A Somewhat Fictional Story of Mentoring

Friday, 6 Aug 1999

Scott sat at his desk running through a mental checklist for his trip: palmpilot, program, travel info, registration info... what else? S99 badge lanyard, S99 pin... can't forget the pin.

Everyone at the SIGGRAPH annual conference has their own style. Some folks like to wear pins from every previous year that they have attended the conference, others strived to get as many ribbons as possible and hang them as long as possible from their badges. Shoes, shirts, shorts, pants - everyone would be looking to stand out in the 45K+ crowd. Scott took a somewhat subdued approach to SIGGRAPH style. Typically wearing either shorts or jeans with T-shirt and sandals, Scott preferred a lanyard for his conference badge and liked to wear the current year's pin and the next year's conference pin in support of his friends doing the work. For himself, the ribbons that indicated how he had volunteered for this year was a source of great pride but not something he wished to flaunt. He wore all the ribbons that indicated his volunteer efforts, but wore them as short as possible to draw less attention.

He turned the S99 pin over in his hand. SIGGRAPH 2000 would be giving their pins out this year to advertise for next - that was the way of things, you could only get the present year's pin the year before. Scott rubbed his finger over the relief of the pin. By all rights, he shouldn't have it. SIGGRAPH 98 had been the first conference he had missed since Atlanta in '88. A variety of personal reasons, the most important of which, was the birth of his second child and his first daughter, had kept him away. Scott was also apprehensive about returning. A few years before, he had been considered a bright young enthusiastic volunteer. There were indications that he would be asked to chair a conference in the future and possibly be nominated for an executive committee position. A series of events and fallout had put a lot of these plans in jeapordy. Because of disagreements w/ SIGGRAPH politics and his personal conflicts, he had pulled his name from all volunteer consideration. Now Scott very much felt like an outsider. Two years of, essentially, dropping off the face of the earth would raise, he feared, a lot of questions when he returned.

He placed the S99 pin on the S99 lanyard and his thoughts turned to the past and future. SIGGRAPH 93 in Anaheim had been the first year he wore the current year's pin. That pin was the "Eye of Technology" and was bright and colorful. A lady in line at the courses reception that year had asked where she could get one. She had been taken by the design. She must have been a first time attendee because she was disappointed to find out that the pins were no longer available. Scott remembered seeing the genuine interest in her eyes so, knowing he had another pin at home, took the pin off and gave it to her. The memory made him smile. She was so taken by the simple act. He told her that it wasn't a big deal, that he had another, but she even so she was very appreciative. He remembered the good feeling of having done something simple and easy that made someone else, a stranger, feel good. Since that year, he always gave his pin away to someone he felt deserving. Sometimes the feeling returned; sometime not. Scott wondered who he might meet at S99 who might take interest in the S99 pin and be as grateful.

Wednesday, 11 August 1999

Just before lunch, a woman and her young daughter (about 6 yr old) came by the pathfinders booth looking for directions to the Electronic Schoolhouse. Scott asked them if they were looking for the SIGkids program, and it turns out that the young girl had a piece of art work on display in the Electronic Schoolhouse and that today they were allowing the children access to see their work hanging for all to see. How very exciting this would be, Scott thought, making a mental note to make sure he saw the display today in case he might have the good fortune to actually see the children while they were there.

Scott directed them as easily as he could to the Electronic Schoolhouse which was located two levels up in the 400 series of rooms in the LA Convention Center. It was then that he realized how special this time may be to the young girl, and it began with a simple question from the mother as to where they could find a lanyard for their SIGGRAPH badges.

Scott reached in the podium where they had stashed a few S2000 lanyards but could only find one. He told them that they could find another at the S2000 booth. That's when he really noticed the little girl. She was precious in a little white dress. The SIGGRAPH badge, her very own SIGGRAPH badge, was pinned directly to the center of her chest and indicated that her name was Gabrielle Banston. The badge looked so large on the small girl. She reminded him of his own little girl. The thought filled his heart, and he pushed back some tears.

