HRILeadership:policyandprocedures
Oneoftheprimarytasksofthesteeringcommitteeistoplanthefutureconferences.
Particularly,thekeypartofthistaskistofindappropriatepeopleforprimary
positions,whoformanorganizingcommitteeandleadthepreparationactivitiesfor
aconference.
Thereareacoupleofissuestobeconsidered.1)Asthegeneralchairswillleadthe
organizingcommittee,theyshouldhavecommitteememberswhomtheycanwork
wellwith.2)Continuityistheimportant.PeopleviewtheseriesofHRIconferences
ascontinuousevents,andexpectcontinuityonmanyimportantconferencedesign
features,suchastheconferenceaim,scope,submissioncategory,reviewprocess
andcriteria,andformofpresentation.Thus,thesteeringcommitteeisresponsible
forsupervisingtheprimarydecisions(e.g.,primarypositionsandconference
design).3)Theconferenceproposalprocessneedstobevisibleandfair.
Aproposal‐basedprocessisusedtoproposeanHRIconferencelocation,committee,
etc.Thisdocumentstatesthedetailsoftheconferenceproposalprocess,the
conferencepreparationprocess,andtheimportantconferencerelated
expectations/commonsense.
HRIConferencePrinciples

Overallconferencegovernanceprinciples:
o Thesteeringcommitteesetsthehighlevelguidance,andapprovesthe
primaryconferencepositions(theprimaryconferencepositions
includethegeneralco‐chairs,theprogramcommitteeco‐chairs,local
arrangementschair,andthefinanceco‐chairs)basedonthesteering
committee’sselectionofaconferenceproposal.
o Conferenceorganization(generalchairs,otherchairs,location,etc.)is
providedbytheproposers,andthesteeringcommittee
selects/approvestheproposal.
Conferenceproposalprocedure
1. Thesteeringcommitteeprioritizesconferencelocationregions.
Currently,theconferencerotateseachyearbetweenNorthAmerica,
Asia,andEurope.
2. Thesteeringcommitteerequestsconferenceorganizationproposals
twoyearsandsixmonthsinadvanceoftheconference(e.g.,
proposalsfor2013mustbeprovidedandapprovedbythesteering
committeeatthe2011HRIsteeringcommitteemeeting).Proposals
areduetothesteeringcommitteeco‐chairsfourmonthspriortothe
steeringcommitteemeeting.Thesteeringcommitteeco‐chairswill
workwiththeproposersinordertoensureacompleteproposalis
prepared.Theproposalwillbesenttothesteeringcommitteethree
monthspriortothesteeringcommitteemeeting.
3. Theproposersarerequiredtosubmittheproposalnolaterthanfour
monthspriortotheHRIconferencesteeringcommitteemeeting.The
proposalistoinclude,ataminimum,thefollowinginformation:

Thenames,contactinformation,andqualificationsofthe
followingconferencechairpositions:
‐ Generalco‐chairs
‐ Programco‐chairs(includingallprogram‐relatedchairs,such
asVideoco‐chairsandLBRco‐chairs)
‐ Financialchair
‐ Localarrangementchair
‐ Publicationschair
*ItisusefultoprepareACM/IEEEmembernumbersatthispoint.
GeneralchairandFinancialchairshouldbeamemberofeither
ACMorIEEE.

Conferencetheme(or,ideasforconferencetheme)


Location(cityandproposedconferencesite)
Dates

Anymajorchangesfrompreviousyears(e.g.,submission
category,targetacceptanceratio,paperpresentationformat).
Individualslistedforthechairpositionsmustbeconfirmedintheir
agreementtoserve.Ifnoproposalsareforthcoming,thenthe
steeringcommitteeco‐chairswillsolicitnominationsfromthe
steeringcommitteeandthecommunity.
4. Theproposalswillbecirculatedtothesteeringcommitteemailinglist
fordiscussion.AttheHRIconferencesteeringcommitteemeeting,the
committeewilldiscusstheproposals,providesuggestionsfor
improvement,andvoteonapproval.Intheeventthatmultiple
proposalsarereceivedforthesameconference,theproposal
receivingthemajoritycommitteevotewillbeselectedtoorganizethe
conference.
*peoplewhohasaconflictofinterest(listedasorganizingmembers
inproposals)willnotvote.
5. Aftertheacceptance,anychangestotheapprovedproposal(e.g.,
replacingindividualsinprimarychairpositions)requiresteering
committeeapproval.
6. Thesteeringcommitteecanallowreasonableexceptionstothese
proceduresiftheexceptionsaidtomaintainthequalityand
continuityoftheconferenceseries.
DefinitionofHRIConferencechairrolesandexpectation

Basicprinciple:
o HRIfollowstheACMmodel.
http://www.acm.org/sigs/volunteer_resources/conference_manual/c
onference_manual‐toc
Unlessspecifiedbelow,wegrantthatcommonsenseforthechair
positionsandapplythegeneralgovernancestructurefromACMtothe
HRIconference.

