Diversity and Inclusion in focus at ACM IMX 2024

Summary: ACM IMX 2024 took place in Stockholm, Sweden, from June 12 to 14, continuing its dedication to promoting diversity within the community. Recognising the importance of amplifying varied voices and experiences to advance the field, the conference built on prior achievements in diversity and inclusion of IMX through a series of initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion (D&I).  This column provides a concise overview of the main D&I initiatives, including childcare support, early-career researcher grants, and manuscript accessibility support.  It includes participant feedback and short testimonials shared during and after the conference to highlight the value of these initiatives. 

To encourage a broad and inclusive pool of organisers, one method employed by the general chairs of ACM IMX’24 to prioritise diversity and inclusion was to team seasoned committee members with new members within the organising committee, this was done as a method to actively foster mentoring opportunities that support continuity and the development of future conference leadership. In addition to this, IMX’24 invited community members to self-nominate for various chair and organisational roles to make it clear that chair roles were open and available to all who were interested in being part of organising the conference. This call for applications was announced during the closing session of ACM IMX’23 in Nantes, France and, over a two-month period, the committee received 12 applications from which 5 candidates were selected to serve as chairs in various capacities. This inclusive approach allowed ACM IMX to engage with junior members and volunteers who might not have been reached through traditional recruitment methods, pairing them with experienced team members to ensure that they were able to build their network within the community and their skills in conference organisation and management. 

SIGMM support was used to enable the chairs of IMX’24 to introduce several initiatives to ensure that all individuals, regardless of personal circumstances, could participate fully in the conference. These initiatives had openly announced calls to all eligible community members who wished to attend the conference in person in Stockholm but required financial assistance. To ensure a fair and thorough selection, the IMX’24 Diversity and Inclusion Chairs, in collaboration with the General Chairs, reviewed each of the applications to ensure that the widest range of support could be offered with the available funds. Applications were evaluated on a rolling basis to ensure that participants were able to organise their travel and visa arrangements without the added challenges of time pressure.

With this support from SIGMM, Diversity and Inclusion grants for IMX were made available for participants, covering:

• Travel Support for Non-Students from Marginalised and Underrepresented Groups: This grant provided travel support for researchers who self-identified as marginalised or underrepresented within the ACM IMX community, particularly those from non-WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Developed) countries who lacked other funding opportunities. Priority was given to early-career researchers (such as post-docs), and those needing financial assistance, to compliment existing SIGCHI and SIGMM student targeted travel grants. 
• Childcare and Parental Support: This grant offered financial assistance to parents attending ACM IMX’24, subsidising childcare costs to enable broader participation and to cover expenses related to children’s travel, travel for a childcare companion, and on-site or arranged babysitting during the conference.
• Disability and Carer Support: This grant aimed to support attendees on extended leave from work due to disability, parental responsibilities, or other personal circumstances. Recipients of this award also received a complementary free conference registration. 
• Student Travel Awards: SIGMM also provided awards directly to students to support travel expences, enabling a broader range of participation and complimenting free registration offered for those students volunteering at the conference. 

The SIGMM’s special initiatives for diversity and inclusion enable IMX’24 to secure a keynote designed to foster a more inclusive dialogue. Delivered by artist Jake Elwes—a self described hacker, radical faerie, and researcher—the keynote focused on “queer artificial intelligence” and featured deepfake drag performers. Elwes’ work invited the attendees to reflect on who builds these systems, the intentions behind them, and how they can be reclaimed to envision and create different visions of a technology enhanced future.

In combination with support from SIGMM, a special workshop focused on engaging with research and researchers from Latin America as a region of interest was made possible through the generous backing of the SIGCHI Development Fund (SDF). This enabled researchers and workshop keynote speakers to participate in both the “IMX in Latin America – 2nd International Workshop” and attend the conference. A core objective was to increase diversity by broadening the IMX community through actively encouraging colleagues from Latin America to attend and contribute. This workshop also published it’s submissions as part of the ACM IMX’24 workshop proceedings in ICPS.

For the first time at ACM IMX, an external provider (TAPS) was hired to ensure accessibility of papers prior to publication. Finally, the conference offered a range of venue-focused diversity and inclusion initiatives, including the provision of all-gender bathrooms, pronoun badges, and approachable senior community members to support engagement. Care corner and tables were thoughtfully set up throughout the conference to provide attendees with free hygiene essentials such as masks, refreshers, hand sanitisers, sanitary pads and tampons. These measures highlighted ACM IMX’24 commitment to fostering a welcoming and accessible environment for all participants.

“During the closing event of IMX2024, we asked our attendees to answer a few questions that could help plan future IMX conferences. We asked everyone to share what future research directions could be included to address D&I at IMX. Some of the suggestions were to include the field of Humanities, to study usability among different demographics, and to understand how people who might not have economic access to technology could benefit from such technology. We also asked everyone to select what, according to them, is D&I at IMX. The options Everyone feels welcomed, Diverse individuals are able to engage and contribute and People from diverse backgrounds get represented and have a voice received a majority of the votes when compared to “Shape the future of interactive media experiences and “Research that focuses on diversity and inclusion in media experiences”. When asked to share how included they felt at IMX2024, 92% of the participants shared that they either felt included or very much [with some leaving the question unanswered]. They also shared how different aspects made them feel included. Some of the highlights were the care corner that was arranged to support the basic needs of the attendees, the social events, interactions at the conference, and the community. ” – Sujithra Raviselvam, IMX’24 Diversity and Inclusion Co-Chair.

The best way to understand the impacts of these supports is through the words of those who were enabled to join the conference by receiving it. 

“The grant received for IMX2024 allowed me to attend the conference. Having a young child is challenging as an early researcher, as you must, sometimes, sacrifice your career or family. This grant allowed me to travel without any of these. I could attend the conference without stress or second thoughts, and support my family during the few days of the conference. Thanks to this, I received valuable feedback on my work, followed interesting presentations, and did not miss my family.” – Romain Herault, childcare award recipient. 

“I had the opportunity to present our qualitative study focused on understanding the sensitive values of women entrepreneurs in Brazil to support designing multi-model conversational AI financial systems at IMX, followed by interesting discussions about it in the workshop organized by Debora Christina Muchaluat Saade, Mylene Farias and Jesus Favela. The conference was focused on the future of multimodal technologies, with many exciting demos to investigate, to make more accessible, and to challenge assumptions of real life through a multimedia lens. We also had a conference dinner with the theme of the midsummer celebration. I was amazed by its meaning; as far as I understood, the purpose is to celebrate the light, sun, and summer season with family and friends! I loved it! It was also an opportunity to explore the beautiful Stockholm city with new colleagues and meet current collaborators in research.”– Heloisa Caroline de Souza Pereira Candello.  

A total of 21 applicants received support through diversity and inclusion grants provided by both SIGMM and the SIGCHI Development Fund (SDF). This assistance enabled full participation in ACM IMX’24 and supported a diverse group, including students, non-students from marginalised backgrounds, early-career researchers, and Latin American researchers, all of whom benefitted from these grants and made up more than 10% of the total conference attendees – truly changing and undoubtedly enhancing the experience of all attendees at the conference.