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Presenter Instructions |
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Important Information For Presenters
As you make final preparations for your presentation, please note that the conference will provide one Dell laptop computer (running Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007 PowerPoint and Word and capable of playing DVDs) in each presentation room. This means you do not need to bring your laptop to Baltimore to present your work. The conference will have a computer café, so you'll be able to check E-mails and make any changes to your presentation while you're at the conference.
In addition to providing a laptop computer, the conference will also provide the following audio-visual equipment in each meeting room:
Data projector and Screen
Flip chart with markers
The conference does not provide audio-visual equipment for poster or breakfast presentations.
Please note that internet access is not available in the meeting rooms.
If you need to play a video as part of your presentation, please have your video on a standard DVD disc. If you need external speakers for your presentation please let us know when you receive your registration packet at the conference.
If you have 35mm slides, please have the slides converted to images in a PowerPoint presentation. If you have overhead transparencies, please convert those to a PowerPoint presentation.
Uploading Your Presentation To A Conference Laptop Computer:
The conference will provide one Dell laptop computer (running Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007 PowerPoint and Word and capable of playing DVDs) in each presentation room.
Your presentation must be loaded onto a specific laptop that will be used in your presentation room.
Here's how this will work:
1. Presenters will need to copy their presentation onto the laptop computer. Presenters should bring their presentation to the conference on a CD-ROM or USB flash key (memory stick).
2. On Wednesday, April 30, at conference registration from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm, we will have the laptop computers available for you to copy your presentation from your CD-ROM or USB flash key to the laptop.
a. First, make sure to name your presentation using your last name in the filename, eg, "Phillips PD08." That will help you find your presentation quickly once multiple presentations are listed.
b. Next, find the laptop marked with the room where your presentation will be held. Go to http://www.stfm.org/annualconf/an08/submissionsearch/index.cfm on the STFM Web site to use a search application that will tell you the room, date, and time for your presentation. This information will also be in the conference brochure you receive at registration.
c. Copy your presentation onto the laptop that will be used in your presentation room. On the laptop's desktop will be a folder for each day, and you will copy your presentation into the folder for the day you're presenting. It is important that you copy your presentation onto the laptop that will be in the meeting room where your presentation will be held.
d. Once you have copied your document, open your presentation file on the laptop to make sure you have copied the correct file and that it opens properly. If you have a DVD to play during your presentation be sure to test the DVD on the laptop that will be in your presentation room.
e. Conference staff will be available to assist you.
3. If you cannot copy your presentation to the laptop computer on Wednesday, April 30th, the laptop computers will be available in each presentation room by 9:30 am. After 9:30 am each morning, you may go to your presentation room and copy your presentation onto the laptop computer.
4. If you are going to be in Baltimore on April 30th, we encourage you to load your presentation on the appropriate laptop that day. That will help us avoid long lines of folks waiting to load their presentations right before their sessions.
5. Please note that we plan to run all presentations off the conference laptops. Please do not bring your laptop to the presentation room with the intent of presenting your presentation from your computer. We want to make the transitions between presentations go as smoothly and quickly as possible, and running all presentations from our computers will help us be successful in this goal. If you have special circumstances that require the use of your own laptop, please let us know by emailing Bruce Phillips, bphillip@stfm.org.
6. Please keep your presentation on your CD-ROM or flash key after you copy your presentation to the laptop computer. If we encounter any problems with your file, we may want to recopy your presentation onto our laptop.
7. If you created your presentation on a Mac computer, please make sure that your file will run on Windows XP using Microsoft Office 2003. We encourage you to test this on a PC running Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003 before you come to Baltimore.
We are pleased to offer this service to conference attendees at no cost to you. We appreciate your cooperation in loading your presentations at the assigned times. Following the conference, please let us know how this system worked and how we can improve this process for future years.