I haven't been to CHI for 11 years (so grain of salt).... It's an excellent conference for seeing how computer scientists interested in social software work. I learned a lot. However, when I went, it was a closed group very interested in small-group apps, even as the internet was flourishing. This, I hope, has changed. You get a lot of schwag for what you pay. The fees are aimed at corporately funded and computer scientists with bigger grants. Nevertheless I felt welcome. Indeed, I gave a plenary talk once. But... I could never get an article accepted in a refereed session. I grew frustrated, and I quit going. I was told is that because my articles didn't provide practical design principles. OTOH, like many rejectees, I felt the refereeing was obtuse and unfair. YMMV If you do send in a paper, please note that the deadline for papers is for receipt by the powers that be -- not (as in the social sciences) for the date of submission. I once got burned by this, howled, but to no avail. You play by Their Rules. Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________