As CHI 2020 did not take place physically, full paper authors had the unique opportunity of disseminating their work as a remote video presentation. To maintain the format of a conference-like presentation, authors were asked to submit videos that met the following guidelines:

• Be maximum of 15 minutes in duration.
• An engaging presentation format. We recommended a full-screen recording of the slides along with a picture-in-picture video of the presenter, but also welcomed alternatives that took advantage of the video format. 
• Include subtitles for closed-captioning.

Dear CHI 2020 community,

We promised to give you an update on the possibility of a virtual CHI 2020 as a result of the decision not to hold CHI 2020 physically in Hawaiʻi.

In extensive consultation with the SIGCHI Executive Committee and CHI Steering Committee, it was decided that it is best not to hold a virtual CHI 2020, given the uncertainty of current circumstances. We are extremely grateful for the offers from the community to help; however, our organizing-committee volunteers have already invested so much effort into CHI 2020, and many of them are already dealing with additional workloads as a consequence of Covid-19. CHI aims to be a first class event for both scientific and social interactions, and we believe it will not be possible to achieve the expected level of quality in a virtual conference given the limited time available between now and the conference dates.

Dear CHI 2020 community,

In response to the decision to not hold CHI 2020 physically in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, we want to first thank you for the supportive messages we received and how understanding everyone has been. 

In discussion with the CHI Steering Committee, the SIGCHI Executive Committee, and the ACM, we have identified the best way to go about reimbursement. As this is an unprecedented event, CHI 2020 will refund all registration costs in full, regardless of whether you are an author or attendee. This includes registration costs for additional options such as workshops, courses, merchandise, carbon-offset, etc.

Dear CHI 2020 community,

It is with a heavy heart that we need to tell you that we, together with the CHI Steering Committee, the SIGCHI Executive Committee, and ACM representatives have decided to not hold CHI 2020 physically in Honolulu, Hawai’i. This was triggered by the declaration of the WHO that the Covid-19 situation is considered a pandemic. The health of our community is the biggest asset we have. Our thoughts go out to everyone affected and we want to express our heartfelt best wishes.

We are now thinking about what we can do about this situation, and are currently discussing alternative formats. We will let you know here as soon as we have more information. 

Of course, this is sad news, but we find that these uncertain times demand decisions that are hard to anticipate. We understand that you might have lots of questions and what this means for presentations, publications, etc., and we are trying to figure these out along with the CHI Steering Committee, the SIGCHI Executive Committee, and the ACM. Please have patience as we figure out the best processes and communicate them here to you. Soon we will also post here how to go about requesting registration refunds, etc. There is, unfortunately, no template for a situation like this.

We would like to express our appreciation for our CHI 2020 committee and everyone who has worked so tirelessly with us for so many hours on our conference preparation. Thank you so much for all of the work you did.

We are very sad that the conference will not happen, at least in its current format, with all of us present in Hawai’i. We would have liked to meet you all there to discuss HCI with you and have a get together on the beach. 

Again, we are both very sad about this unfortunate news, and our best wishes go out to everyone affected by the current situation.
Your General Chairs, 
Regina & Floyd

When reading this, we are sure you have by then become aware of the news coverage in terms of travel restrictions to the USA and also various additional travel restrictions by universities in the USA and overseas, along with the announcement of the WHO to call the current situation a pandemic. 

We had planned on posting a different blog entry, however, the recent events demand a different response we believe, hence we have been re-evaluating the situation and we will meet with all the stakeholders including ACM, the Executive Committee and Steering Committee representatives, etc. next. 

The email to all registered people that went out was an unfortunate coincidence in terms of timing, please understand that they are planned well in advance. Rest assured, we will post updates here in regards to the current Covid-19 situation shortly.

Thank you for your understanding,
Floyd & Regina

All of the volunteers involved with organizing CHI2020 are aware of the concerns around travel to the conference and the implications of travel disruption. A task force of representatives from the CHI2020 leadership, our logistics team at Executive Events, the SIGCHI Executive Committee, the CHI Steering Committee and the ACM have formed to meet regularly so we can respond to a rapidly evolving situation. We will be sending out more updates regularly.

The CHI 2020 is still scheduled to be held as planned. The safety and well-being of all conference participants is our priority. We are following updates on the situation from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC). In particular, the CDC has set up a website with valuable information to assist people with concerns about Covid-19 (Coronavirus), including information on transmission, symptoms, prevention, and treatment. We urge all attendees to keep informed on risks, precautions, and symptoms to make educated decisions.

• https://www.who.int/
• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/

Together with ACM and SIGCHI, the CHI 2020 conference team has outlined below in order to provide information in regards to traveling or presenting at CHI 2020.

A D-R-A-F-T of the conference schedule is now available for authors to check that they do not have any serious conflicts that would require them to be in two places at once.

https://programs.sigchi.org/chi/2020/program

If you see a serious conflict, please email the TPC chairs (tpc@chi2020.acm.org with the subject line “CHI 2020 program conflict”) clearly identifying the time and cause of the conflict, including paper number(s) for the conflicting items. Conflicts will be accepted until Wed Mar 4, 5pm PT, no further changes will be accepted after that point.

We respectfully ask that authors do not use this as an open opportunity to ask the TPCs to reschedule their presentation(s) to a more convenient session timing, or to request moving a presentation to what may appear to be a more suitable session topic. There are huge dependencies in scheduling thousands of items to be presented at CHI.

NOTE: that the draft schedule may change, so please DO NOT make any travel arrangements or bookings on the basis of this information!

Joanna McGrenere, Andy Cockburn, Ignacio Avellino, and Alix Goguey
Technical Program Chair Team
CHI 2020

We are saddened by the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) situation and our thoughts go to those affected by it. We are monitoring the situation, including the advice from the World Health Organisation and the US Center for Disease Control (CDC). In particular, the CDC has set up a website with valuable information to assist people with concerns about Covid-19 (Coronavirus), including information on transmission, symptoms, prevention, and treatment: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/.

Together with ACM and SIGCHI, the CHI 2020 conference team has outlined below in order to provide information in regards to traveling or presenting at CHI 2020.

Paper notifications are out and I’m sure a great many of us are looking forward to CHI in stunning Hawai’i, and perhaps already planning a ‘once in a lifetime’ trip!

For many of us, with an increasing awareness of the environmental impacts of especially air travel (and looming reminders of its consequences like the current Australian bushfires), we are realizing the challenges for on-site conferences like CHI. Considering if, when, and how often we fly for conferences challenges us all and certainly established academic practice.