Conference’saim:
o Initialguidance:

HRIistoremainasingletrackconference,unlessthesteering

committeeapprovesachangetoamultipletrackconference.
HRIistocontinuetobeaveryselectivevenue(e.g.,20‐25%
acceptanceratioin2009‐1020)inordertoensurethehighest
possiblepaperquality.

Overallconferencecommittee:
o TheconferencecommitteeshouldreflectthediversityoftheHRI
communityandbroadlyrepresentavarietyofresearchdisciplines,
organizations(academic,government,industry),geography,and
experience(youngresearcherstoseniorscientists).

Generalchairs:
o Thegeneralchairspreparetheconferenceproposaltobereviewedby
theHRIsteeringcommittee.
o Generalchairsshouldrepresentcomplementaryresearchareasand,
whenpossible,geographicaldiversity.Ideally,onegeneralchair
shouldbefromthegeneralgeographicareawheretheconferencewill
beheld.
o Generalchairsneedtobeseniorpeople1.Generalchairsshouldbe
peopleofjudgmentandvision,meaningthattheyunderstandtrends
incurrentHRIresearch,butseewherethefieldcangrow.
o Atleastonegeneralchairmusthavegoodmanagementskills.
o Generalchairschooseotherconferencechairs.
o Oneofthegeneralco‐chairswillhandletheprogramchairdutiesfor
anypapersubmissionsforwhichbothprogramchairshaveaconflict
ofinterest.
o Pastpractice:

Continuityofknowledge.
Itisimportanttomaintainconferencecontinuity.Thisisnota
requirement,butofteninthepastHRIconferencegeneralchair
ischosenfromonetheprioryear’sprogramco‐chairs.Itmay

bepossibletoincludeanAdvisingchair.
Inthepast,oftenonegeneralco‐chairwasselectedandasked
tohelpchooseaco‐chair.

Programchairs
o Programchairsmustbeabletoworkindependentlyfromgeneral
chairs,butalsomostkeepthegeneralchairsinformedoftheprogram
chairactivities.
o Programchairsmustbepeopleofexperienceandjudgment,meaning
thattheyunderstandhowtorecognizebothimportanttrendsin
researchandpapersofimportance/quality.
o ProgramchairsmusthaveservedinapriorHRIconferencechair
positionorasasteeringcommitteemember.
o ProgramchairstypicallywillhaveservedonpriorHRIprogram
committeesatleasttwice.

Sinceitisourdesiretobringinothersfromdifferentfields,for
example,itisalsoappropriatetohaveaseniorpersonfrom
anotherrelatedfieldwhohasheadedupconferencesandwere
ontheHRIprogramcommitteeonce.
1Seniority:therearediversedefinitionsandcommonsenseofseniority.Hereinthisdocument,wedonot
intendtorefertoparticulardefinitionofseniorityastherequirement,e.g.oneinUSacademia.Forexample,in
caseofapersonoutsideUSacademia,apersonwhoissimilarlyseniorintheirconvention/systemmustbe
consideredassenior.Apersonwhoiswellestablishedandwellbuiltreputationasaresearcherwouldbe
consideredasseniortoo.
o Programchairsmustbegoodmanagersandshouldrepresentvarious
researchandgeographicareas.
o Senioritymaybeanessentialqualificationforprogramchairs,
especiallysincetheymayberequiredtomakeunpopulardecisions.
o TheprogramchairsshouldbepublishedinrespectedHRIvenuesand
haveareputationasscholarsinthefield.
o Pastpractice:

Continuityofknowledge.
Itisimportanttokeepcontinuity.Typically,programco‐chairs
havebeenchosenfrompeoplewhohaveservedasprogram
committeemembersforafewyearsormore.

Inthepast,oftenoneprogramchairwasselectedandaskedto
chooseaco‐chairwithwhomtheycouldsuccessfullywork.

Inthepast,theprogramchairwasselectedindependently
fromthegeneralchair.Thispracticeseemsproblematic,so
frompreparationforHRI2013,thisguidingprinciplewas
revised.

Financechairs
o Thefinancialchairmusthaveexcellentmanagementskillsandwork
withtheconferencechairsandconferencecommitteetoensurethat
thedecisionsmadearefinanciallyresponsible.
o ThefinancialchairmustalsobeabletoworkwithIEEEandACMas
wellasconformtotherespectiveguidelinesandworkwith
representativesfromthesecommunities.
o Financechairsserveforatleasttwoyears.Duringthefirstyear,the
chairisasecondarytrainingposition.Duringthesecondyearthe
individualisthepersonprimarilyresponsibleformanagingthe
finances,whilealsotrainingtheco‐chair.
o Pastpractice:
 Thefinancechairwastypicallytrainedasaco‐chairthefirst
year,andthentookresponsibilityforthesecondandpossibly
thethirdyear‐‐traininganewfinancechair.Thereisa
learningcurveforbeingfinancechairandit'snicetohave
somecontinuity.

Preparingconference
o Seeaseparatedocumentfor"conferencepreparationprocedure/
expectations".