The 35th ACM Hypertext Conference took place in mid-September 2024 under the motto “Creative Intelligence”. The conference covers all aspects of modern hypertext research. After Hof (2019), Florida (2020), Dublin (2021), Barcelona (2022) and Rome (2023), this time the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, was the host. Lisa Eidloth, research assistant at the Institute for Information Systems (iisys), reports on her experiences on site.
“The HT, as it is often called, is a small, informal and prestigious conference with a long tradition. It has been held almost annually and internationally since 1987. Adam Mickiewicz University is one of several universities in Poznań. Its centuries-old tradition is reflected in its time-honored buildings, of which the Collegium Maius was the venue for this year’s conference.
The “Visual Analytics” research group from the Institute for Information Systems (iisys) was represented again this year. We traveled to Poznań with a total of four publications in our luggage. Claus Atzenbeck (research group leader), Daniel Roßner (doctoral student in the research group), Saeid Khoobdel (research assistant in the research group) and myself, Lisa Eidloth (research assistant in the research group) were there. For me, it was the first conference I was allowed to travel to. But this year’s conference was not only special for me – for the first time ever, a “Summer School” was held as part of ACM Hypertext.
Under the title “INTR/HT Summer School”, Claus Atzenbeck and Dene Grigar put together a program especially for interested master students and doctoral candidates in the field of hypertext and related topics. Daniel, Saeid and I from our research group took part.
Our trip therefore began before the official conference. On September 6, we traveled to Poznań by train. Together with five other participants from Canada, the USA, England and Poland, we took part in an interesting program two days before the actual start of the conference. The program included a welcome address by this year’s conference host, Mariusz Pisarski, presentations by the Summer School participants on their main research areas and interests, general information about the conference and the research field of hypertext, and discussions on research-relevant topics. The program also included a joint dinner and regular support meetings during the conference.
Image: Frode Hegland;
Part of this year’s ACM Hypertext Conference was also the “Workshop on Human Factors in Hypertext (HUMAN)” organized by Claus Atzenbeck and Jessica Rubart (TH Ostwestfalen-Lippe), which took place for the seventh time this year. There I was able to give a presentation on two of our publications from this year entitled Stepping into the Unknown: Immersive Spatial Hypertext and Harnessing Hypertext Paradigms to Augment VR Spaces.
Also on the second day of the conference, Claus Atzenbeck gave a talk on Unwinding AI’s Moral Maze: Hypertext’s Ethical Potential. On the third day of the conference, Daniel Roßner presented a study conducted as part of his doctoral thesis entitled PAIRWISE: From Spatial Structure to Knowledge.
Image: Frode Hegland;
In addition to all the presentations we prepared and gave ourselves, the conference naturally also offered us the opportunity for a lively exchange with scientists from different perspectives on the central topic of hypertext. As it was the first conference of this kind for me, it was a particularly good opportunity to make contacts and finally get to know the people behind the publications that you stumble across during your own work.
But it wasn’t just the five workshops and many interesting presentations, grouped thematically into so-called “sessions”, that were part of this year’s conference program. The motto “Creative Intelligence” was also impressively presented through practical work and creative-artistic explorations of a wide variety of topics.
Image: Frode Hegland;
I was able to gain many new impressions and perspectives for my work. I met interesting people, received a lot of positive feedback and motivation and made valuable contacts for my future work. Participating in the aforementioned summer school was also enriching for me in many ways – whether it was through making contacts, the dedicated support during the conference or the lively discussions Mentoring during the conference or the lively professional exchange with the other participants and the organizers of the Summer School.
One could now ask critically why scientists travel around the world to take part in conferences when it is now possible to do so without being physically present. My conclusion: Traveling is exhausting, time-consuming and can certainly be expensive, but nothing replaces direct contact with colleagues and people with similar interests. The personal experience of a scientific community is something very special. It’s not just about professional exchange, but also about a sense of community and sharing interests – especially in an international environment. This includes both professional discussions and a traditional “conference dinner”.
I should also mention that the ACM Hypertext Conference, which took place at Hof University of Applied Sciences in 2019, is still fondly remembered by many researchers in the field. The motto of this conference, “Tear down the Wall”, was emblematic of some positive developments within the research field.”
