From: riander@well.sf.ca.us (Richard Ivan Anderson)
Subject: BayCHI (Jan 12) - ACTORS, AGENTS, AND SHOW BIZ - Spoonman
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link
Distribution: ba
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 00:59:35 GMT

                                      BayCHI,
                       the San Francisco Bay Area ACM SIGCHI
             (Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction),
                          announces its January meeting:

                            Tuesday, January 12, 1993
                                  7:30 - 9:30 pm

 
                           ACTORS, AGENTS, AND SHOW BIZ
                             Mark "Spoonman" Petrakis

                                       plus

                                 A HOLIDAY SOCIAL
         (a time to get to know your fellow BayCHIers over food and drink)


                               Xerox PARC Auditorium
                               3333 Coyote Hill Road
                               Palo Alto, CA 94304


Abstract:

What are the timeless strains that underlie our search for intelligent
agents? From the time the first pre-historic storyteller took charge of
the gang around the campfire, we have been moved and directed by certain
individuals with a gift for tapping into our imaginations and thus into
our collective will. What is the role of such action-inducing agents in
the quest for more effective digital applications, and how do current
developments in computer/human interface allow or impede the development
of that end? What is the nature of this thing called show business, and
how might our ideas make better use of the powers that underlie the
"show"? We will take a quick tour through the history of shamanic
ceremonies, religious rituals, popular entertainments and electronic media
that can help us in determining a more vital course for agent development.
 
SPECIAL APPEARANCE by none other than the Maestro from Mongo, himself,
the grand wazoo of the tool-brain dimension, the host and dream snake of
the Cobra Lounge, the CEO of Spoonman Industries, and undisputed Master of
the Spooniverse: SPOONMAN.
 
Biography:

Mark Petrakis dropped out of NYU, two classes short of a degree to pursue
the life of an itinerant poet and actor. Occasionally motivated by
financial constraints to seek regular work, he has managed to devote the
last twenty years to the development of original performance work in the
fields of  circus, opera, magic, comedy, and puppetry. 1987 marked the
first appearance of his bigger half, Spoonman as well as the first Cobra
Lounge, a radically eclectic performance revue. Since 1989, he has pursued
the alternating paths of performing arts and digital technologies. He is a
founding partner in pARTy/SCIENCE, an events production and design company
that focuses on developing entertainment applications for digital and
interactive technologies. A committed collaborationist in theatre and
television, he has also worked on the development of several
computer-based projects: TPTV, a QuickTime conferencing system, P3TV, an
Apple interactive television prototype, The Animation Sandbox, a
do-it-yourself animator, and Spoonman's QuickTime Digital Playhouse. In
May of 1992, he directed the Interactive Performance show for CHI '92
in Monterey.

***************************************************************************

     Coming Attraction: February 9

                  An Evening with Donald Norman

                              at Kresge Auditorium, Stanford University

***************************************************************************

                                About BayCHI

BayCHI, the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of ACM's Special Interest
Group on Computer-Human Interaction, brings together systems designers,
human factors engineers, computer scientists, psychologists, social
scientists, users, ... from throughout the Bay Area to hear and to
exchange ideas about computer-human interaction and about the design
and evaluation of user interfaces.

To join BayCHI, which will get you added to the mailing list for the
newsletter, enable your access to the jobbank, enable your listing in
and access to the consultants directory, ..., send a note to
SAnderson.chi@xerox.com or to BayCHI, PO Box 25, Menlo Park, CA 94026,
and we will send you a membership form.  Membership forms are also
available at the BayCHI meetings.

***************************************************************************

                         BayCHI Steering Committee

The BayCHI steering committee meetings are open to anyone who is interested
in attending.  The meetings are generally held the first Tuesday of the month
at 7:30 p.m.  Please contact any member of the committee for directions to the
meeting.

Chair/Program Chair    Richard Anderson    rianderson.chi@xerox.com
Vice Chair             Rosemary Wick       wick.chi@xerox.com
Treasurer              Ulrike Creach       415-423-0843
Past Chair             Kathy Hemenway      hemenway@sun.com
 
BOF Coordinator        David Rowley        rowley@varian.com
South Bay Interface
Designers BOF          Desiree McCrorey    Desiree_McCrorey@smtp.esl.com
OSF/Motif BOF          Lora Shirley        lora@askinc.ask.com
 
Dinner Coordinator     Kate Finn           finn.chi@xerox.com
Publicity/HFS Liason   Susan Wolfe         wolfe_susan@tandem.com
SIGCHI Liason          Don Patterson       patterson.chi@xerox.com
Job Bank               Richard Yamauchi    yamauchi.chi@xerox.com
 
Newsletter             Steve Anderson      SAnderson.chi@xerox.com
Elections/Newsletter   David Simkin        david@makesys.com
Tutorial Chair         Ellen Francik       epfrancik@pacbell.com
Consultants Directory  Scott Luebking      phoenix1@netcom.com

Member-at-Large        Clark Streeter      streeter@nersc.gov
UI Design Competition  Al Lee              alee.dr@applelink.apple.com
 
 
            BayCHI -- P.O. Box 25 -- Menlo Park, CA -- 94026
 
 
***************************************************************************

                           Directions to Xerox PARC

>From Highway 280, take the Page Mill Road exit. Go east one mile to Coyote
Hill Road (no light) and turn right. Go 1/2 mile and PARC will be on your
left. Follow the signs to the auditorium.

>From 101, take the Oregon Expressway exit west 2 miles to El Camino Real.
Oregon Expressway becomes Page Mill Road at El Camino Real. Follow Page
Mill Road 1.7 miles to Coyote Hill Road (no light) and turn left. Coyote
Hill Road is just past the intersection with Foothill Expressway. Go 1/2
mile and PARC will be on your left. Follow the signs to the auditorium.
Newsgroups: ba.seminars