HFES 50th
Anniversary Planning Prepared by Doug Harris (dharris@anacapasciences.com) This
is an informal status report of efforts completed thus far toward recognizing the 50th
anniversary of the Society--listing some of the ideas (and activities in progress) that
have been generated thus far. As you know, a
note was published in the last Bulletin soliciting ideas for activities, events and/or
products that relate to our 50th anniversary and likely to be of interest to the
membership. The following ideas and
information have been received and are provided at this time for your consideration and
planning. ·
Peter Hancock, HFES Historian, is
asking all individuals who remember the very early days of the Society to provide a one or
two page account of their memories. ·
Walter Harper, a participant in the
founding meeting of the Human Factors Society, has agreed to document his remembrances of
that meeting and of those who were in attendance. He
will also attempt to identify the participants in a photograph he has of the meeting. ·
There was a meeting of a small group
in Orange County that preceded the founding meeting in which the formation of the Human
Factors Society was discussed. Perhaps, one
or more of those in attendance would be willing contribute their remembrances of that
meeting and those who were in attendance. ·
Involve the persons who attended the
founding meeting, and are still alive, to participate in one or more events in the 2006
and/or 2007 meetings. ·
Compile the remembrances of the
individuals at the founding meeting and any others who remember the very early days of the
Society into a form available to Society members, such as in the Bulletin, on the HFES web
site, or in and article in Ergonomics in Design. Perhaps
a special history section could be run in one or more of our publications during the 50th
anniversary year. ·
Request photographs of previous HFES
annual conferences and other significant HFES events from the membership for some type of
compilation and presentation. ·
Use iMovie software to create one or
more DVD films from historical photographs. This technology permits the development of
professional quality films for relatively little investment, and with the capability of
adding voice-over clips later for narration. For example, if we have some folks at the
2006 meeting with reminiscences about the photos, voice-over could be added for
presentation at the 2007 meeting. Such a presentation might be used in other ways
also--during meetings and other events hosted by chapters, for example. Including photographs related to success stories,
significant events and so on might enrich the historical perspective. ·
The preparation of a timeline chart
showing the significant events in the history of the HFES. · Special events (program sessions, dinners) at the 2006 and 2007 annual meetings involving and/or featuring past leaders of the Society. ·
One or more forums on future
directions of the HFES profession and Society as part of the technical programs of the
2006 and 2007 annual meetings. ·
One or more sessions in the
technical program that address the "state of the discipline" in various
technical areas. ·
Somewhere in the registration area
have a wall of stories (with pictures) about how people first got interested in
HFES--there are probably a lot of wonderfully
diverse pathways. (Example: a psych grad student had a friend dare him to take an
engineering course; the course he chose was HFE and he was hooked!) · A 20-30 min video that highlights people and achievements in HF/E within the past 50years--clips of past presidents, HF/E news stories, innovative HF/E products; annual meeting events, staff/main office; etc (this is an expansion of an idea listed earlier). · Take the photographs, oral histories, video clips and combine them into a single "album" that commemorates the first 50 years. This multimedia format could be clickable and people could view whatever their interests led them to browse through. I could see a special section on the website where people could link to this album. · Help people create a personal connection with the society's history. The founding members may have relationships to us now. For example, can we link today's professionals by their professors, their mentors, bosses, people whose work helped build careers. In a sense, we could create a family tree of relationships (educational, professional, content) and trace them to current members. While this runs the risk of personal conflicts and issues, it creates a bridge to the past and a way for people to think about their own legacies moving forward. This may also help us understand where we came from and help us to understand where we are going. · Supplement the events in the society's timeline with contributions to the field. That is, what was going on inside the society and what was going on in our applications and research? What was going on in the larger social milieu? While there may not be any causal relationship, it will give us a way to deal with the time scale and how far we have come as a discipline. · We could take at least portions of the historical album, timelines and run a continuous loop visual and audio clip at HFES booths as we go to conferences, expositions, and shows. This could give the society an aura of having a rich history and heritage. The multimedia presentation could highlight that proud heritagE. ·
HFES has secured an additional
ballroom at the hotel in San Francisco for the 2006 meeting so that we can use it for
larger plenary meetings around the anniversary theme. At this point, there are no specific
plans for this, but we might want to consider having a daily plenary for special
anniversary-themed sessions or perhaps "state of the discipline" sessions on a
variety of topics. ·
We might have an anniversary banquet
for this meeting. Someone has suggested making this a formal (black tie) event, but the
membership might not respond favorably to that. We might want include the banquet in as
the registration fee so that we can maximize attendance. |
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