I think we can all relate to this very real experience of PowerPoint - of course we've being trying for years to avoid this sort of thing with the presentations we get our hands on - though we have to admit that we don't always succeed.
Google's Superbowl Ad
The art of great presentation - very simple storytelling. Done brilliantly here by Google in their Superbowl 44 ad...
4 Benefits of Hybrid Conferencing for Corporate Events
A hybrid conference combines the benefits of a live audience at a live event, with the power of the internet and remotely accessed content and collaboration.
Hybrid as it can be delivered now is likely to be a glimpse of the future of conferences.
Managers attend a national conference. They are usually fairly passive - they watch and listen to presentations, maybe visit breakout groups and get to vote on something - and there might be a Q&A. All tried and tested and successful if delivered well. But very passive. These are
1 - Pre-event - Community
Involve the audience in the content, provide them with the mean to communicate with each other around the conference topics. Allow them to contribute to menu selection, to discussion topics, to vote and decide on some aspects of the conference - ahead of the conference. Encourage them to share their thoughts and ideas with each other - share best practice about their jobs. The conference is just a catalyst, but the existing comms channels often become stale or underused - a dedicated conference community adds to the success of the conference through engagement with the audience, but also has secondary benefits in the wider business.
2 - Missed the Event
There are always delegates who can't make it. Some because of holidays or illness but many for simple things - they don't like to travel, they can't get a 'pass' from home, they have childcare problems or there is no business cover for them. These delegates still need to be engaged and informed and if they miss the conference they become barren and lost until the next event or meeting. Streaming video of the conference over the web has been possible for a long time but because of the limitations of local internet speeds it has been rarely taken up.
With faster broadband everywhere and new technology in the way we process cameras at an event, streaming the conference live to a remote audience has never been better. Add to that the ability to continue the 'conversation' from the community through the forums or social networking tools such as Twitter, means that the remote delegate can feel involved and take part in the event from afar.
3 - A Second Audience
With Live video streaming so accessible, the possibility of adding additional audiences is very real. For example, in an ideal world you would invite the Deputy Manager to the conference so that there was an additional person to enthuse about the conference messages - or you might like key head office people to see the conference but don't want to provide the additional facilities and budget needed for that many attendees.
By opening an event TV channel for remote viewers to log in to, we can switch between live presentations from the live video feed, Presentation slides, pre-recorded video inserts or messages and a live host who could talk directly to the remote audience while other activities are going on at the conference - so effectively you end up with a second conference tailored to the remote audience via a live TV channel. It's not expensive to deliver.
4 - Outside-in
The final consideration with our remote audience and conference community is using social networking, like Twitter and Facebook, as well as on-site tools like SpotMe, to involve everyone at the conference and remotely viewing the conference, to talk, share, engage and collaborate. This could be through dedicated discussion sessions or through 'back channel' style Twitter feeds displayed at the venue and simultaneously on the Live feed.
These are just some of the applications of Hybrid conferencing for corporate events, without doubt the adoption of some or all of these new techniques will bring a totally new dimension to conferencing.
Apple iPad Presentation
#eventprofs Watching the launch of Apple's latest toy the iPad on UStream Live. It's amazing that the norm now is that people are streaming live video from inside the auditorium, sharing photos of the screen and slides and blogging them live - Apple haven't finished their launch presentation and Twitter and the tech blogs are alive with feedback, comments and opinion. Extraordinary.
On a positive note, the simplicity of the conference set up is brilliant - a single large projection screen against a black backdrop, simple Keynote slides on a grey (graduated) background with single images or simple text. The presenter has the run of the stage with a lectern at the side for when its needed.
Short presentations from each presenter on a single subject with swift handovers to different content specialists.
The whole thing is simple, structured and slick - I just don't get the uncontrolled live streams from the audience - couldn't Apple have set up an official stream with good bandwidth and made it available to the press and tech blogs?
