acm sigcomm

This is an informal description of current accepted practice of choosing SIGCOMM Program Co-Chairs. While there is not necessarily complete consensus, this procedure has been discussed a number of times at the yearly SIGCOMM Business Meetings.

• The SIGCOMM Program Co-Chairs are chosen by decision of the Executive Committee. The Technical Advisory Committee makes (advisory) recommendations to the Executive Committee about candidates for SIGCOMM Program Co-Chair. Although we do not solicite nominations, people can also nominate themselves or others, to the Executive Committee or to the Technical Advisory Committee, as candidates for Program Co-Chair.
• It is possible for a member of the Technical Advisory Committee to be considered as a candidate for Program Co-chair. If a member of the Technical Advisory Committee is nominated as a candidate for Program Co-chair, that person will be asked to leave the room (or the conference call) while their candidacy is being discussed.
• Around the time of the SIGCOMM conference, the Program Co-Chairs for the following year should have been announced, the Call For Papers is generally issued for the following year, and the formation of the Program Committee for the following year is being completed. At this time, discussion is sometimes taking place regarding potential Program Co-Chairs for the conference two years in the future.
• In contrast with procedures some years in the past, the Executive Committee no longer chooses a joint package including the conference location, General Chair, and Program Co-Chairs. Instead, the SIGCOMM Program Co-Chairs are chosen independently from the choice of conference location and General Chair, and the Program Co-Chairs do not have to have any relationship with the geographic location of the conference. At the same time, it is understood that some attention has to be paid to the matching of the Program Co-Chairs and the General Chair, so that there is mutual confidence.