests to meet in the context of a focused and interactive discussion. Workshops are an opportunity to move a field forward and build community: a chance to find people who care about the same issues, questions, and research agendas as you. Workshops may address any topic relevant to the HCI community, e.g., questions of basic research as well as applied research, HCI practice, HCI education, new methodologies, emerging application areas, ethics, sustainability, or design innovations. Most workshops (half or full-day) take place on Sunday before the start of the technical program, but workshops can also be run on Monday or Tuesday. 

As Workshop Chairs, we will create a carefully curated list of workshops that reflects the needs and desires of the community. Please note that we might propose modifications and augmentations, such as suggesting that workshops be combined where appropriate.

The workshop should address timely topics and phenomena; therefore, it depends on the year in which topics are considered particularly relevant and interesting. The space and technical limitations will also influence the number and form of the selected workshops.

What is a Mensch und Computer Workshop?

Mensch und Computer Workshops provide an open forum for short presentations, discussions, or collaborative work on a specific topic. The organization of contributions to a workshop, from invitation to selection (e.g., based on submitted position papers), is up to the workshop’s organizers. A written contribution to the conference proceedings is possible but not a requirement for implementation. Please consider supplemental information about the publication below.

Two groups of people are involved in a workshop: the organizers and the participants. Organizers are responsible for the workshop’s topic, logistics, and final outcome. Participants are responsible for the content and discussion. The following outlines the submission and organization process:

  • Workshop organizers submit a workshop proposal to the conference (see below for content and format).
  • The Workshop Chairs choose which workshops will be accepted for the conference.
  • Once a workshop is accepted, workshop organizers are responsible for publicizing the workshop and soliciting potential participants.
  • Workshop organizers solicit participants for their workshops through their Call for Participation, which is posted to the conference website and includes a link to the workshop’s public website. The workshop organizers determine the submission format. It typically is a position paper.
  • The workshop organizers will review submissions using their own criteria and decide on the final list of accepted submissions.

Preparing and Submitting Your Workshop Proposal

Submission Details

  • A workshop proposal consists of two parts:
    • Your actual workshop proposal
    • The workshop information sheet
  • Online submission: ConfTool via https://www.conftool.com/muc2024/ 
  • Workshop proposals can be submitted in English or German. Similarly, the main workshop language can be both English or German.
  • Submissions and camera-ready versions need to follow the respective ACM templates and the SIGCHI Accessibility guidelines.

Submission Format

  • Workshop proposals should be no more than 4 pages single-column (excluding references; Latex: use \documentclass[manuscript,review]{acmart}).  Proposals should include the following: Abstract, Motivation, Workshop mode, Workshop activities, a 250-word draft of the Call for Participation, Organizers, and References
  • Submissions are not anonymous and should include all author names, affiliations, and contact information.

Workshop Proposal

Your proposal must be prepared according to the ACM Master Article Submission Templates (single column). It must be submitted via Conftool. The proposal must be no more than 4 pages (excluding references) and have the following structure:

  • Abstract: Provide a 150-word abstract to highlight the intentions and outcome of the workshop. This will also be published on the conference website.
  • Motivation: Provide a strong rationale for the workshop, describe the issues to be addressed, and state concrete objectives.
  • Workshop mode: As Mensch und Computer is mainly an in-person event, all workshops are expected to run on-site. However, organizers can decide to run sessions or the whole workshop as hybrid synchronous event, e.g., for participants who cannot attend in person. Please note that we expect workshop organizers to make their own arrangements to support their hybrid setup. Should you have questions about this, we are open to discussing specific cases individually. 
  • Workshop activities: Explain the activities you plan to do during the workshop (e.g., keynote, workshop paper presentations). Be mindful that activities may presume your participants to have specific skills or abilities (i.e., standing up, walking around, staying focused for a prolonged time), and consider alternatives or workarounds beforehand. It might help to share the detailed agenda and a request for feedback with your participants so you can prepare together. If you contact the DEI & Accessibility Chairs via accessibility@mensch-und-computer.de early enough, they may be able to offer assistance with this.
  • Call for Participation: Provide a 250-word Call for Participation that will be posted by you on the workshop website and on mailing lists to recruit participants for your workshop:
    • The format and goals of the workshop
    • The participant selection criteria
    • Requirements for participants’ submissions (e.g., topics to address, page length, format)
    • The use of Conftool as the submission system
    • Whether accepted workshop papers will be published in the GI Digital Library or not (together with all other workshop submissions).
    • The requirement that at least one author of each accepted submission must attend the workshop and must register for at least one day of the conference.
    • A link to the workshop website.
  • Organizers: Present very briefly the organizers’ backgrounds and relevance to the workshop topic. The first author will be the main contact person.
  • References: List of relevant references. 

The final workshop proposal will be included in the Mensch und Computer Extended Abstracts proceedings. The publication of position papers is optional.

Workshop information sheet

In addition to the workshop proposal, please fill out and submit the workshop information sheet, which provides us with organizational details that are essential for scheduling the workshops. 

Metadata Integrity

All submission metadata, including required fields in ConfTool like author names, affiliations, and order, must be complete and correct by the submission deadline. This information is crucial to the integrity of the review process and author representation. No changes to metadata after this deadline will be allowed.

