Comments on: SIGIR ’09 Industry Track

By: Shake-Up at Microsoft FAST | The Noisy Channel

Shake-Up at Microsoft FAST | The Noisy Channel — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:17:57 +0000

[...] 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. [...]

By: SIGIR ‘09 Industry Track: The Details You’ve Been Waiting For | The Noisy Channel

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:14:37 +0000

[...] weeks ago, I announced that I’d be organizing the Industry Track at SIGIR ‘09. Some of you offered helpful [...]

By: A Word of Thanks to Thanx Media | The Noisy Channel

A Word of Thanks to Thanx Media | The Noisy Channel — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 16:01:04 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: Omar Alonso

Omar Alonso — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:40:45 +0000

Apart from the regular industry talks, it would be nice to see a industry panel on certain topics.

By: Enterprise Search: Beset by Marketing and Hype | The Noisy Channel

Enterprise Search: Beset by Marketing and Hype | The Noisy Channel — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:13:01 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: Daniel Tunkelang

Daniel Tunkelang — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:18:59 +0000

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.

http://thenoisychannel.com/2008/07/02/a-call-to-action/

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.

By: Whit

Whit — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:04:29 +0000

Not sure what the company will allow me to do, but I sincerely hope I can help.

By: Daniel Tunkelang

Daniel Tunkelang — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:20:45 +0000

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.

By: Jeff Dalton

Jeff Dalton — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:09:51 +0000

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.

By: Daniel Lemire

Daniel Lemire — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:41:32 +0000

Wow.