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What is Siggraph?

SIGGRAPH (short for Special Interest Group on GRAPHics and Interactive Techniques) is the name of the annual conference on computer graphics convened by the ACM SIGGRAPH organization. The first SIGGRAPH conference was in 1974. The conference is attended by tens of thousands of computer professionals. Past SIGGRAPH conferences have been held in Dallas, Seattle, Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Diego and elsewhere across the United States.

Overview

Some highlights of the conference are its Animation Theater and Electronic Theater presentations, where recently created CG films are played. There is a large exhibition floor, where several hundred companies set up elaborate booths and compete for attention and recruits. Most of the companies are in the engineering, graphics, motion picture, or video game industries. There are also many booths for schools which specialize in computer graphics or interactivity.

Dozens of research papers are presented each year, and SIGGRAPH is widely considered the most prestigious forum for the publication of computer graphics research. The recent paper acceptance rate for SIGGRAPH has been less than 20%. The papers accepted for presentation at SIGGRAPH are currently printed in a special issue of the ACM Transactions on Graphics journal. Prior to 2002, SIGGRAPH papers were printed in the SIGGRAPH Conference Proceedings series of publications.

In addition to the papers, there are numerous panels of industry experts set up to discuss a wide variety of topics, from computer graphics to machine interactivity to education. SIGGRAPH also offers many full- and half-day courses in state-of-the-art computer graphics topics, as well as shorter “sketch” presentations where artists and researchers discuss their latest work.

What is the culture like at Siggraph?

Every Siggraph is different. The trade shows that are held in Los Angeles tend to be a little more predictable in culture and attendees since most of the industry is concentrated in this region. When Siggraph is held on the east coast more attendees come from Europe than the States which gives the show an interesting edge. Also, there will be more students and high level management and executives at this show since most of the artists do not want to spend the money to fly so far from home base, usually being LA or California. However, Siggraph is always a very large show no matter where it is held and full of everything from the latest technical tools, papers and scientific advances for computer graphics and animation to the Electronic Theater, Art Shows and fun parties in the evening where people can let their hair down.

Where can I meet other artists attending Siggraph?

The best place to meet other artists are the BOF (Birds of a Feather) meetings that the artists – themselves, organize. Here is a link to the search results at the Siggraph site, it changes each year, so its best to just do a search for the year you are attending.

Some of the best places to find out what is going on socially at Siggraph are on the forums and boards. Here are some links to chat online about artists meeting each other at Siggraph.

CG Talk Forums – Usually has lots of threads about the event. From presenters to parties!
CG CHAR BOF – Find the Siggraph Thread
Finally, a simple Google Search can give you pretty good results for BOF as well.

Does everyone hand out to everyone they meet…a demo reel or business card?

“Yes” on the business cards and “No” to reels. You should have something on your person – like a business card – that makes it easy to give people your contact information. The briefest encounter can have a HUGE impact on your career, so do not take “chance meetings” lightly! Take care in presenting yourself in a professional manner and ask your “new friend” about what they are working on, so you can find some common ground. Even if you just have a pad of paper and a pen, make sure you are able to give you contact info to others. If you have cards, write your local hotel information on the back so they can contact you for interviews during their stay.

“No” to handing a reel to everyone you meet. That is counter productive and a waste. If you intend to look for work at Siggraph you should research who will be recruiting there, research the positions they are looking to fill and finally learn something about the studios you plan to approach. Next, you should send a reel, resume and cover letter one week before the show. You should have reel with you as well at the show, but by getting your work in front of these folks (either electronically or by snail mail) you will be one step ahead of the competition. The people collecting reels at Siggraph have hundreds of them in boxes at the hotel and your can get lost in the shuffle.

If you contact the studios first and let them know where you are staying and when you will be there, you are more likely to set up an interview while you are at the show. This is especially important to people who are not located in California. The studios prioritize if you are “local” (meaning if you live near their studio back on the west coast) or if you live in Chicago, for example, and cannot come by the office to interview after Siggraph. They are more likely to meet with you, so get a reel in front of them ASAP and make that interview happen!

Finally, get your reel online. It does not have to be a public link for all to see, but have your reel online in a reasonable format and file size so you can point human resources to it. This will get your work in front of them much faster and the faster your work is in front of them the better. Put your reel on your Nano, Ipod or phone, whatever you have to do…so when it does come up, you can show them your work. Lately studios watch reels online rather than off a DVD while on an interview, so everyone is hip to the new ways of viewing a demo!

Make a list of studios recruiting at Siggraph.

During Siggraph season (usually July or Aug, depending on the location of the event that year), the studios will be posting on most forums, websites, and overall letting their employees know to spread the word to their friends, that they will be recruiting during the event. The best way to keep yourself organized is to get a map of the show floor, and put a star next to each studio booth number that you will be visiting to apply. We encourage you to contact the larger studios who actively look every year ahead of time.

How do I get into the Job Fair?

Ah yes…the Siggraph Job Fair. The Job Fair is a very powerful tool, but here is the secret. Do not go first thing in the morning. Yes, if you go early…the people you talk to will not be tired and cranky, but you will spend all day waiting in line and its just like trying to drive in LA rush hour traffic…if you just wait a couple hours you will get home in the same time and not be frustrated sitting still for hours.

The job fair goes from 10-4 Tues, Wed and Thurs. Our advice is to walk over and check the line around lunchtime and again around 2 p.m. and then end of the day. These are times that the line should ease up. Also, if you have a bottle of water in hand that is nice and cold to offer the interviewer, that might get you some brownie points.

Parties

Back in the “old days”, most of the studios used to have huge parties during the siggraph week. Nowdays, studios sometimes team up with organizations or other vendors and have a big party. A few of the studios still have their own siggraph parties, but are by invitation only.

How do you get an invitation? Sometimes it pays to network, you may meet someone from the studio throwing the party and they can give you an invite, or sometimes there are postings about the parties online and you can rsvp. The main purpose of the studios throwing parties is to give the potential employee a chance to network with people in their studio, and overall have a good time.

One HUGE piece of advice I can give you is this: If you are new to the industry or overall dont have a lot of connections yet, DONT do anything stupid at these parties. You never know if the person you spilled a drink on happens to be the VFX supervisor, the head recruiter, or even worse..one of the founders of the studio! Always keep this in mind:

“Be nice and polite to everyone you meet”.