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Multimedia Communications E-Letter
May, 2004
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Letter from the Chair
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Dear MMTC member,

Greatings!

The MMTC website was recently modified with a new face and new content due to the work of Giovanni Pau (MMTC secretary) and Ali C. Begen (MMTC webmaster), our hardworking volunteers! You can visit the new website at: http://www.comsoc.org/~mmc. The new website contains information about the MMTC, upcoming events, volunteer opportunities and the MMTC community. The site will be constantly updated from now on with new and updated information.

The new executive officers team has been putting great effort on several initiatives to strengthen MMTC and to foster a better community for all MMTCers. Read below for pointers to some of these initiatives and for information about volunteer opportunities available now!

Firstly, we are rolling out a quarterly newsletter of MMTC. This is our very first issue. To make it a valuable resource for everyone, we’ll need all the help we can get from our members. Interested members please read “Call for Volunteers” Section for instructions.

Secondly, we are in the midst to enhance the structure of MMTC itself, so that we can more efficiently carry out our mission. One of the most visible effects of this change will be the launching of several Interest Groups (IGs) that MMTC members can be involved in. We hope that this change will encourage more members to be involved in running MMTC, foster a more constructive sense of community among MMTCers, and enhance the services MMTC provides you. Read “Community News” Section for some detailed information and volunteer opportunities on IGs. I would like to use this opportunity to encourage all members to participate in one or more IGs.

Thirdly, MMTC is introducing two committee awards to recognize the contributions of MMTC members on both service and technical achievement in multimedia communications area. “Community News” Section contains more details and a call for nomination. I encourage you to read through it and actively get involved in.

Over the coming months, you'll see some important additions to MMTC web site, including the information about the MMTC awards, MMTC Interest Groups and their activities.

I hope that this first e-news letter of MMTC has communicated to you the most important things happening in MMTC. We hope that you are as excited about the future of MMTC as we are. And of course, we're always looking for help, either in the form of feedback or from volunteers to carry out the dozens of jobs that need to be done to make MMTC function. I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Heather Yu, MMTC Chair

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Upcoming Events
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Visit <http://www.comsoc.org/~mmc/> for pointers to these events.

Next MMTC committee meeting:

Monday, June 21, 2004, 5:30-6:30pm, Brooklyn Suite #4230, Hotel New York, Paris, France, during ICC2004. All are encouraged to attend. A conference bridge will be set up. Those who cannot attend in person are encourage to join the meeting through the conference bridge. Meeting agenda will be distributed one week before the meeting.

Upcoming MMTC sponsored conferences and workshops:

· ICC'04, Multimedia Technologies and Service Symp., June 21-23, 2004, Bastille, Hotel New York, Paris, France, <http://www.icc2004.org/cp_techsymposia.html#4>

· ICC'04, Access and Home Networks Symp., June 21-23, 2004, Chantilly, Newport Bay Club, Paris, France, <http://www.icc2004.org/cp_techsymposia.html#1>

· ICME’04, June 27-30, 2004, Taipei, Taiwan, http://www.icme2004.org

· NIME’04 – Networking Issues in Multimedia Entertainment Workshop at Globecom2004, Nov. 29, 2004, Dallas, TX, USA, http://nime04.csr.unibo.it/nime04, open for submission

· CCNC’05, Jan 3-6, 2005, Las Vegas, NV, http://www.ieee-ccnc.com/, open for submission, deadline June 30, 2004

· ICC’05, Multimedia and Home Networking Symp., May 16-20, 2005, Seoul, South Korea, http://www.icc05.org/main/main.html, open for submission, deadline Sept 1, 2004

Note:

· Submission to MMTC sponsored Globecom04 workshop is encouraged. Please visit http://nime04.csr.unibo.it/nime04 for detailed information.

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Community News
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· New executive officers team Dec. 2003- Dec. 2005

Chair: Heather Yu, Panasonic Technologies, USA,

Vice-chair, NA, Yucel Altunbasak, Gatech, USA,

Vice-chair, SA, Nelson Fonseca, Unicamp, Brazil,

Vice-chair, EU, Pascal Frossard, EPFL, Switzerland

Vice-chair, AP, Gary Chan, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technologies, Hong Kong

Secretary, Giovanni Pau, UCLA, USA

Please feel free to contact the officers at multicomm_officers@comsoc.org  for any questions, comments, and/or suggestions regarding MMTC activities.
 