Accessibility 

Authors are expected to follow SIGCHI’s Guide to an Accessible Submission. If you have any questions or concerns about creating accessible submissions, please contact the DEI & Accessibility Chairs via accessibility@mensch-und-computer.de early in the writing process (the closer to the deadline, the less time the team will have to respond to individual requests). Submissions flagged as inaccessible by a reviewer will have to be reassigned. Note that while we strive to match the best reviewer to each paper – the best reviewers for the work may not be able to review an inaccessible submission.

Inclusivity

Submissions should be prepared with an active consideration towards the respectful use of language, particularly towards marginalised groups, particularly around gender and disability.

Use of Generative Tools

All authors should be aware of the ACM Policy on Authorship, which articulates the authorized use of generative AI in submitted works. Text generated from a large-scale language model (LLM) such as ChatGPT must be clearly marked where such tools are used for purposes beyond editing the author’s own text. All authors are responsible for the content created by these tools, the use of the tools must be disclosed (e.g., in the acknowledgments), and the tool cannot be listed as an author. As such, authors are responsible for plagiarism, misrepresentation, fabrication, or falsification of content and/or references generated through the use of generative AI tools and could be sanctioned with penalties, such as a publication ban. We will investigate submissions brought to our attention and will reject papers where LLM use is not clearly marked.

Selection Process

The workshops are selected using a review process. Workshops are a juried track and the Workshop Chairs will select workshop proposals. Once we confirm that workshops have met a basic quality standard, acceptance decisions will be based on assessing how compelling the workshop will likely be for conference attendees and the overall portfolio of proposed workshops. 

The Workshop Chairs will consider several factors during the selection process, including:

  • The potential for the workshop’s topic to new insights, e.g., a new, organized way of thinking about the topic or promising directions for future work.
  • The potential for the topic of the workshop to generate stimulating discussions.
  • The organizers’ ability to demonstrate the proposed workshop is well-structured.
  • The organizers’ ability to demonstrate the proposed workshop fosters interactivity.
  • The overall balance of topics in the workshop program and relevance to the main conference theme.
  • The proposed size of the workshop and whether there is a clear and workable plan for facilitating a lively environment for discussion for all participants, particularly for larger workshops.
  • If multiple submissions are received on the same or similar topics, the multiple organizers will be encouraged to work collaboratively to merge them or differentiate them.

Upon Acceptance of your Workshop

The corresponding author of a conditionally accepted submission has to follow the instructions on preparing and submitting a final version by the Publication-Ready Deadline. If the authors cannot meet these requirements by the Publication-Ready Deadline, the venue chairs will be notified and may be required to remove your contribution from the program. The publication-ready version has to follow the ACM template. Should you need technical assistance, please direct your technical query to publications@mensch-und-computer.de.

Similar to workshop participants, workshop organizers need to register for the conference to participate in their workshop.

Before the Conference

Workshop organizers will be responsible for the following tasks during the time leading up to the conference:

  • Check the Publication of Your Workshop on the Conference Webpage: we use the data from the information sheet (title, organizer list, call for participation, and link to the workshop website) to create an overview of all workshops on the conference website prior to the conference. All other submitted materials for accepted workshop proposal submissions will be kept confidential until the publication of the Mensch und Computer Extended Abstracts proceedings.
  • Publicize Your Workshop: Organizers of an accepted workshop must set up and maintain their own website to provide further and updated information about their workshop. To have a successful and well-attended workshop, we recommend that you post your call for participation early and widely (e.g., publicize it on social media and relevant mailing lists, such as FB-MCI and CHI-ANNOUNCEMENTS).
  • Solicit Submissions from Potential Participants: While some organizers may choose alternate formats, a position paper generally outlines the author’s view on the workshop theme and the reasons for the submitter’s interest in the topic.
  • Select Participants: Choose participants based on the position papers submitted and your goals for the workshop. Workshop sizes will provisionally be capped at a certain size of participants to allow the workshop to be hosted in the conference venue. In such cases, the registration system will not allow more participants to register for your workshop. Under special circumstances, please contact the Workshop Chairs to inquire if a larger size of your accepted workshop might be possible. 
  • Distribute Accepted Workshop Submissions and Pre-Workshop Materials: Materials and accepted submissions should be accessible to participants at least 1 week before the workshop day.
  • Develop a final agenda of workshop activities. Be mindful that activities may presume your participants to have specific skills or abilities (i.e., standing up, walking around, staying focused for a prolonged time) and consider alternatives or workarounds beforehand. It might help to share the detailed agenda and a request for feedback with your participants so you can prepare together.
  • Develop a plan for any follow-up activities.

At the Conference

The workshop organizers are expected to facilitate discussion, help maintain productive interaction, and encourage participation. The emphasis should be on group discussion rather than on presentations of individual position papers. Diversity of perspectives should be encouraged, and discussions should be facilitated accordingly. All workshop organizers are expected to be present at the workshop.

After the Conference

Accepted workshop proposals will be distributed in the MUC Conference Extended Abstracts. They will be placed in the GI library, where they will remain accessible to thousands of researchers and practitioners worldwide.