Will we buy an iPad? Probably won't be able to resist (Keynote looks particularly exciting on the iPad)
Update on 2010-01-28 22:26 by admin
COMMENT ON THE iPAD - It's difficult to say whether the iPad will be a success and change the way we work. Time will tell. Our impression is that it will be defined by the Apps that are developed for it. The iPhone in its basic form is inferior to many of its' competitors - there are better phones with better specifications, better cameras, that handle email better and so on. But once the Apps started to come, the way we use the iPhone changed and the number of things we could do with it changed - to the point that true converts would feel naked without one in their hand.
I suspect that the iPad will follow a similar route. It will be normal to have an iPad by your side on the sofa or in a meeting. There will be no need for expensive software suites, instead there will be task specific Apps, at $9.99 or similar price point and you will be able to do lots with it.
Frustrations? DRM - Apple have set out to control video, music and book content and they don't want you to share it. Where is the webcam or camera - it seems an obvious oversight.
Looking forward to getting our hands on one and seeing how it works for real.
Avoiding Death by PowerPoint (Part 1)
A PowerPoint presentation of 20 slides with fixed timing of 20 seconds per slide.
Pecha Kucha (ペチャクチャ), usually pronounced in three syllables like "pe-chak-cha", is a presentation format in which content can be easily, efficiently and informally shown, usually at a public event designed for that purpose. Under the format, a presenter shows 20 images for 20 seconds apiece, for a total time of 6 minutes, 40 seconds.
It was devised in 2003 by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Tokyo's Klein-Dytham Architecture (KDa), who sought to give young designers a venue to meet, network, and show their work and to attract people to their experimental event space in Roppongi.[1] They devised a format that kept presentations very concise in order to encourage audience attention and increase the number of presenters within the course of one night. They took the name Pecha Kucha from a Japanese term for the sound of conversation ("chit-chat").
Klein and Dytham's event, called Pecha Kucha Night, has spread virally around the world. More than 170 cities now host such events.[2][3] (from Wikipedia)
We wouldn't recommend Pecha Kucha for corporate presentations - but the idea of an agreed disciplined approach is very interesting.
Update on 2010-01-27 17:55 by admin
"Attention Deficit theater"
By Luciana Lopez, The Oregonian
February 05, 2008, 9:57PM
How hot was Ignite Portland 2 on Tuesday night?
So hot that 750 people filled the Bagdad Theater in Southeast Portland, and many more got turned away. So hot that the wacky, idea-sharing event rose to the second spot on the national Upcoming Web site, trailing only the wildly popular South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. So hot that the Bagdad ran out of pizza.
Crowds came to see 14 presenters, each giving a five-minute talk on -- well, just about anything. They got 20 slides, each displayed for 15 seconds, to tell a story about anything from building a rocket to ordering sushi. The show was, as one organizer described it, "attention deficit theater."
There were funny moments, such as Mario Schulzke's analysis of his native Germany's fascination with David Hasselhoff. "He fooled 80 million Germans for 20-plus years, and I'm going to tell you how he did it," Schulzke promised, backed up by German magazine covers and "Baywatch" nostalgia on his slides.
There were emotional moments, such as Adrienne Fritz's tale of overcoming a troubled childhood to rewrite the script for her life. "This is the only life we have," she told the crowd. "And it rocks!"
And there were calls to civic action, be it helping investors see Portland's potential or putting biodiesel in your car.
Ignite, a concept that began in Seattle, was intended as an event for techies. But organizers of the Portland version found presenters -- and audience members -- who spanned the continuum from proud-of-it geeks to creative types. One couple in the crowd won T-shirts for attending Ignite Portland as a first date (they met through Match.com).
If you missed Ignite, the talks should be posted in the next few days on theofficial site. Social networking sites from Twitter to Flickr will be abuzz (this crowd was so wired, organizers went online to update folks waiting to get inside the Bagdad).
And, hey, there's always the old-fashioned option: coming next time. Ignite Portland organizers hope to make this a quarterly event. Stay tuned for details on the next rendition.