· MMTC Interest Groups
Based on the research interests of our members, we are initiating 5 IGs lead by experts and active researchers in each area. Detailed info about the IG charters, focus areas of each IG, and their activities will be announced on our web and through the reflector soon. The 5 IGs are:
 (MSIG) Media streaming – 
Interim chair: Prof. Pascal Frossard; 
Interim vice-chair: TBD(please see CfV in the next section); 




 
 
(HNIG) Home networking – 
Interim chair: Prof. Madjid Merabti 
Interim vice-chair: TBD




 
 
(MobIG) Mobile and wireless multimedia – 
Interim chair: Prof. R. Chandramouli
Interim vice-chair: TBD




 
 
(SecIG) Multimedia security – 
Interim chair: Dr. Qibin Sun 
Interim vice-chair: TBD




 
 
(QoSIG) Quality of Service – 
Interim chair: TBD 
Interim vice-chair: TBD
 
Call for New IG Proposal, Chair Nominations and Volunteers, and IG Members:
New IG proposal:
The purpose of launching the IGs within MMTC is to foster a better community, to get more MMTC members involved in our activities and to provide more opportunities to our members. Therefore, we shall support the initiation of new IGs when enough interests are shown. Proposal of new IGs are highly encouraged. Proposals should be sent to the MMTC chair via email. Discussion of new IG proposal with MMTC officers is also encouraged.
 
IG chairs nomination and volunteer:
We encourage you to volunteer for the available positions. It is a great networking opportunity. Furthermore, it gives you new means to contribute to the technical activities and to promote your career in multimedia communications area. Nomination and volunteers should be sent to the MMTC chair via email.
 
IG membership:
Membership is free. Information about how to join each IG will also be available on the web soon. Please stay tuned.
 
· MMTC committee awards
MMTC is rolling out two committee awards given to our outstanding members to encourage and promote research and services in the multimedia communications technical areas. Currently, we are setting up the award committee within MMTC. Our target is to solicit and give the first award in our MMTC committee meeting this year. Please visit the web for up-to-date information. Below please find some highlights regarding the awards.
MMTC Best Paper Award – Given to an outstanding paper in the area of multimedia communications published in any ComSoc magazine, journal, or ComSoc sponsored conference in the previous 2 calendar years.
MMTC Distinguished Service Award – Given to a MMTC member with exemplary service to MMTC over a sustained period of time.
Nominee solicitation and selection process: Nominations shall be solicited by the MMTC award committee. Final selection shall be made by the award committee and approved by MMTC chair. 
MMTC award committee: Committee chair and members shall be elected at MMTC bi-yearly election meeting. Only the AC shall make decisions regarding the award.
Interim AC chair: Prof. Pascal Frossard, VC of MMTC
Interim AC members: TBD
 
Call for Nominations:
1. The first MMTC 2004 Distinguished Service Award will be given at our yearly MMTC meeting during Globecom2004. Nominations are accepted until June 15, 2004. Candidates will be announced by the AC Interim Chair during MMTC meeting at ICC2004. All MMTC members are encouraged to participate. 
Prize: Certificate and plaque
Basis for judging: Exemplary service to MMTC over a sustained period of time
Eligibility:   
a. the nominee must be a MMTC member at the time of nomination
b. the nominee must have been a MMTC member for a sustained period of time 
Nominations should be sent to MMTCawdcommittee@netscape.net using the following format:
1. Award name:
2. Nominator name, affiliation, and contact info:
3. Nominee name & affiliation:
4. Up to one page supporting statement:
 
2. The first MMTC 2004 Best Paper Award will be given at our yearly MMTC meeting during Globecom2004. All MMTC members are encouraged to participate.
Prize: Certificate and plaque
Justification, Eligibility for 2004 award, nomination format, and deadline for nomination will be announced through the reflector and be available on the web right after ICC2004. 





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  Call for Volunteers




 
 
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MMTC volunteer opportunities:
1. MMTC e-news Editor-in-Chief, Assistant Editor-in-Chief, and Column Editors;
2. MSIG, HNIG, SecIG, MobIG, and QoSIG Vice Chairs;
3. Globecom2004 Entertainment Networking Workshop TPC members;
4. ICC2005, Multimedia and Home Networking Symposium TPC members;
Volunteers for #1 & #2 should send the following info via email to MMTC chair. Volunteers for #3 should be sent to the workshop chairs. Volunteers for #4 please send a request to icc2005mmnh@netscape.net.
 
Volunteer info format:
Name:
Title:
Affiliation:
Email:
MMTC membership: since year of _____

Position to volunteer:

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Contact Info for Comments and Suggestions
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MMTC officers: multicomm_officers@comsoc.org
MMTC Chair: heathery@ieee.org
 

Published by MMTC, all rights reserved.

May 25, 2004

Next issue will appear in Aug, 2004