I’m proud to announce that I’ll be organizing the Industry Track at SIGIR ’09. For those unfamiliar with the annual ACM SIGIR conferences, SIGIR is the major international forum for the presentation of new research results and the demonstration of new systems and techniques in the broad field of information retrieval.
I’m working with general chairs James Allan and Jay Aslam to put together a program that connects the information retrieval research community to the work going on in the hottest area of applied computer science.
If you have ideas about what you’d like to see at this event (topics, speakers, format), please let me know. It’s still a work in progress, but we will probably follow the example of the CIKM ’08 Industry Event, incorporating a day of invited talks into the main conference program.
The Noisy Channel 
10 replies on “SIGIR ’09 Industry Track”
Wow.
LikeLike
Fun! I look forward to it.
A day of talks is good start, but too often industry talks degenerate into a “we’re so great” pitch. Is there a way to facilitate more two-sided discussion between academia and industry?
I’d like to see more dialogue on industrial research problems and how they relate to what is happening, or should be happening, in academia.
LikeLike
Some of the sales pitch is inevitable, but I’m taking some steps to mitigate it. Beyond using strong words to discourage speakers from delivering a sales pitch disguised as a talk (and reminding them that such an approach will make them and their employers look bad to a sophisticated audience), I’m planning to suggest topics that encourage substance and relate to IR research problems that are being studied in academia (though not necessarily showing up prominently at SIGIR).
But you raise a good point. One of the take-aways from each talk should be suggested research directions that academics can pursue. Perhaps a top-3 on problems the speaker would like to see academic researchers working on, and why solving those problems would have practical implications.
LikeLike
Not sure what the company will allow me to do, but I sincerely hope I can help.
LikeLike
Whit, I appreciate the offer. I am planning to reach out to industry analysts, very much in the spirit of the “call to action” I made a few months ago.
I’ll keep folks here posted as the structure and content evolve. And, to the extent possible, I’ll incorporate suggestions to improve the event.
LikeLike
[…] in the information retrieval research community. My hope is that, through neutral forums like the SIGIR Industry Track, we can do a better job as vendors of keeping ourselves honest, as well as engaging academic […]
LikeLike
Apart from the regular industry talks, it would be nice to see a industry panel on certain topics.
LikeLike
[…] competes with Endeca, and I even invited a former EVP at FAST to attend. My aim in organizing the SIGIR Industry Track is to raise the caliber of discussion among competitors. I try to give credit to competitors for […]
LikeLike
[…] weeks ago, I announced that I’d be organizing the Industry Track at SIGIR ‘09. Some of you offered helpful […]
LikeLike
[…] FAST had some accounting issues that came out shortly after Microsoft acquired them last year, and it’s possible that Microsoft is simply clearing the deck of anyone associated with those issues. I’m just an innocent bystander, and my pedestrian concern is whether Bjørn’s new duties will prevent him from participating in a panel I’m organizing at SIGIR. […]
LikeLike