The SIGGRAPH2011 committee has announced the first Keynote Speaker of the 2011 event in Vancouver, and it’s writer and creative-commons advocate Cory Doctorow.
“As an author, scholar, future-thinker, and creator, Cory Doctorow brings a lot to the table that should be of immense interest to the SIGGRAPH audience,” said Peter Braccio, SIGGRAPH 2011 Conference Chair from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. “His dynamic vision and creativity are certain to be interspersed throughout his presentation and will be a conference highlight for everyone.”
Now, I’m a bit puzzled about this choice, and frankly a bit disappointed. I love Cory’s writing, I loved Little Brother, but I don’t know of anything in his past or present related to Computer Graphics, Visual Effects, or Animation. His choice as a Keynote speaker seems to reflect a growing trend in the SIGGRAPH community towards “all the stuff around graphics and movies” (Sound, story, distribution) rather than any core development of the art and technology.
Or maybe I’m just getting cranky in my old age. What do you think?
Yes, the keynotes are getting worse, and for no appreciable reason. But I don’t care, since if they DID have someone good, I’d feel like I’d have to go. As it is now, the keynote is a great breather where a huge chunk of the crowd disappears for an hour.