"We'll get you one later, honey. Let's go find your teacher", the mother soothed the little girl.

Scott could see the disappointment in her eyes.

"Would she liked to have mine?", he asked the mother, forgetting that he actually had a S99 lanyard on.

The mother looked at Scott, torn between accepting or simply walking across the lobby or getting to where they needed to be, watching him begin to remove his lanyard and take off the several pins that were attached. "No, no, that's OK", she replied. Turning back to the little girl. "We'll get you one later. Let's go find your teacher."

At that moment, Scott knew that this little girl was the one he wanted to share his small token with. "Wait, wait, I have something for you. It is very special and you can't get them here.", he said to her. He took the S99 pin off the lanyard and handed it to the mother. Looking at the little girl, he said, "It is very special to have your work here at SIGGRAPH, and I want you to always remember being here."

The mother glowed with happiness as she pinned the S99 pin on the little girl's dress, "Oh look! How special." The little girl smiled at her mother and at Scott, and the hair rose on the back of his neck.

Scott remembered the lady in Anaheim, but nothing compared to this feeling.

Wednesday, 14 Aug 2013

Scott sat quietly on stage waiting for his queue, remembering at the last moment to take off his badge so that it wouldn't reflect in the light. As he took it off, he looked at the S2013 pin that was attached there. His mind drifted for a moment over many years and many changes and he thought about all the people he had known who floated in and out of his life because of this conference that he had dedicated such a good amount of his life to. At 48 he was beginning to feel like he was getting old for this crowd, but he still felt young and he still felt like he was contributing and most important he still felt like he was learning from all those around him.

As he took the podium, Scott's thoughts turned to his son, Nico, and how much the two of them had taught each other. Standing at the podium for a moment to gather his emotions, Scott began the S2013 Awards and Keynote session with the annual welcome from the conference chair. Echoing a theme that he had championed for years, Scott encouraged all those attending to be both teachers and students, to open themselves to the possibilities that others can show us.

Scott's son was in the audience a few rows back from the front and off to the left to better get a view of his dad. At 17, Nico was preparing for college. He had been to SIGGRAPH a few times before but this year would be his first year as an actual technical attendee. He was planning on studying both writing and computer graphics and wanted to go into digital storytelling. Scott's wife was also there. It had been a rough hectic year, but she was thrilled and proud to see him take the podium.

Also in the audience was a 20 year old student from Stanford. As she watched the conference chair take the podium, it occurred to her that she did not know his name, but as she listened she began to wonder if she might ever get the chance to govern such an event as SIGGRAPH. She had trouble really focusing on the speakers words but was struck by the notion of being both a teacher and student because that was exactly how she felt at that moment. Later that day she would be presenting her technical paper on "Holographic Actors in a Story Book". As young as she was, her research had already opened new and exciting doors for digital storytelling, but she felt like she was only beginning. She felt very much like she had more to learn than to teach, and yet there she was, preparing for her own talk.

She had fallen quite accidentally into computer graphics. She originally just wanted to be an artist. When she was young, she enjoyed using a computer to draw the images in her head, but as she grew she became frustrated with the tools available and struck out to build her own. One thing lead to another and her original desire to build a tool to better create the work she wanted had lead down a different path from digital art to digital storytelling. At her center, she was still an artist and knew she would eventually return to it. As she sat there, lost in her own thoughts of where she had been and where she was going with the words of a stranger floating around her, she absentmindedly played with the pin she kept on her badge holder, a S99 conference pin from the first time she had something accepted to a SIGGRAPH conference.

Dedicated to my own mentors:

Mark Lee and Sam Uselton at SIGGRAPH 96 in New Orleans.

John Fujii and Barb Helfer at SIGGRAPH 99 in Los Angeles.

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© 1999 Scott Senften