The Association of Computational Creativity are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Professor Robert M. Keller, who passed away on September 13th 2020.

Bob gave so much to the computational creativity community, as a good friend and mentor to many and a strong supporter of our conference series (ICCC). Bob was a regular participant in our conferences ever since they started back in 2010, as well as in workshops prior to the conference series. He always had something to contribute with papers, demos, posters and conversations, and was always available to review.

He was also a great person. It was always wonderful to hear what he’d been up to and to have the pleasure of his intelligent and entertaining company. We loved to see him with his wife Noel, who joined us for many social events.

Bob worked on the Impro-Visor system for many years, and this work was of huge significance in computational creativity research.

https://www.cs.hmc.edu/~keller/jazz/improvisor/

Bob’s Impro-Visor system is one of the main contributions in computational jazz improvisation. Here is a fascinating video of when Bob and Impro-Visor met up with Al Biles and Biles’s GenJam system for a jam:

Of course, because he wanted to help rather than compete, Impro-Visor teaches students, as well as having options to solo, accompany, trade fours, etc. Rather like Bob himself, in fact.

We will remember Bob at our next ICCC conference (Mexico, 2021), recognising his contributions and celebrating his memory.

The world will be a poorer place without Bob Keller. He was a kind, genuine, delightful person and he will certainly be missed.

RIP Bob

If you wish to record your own personal tribute to Bob, there is an “In Memorium” page set up by Harvey Mudd College [1], with tributes pouring in from past colleagues, students and friends. This memorial page also notes that:
“The family requests that contributions in Bob’s honor be made to the Jazz Education Network’s Scholarship Program, the American Brain Tumor Association, and the Sierra Club Foundation.”

The Computational Creativity Task Force was established to support the collective advancement of the computational creativity research community.

Its first report, published in the ICCC’20 Proceedings, presents an exploration of who we are as a community: the authors and program committee members of the International Conference on Computational Creativity.

Read the full report here.

The steering committee (or SC) is the consultative and deliberative body that guides the association. It is made up of voting members of the association, and they weigh in on most issues of substance regarding the ACC’s role in the CC community.

Notice: Two Vacancies to be filled in the ACC Steering Committee
At present, there are two vacancies on the committee. These are to be filled in an upcoming election. Right now, we are encouraging all voting members of the association who are not currently on the SC to consider putting themselves forward as candidates. 

If you voted in the most recent election for chair of the association, then you know you are a voting member. If you were recently granted voting rights by the association after that election, then you too are a voting member, and are eligible to put yourself forward. If you are unsure as to your voting status, please contact the secretary of the association (more below) for clarification.

Ideally, candidates will have a primary research focus on CC, and will be involved in the life of the association or the community. Candidates will have attended recent conferences, be active in the field, and perhaps  have contributed to the running or hosting of a community event (or are thinking of doing so). 

We want the SC to be as diverse as the community it represents. If you believe your voice should be heard, or that you represent a constituency within the community that is underrepresented at the committee level, then please do consider putting yourself forward as a candidate. 

We are accepting candidacy proposals from now until midnight, March 15th, and the election will be held shortly afterwards. Please indicate your intention to stand as a candidate by email, to the secretary of the association:  secretary@computationalcreativity.net

The Association for Computational Creativity (ACC) invites all its members and any colleagues interested in the area to send a proposal for organising the 13th International Conference on Computational Creativity (ICCC22). For this call, the Association will favour those proposals to host the Conference outside North America; however, if none of them satisfies the ACC’s requirements, bids inside North America will also be considered. The deadline for submitting proposals is the 20th of May, 2020. The Hosting bid guidelines can be found here: 
http://computationalcreativity.net/home/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/HostingBidOrganizingICCCGuidelines.pdf. 

To express interest or for any questions, please contact the secretary of the ACC, Dan Ventura, or its chair, Tony Veale.

The Call for Papers for ICCC19 has been published. You can check it out at http://computationalcreativity.net/iccc2019/.

http://www.rafaelperezyperez.com/coloquio-internacional-creatividad-computacional/proximo-evento/