The International Conference on Multimedia and Expo (ICME) is among the most popular technical conferences globally. Based on the engineering institutions and international friendship, it attracts the brightest minds and most influential people in the multimedia-related sectors. So, let’s review the organizers of this forum, its schedule, and interest fields in more detail.
What Is ICME?
The conference is an annual event organized by the structural institutions of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The institute is one of the biggest organizations of technical specialists in the world. IEEE has dozens of societies and councils that are responsible for sharing info in their proficiency field and organizing events like ICME.
ICME is focused on various multimedia topics. In general, the forum is dedicated to covering the most recent field changes, which can be divided into two major branches: technologies and methods. In the technological section, participants usually discuss the following:
- computing technologies
- circuits
- signal processing
- systems
- applications
The methodological direction covers discussion on the following subtopics:
- research
- development
- communications
- innovative methods and approaches
Of course, all the conferences include demonstrations from the participants. Discussion of the future challenges and potential development directions are also included in the agenda. It makes annual ICMEs a place where advanced knowledge is shared among people with similar interests.
Chronology of Conferences and Their Results
The ICME forums by IEEE started in 2000, with the first event held in New York (where the Institution is headquartered). The committee changed locations annually, with the following cities and countries to host the conferences (by year):
- New York, USA (2000)
- Tokyo, Japan (2001)
- Lausanne, Switzerland (2002)
- Baltimore, Maryland, USA (2003)
- Taipei, Taiwan (2004)
- Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2005)
- Toronto, Canada (2006)
- Beijing, China (2007)
- Hannover, Germany (2008)
- Tempe, Arizona, USA (2009)
- Singapore (2010)
- Barcelona, Spain (2011)
- Melbourne, Australia (2012)
- San Jose, California, USA (2013)
- Chengdu, China (2014)
- Turin, Italy (2015)
- Seattle, USA (2016)
- Hong Kong, China (2017)
- San Diego, USA (2018)
- Shanghai, China (2019)
- London, UK | Virtual (2020)
- Virtual (2021)
Before 2000, the IEEE board organized six annual ICMCS (International Conference on Multimedia Computing and Systems) events, all in different locations. It’s clear that ICME forums followed the tradition and were planned to unite specialists from all over the world to develop multimedia-related spheres together.
IEEE Sponsorship
The sponsorship of the ICME’s events is divided into two sections: organizational and commercial sponsors. The first part always lies on the shoulders of IEEE societies related to the multimedia sector.
The commercial side is more flexible and changes annually. The only core in it is the presence of the grading system, where every firm can choose the sponsorship program according to financial capabilities. More expensive variants mean a wider presence in the promo materials and better individual options. In 2021, the sponsorship of the conference had the following levels (and respective costs):
- Diamond ($40,000+)
- Platinum (20,000)
- Golden ($10,000)
- Silver ($5,000)
- Bronze ($1,500)
However, the financial side of the ICME’s forum goes in parallel with the market approach, so the prices or levels can change in the following year.
Results of ICME 2021
The conference lasted five days, from July 5 to 9. Eighty-five panels were spread according to the approved topics after the submission. Out of seven types of panels, only six were presented in the schedule. Look below at the number of meetings by type:
- 3 Grand Challenges
- 4 Workshops
- 8 Tutorials
- 34 Posters
- 36 Orals
There were Demos, but none of them received a place in the online panel. However, the organizers selected a winner and a runner-up in this section to award the most engaging participants. Along with Demo, the boards gave the following awards:
- Best Open Source Project
- Grand Challenge Winner Teams
- Best Paper
- IEEE Transactions on Multimedia
- IEEE Multimedia Rising Star
Aside from participants, two intrinsic rewards found their owners. The nominations were Outstanding Service and Outstanding Area Chairs and Reviewers.
Future Plans: ICME 2022
In 2022, the IEEE chair board plans to hold a land-based conference instead of a virtual one. The dates and location is confirmed: July 18-22, Taipei, Taiwan. According to official announcements, ICME 2022 expects about 500 participants out of 1,000 submissions. The board hopes that the forum will continue the tradition of gathering experts, prospective minds, and influential industry representatives in one place.
Submission dates are different for all directions and types of expected works. As the expiration dates vary from early December 2021 to early May 2022, the core of the events’ chairs is already defined. The list of planned conferences look like the following:
- Special Sessions
- Panels
- Grand Challenges
- Workshops
- Tutorials
- Regular/Special Session Papers
- Camera-Ready Regular Papers
- Industry/Application Track Papers
- Demos
- Industry Expo