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The XTreme SIG will meet in Stuttgart Germany immediately prior to CUG 2012. This one-day event is scheduled for Sunday, April 29, 2012. Participation is limited to XTreme members with current non-disclosure agreements in place with Cray. There is a modest cost to attend. Registration is required.
CUG Guidelines for Presenters
Thank you for sharing your experiences and research findings with your colleagues. Your presentation at the upcoming Cray User Group annual meeting is one of the most important means of exchanging information among users of Cray high performance computing systems. The guidelines provided here will help ensure your presentation is as effective as possible!
The time allotted for each talk is usually 25 or 40 minutes. Please check the "Final Program" on the CUG web site for your individual session time and length. Your Session Chair will monitor your progress and not allow you to go over this time, since doing so would infringe upon someone else's well-prepared talk. Should you have some special needs for your presentation that have not already been accounted for, let your Session Chair know in advance. The session start times are coordinated and in parallel with other sessions; therefore, time extensions throughout the day are NOT possible. We suggest you plan your talk to allow at least 5 minutes for questions. The 30 or 45 minute session schedules will permit time for switching between presentations and between tracks.
All presentations are to be delivered in English, but remember that CUG is an international audience and many attendees speak English as a second language. Please plan to speak slowly and enunciate clearly so that everyone can understand you, especially if you speak to a topic not covered in your visual presentation materials. As a rough guideline, you should plan for approximately 1-2 minutes for each slide that is shown in your presentation. We recommend that you plan for approximately 14-18 slides for a 25 minute talk and 24-28 slides for a 40 minute talk. You should also have an opening slide that includes your talk title, your name, and your CUG site or affiliation.
Due to the large number of technical attendees, conference wireless can at times problematic, particularly early in the conference. Please ensure you have prepared all materials in advance for use in an offline environment. Test the conference network in advance of your presentation if you plan to attempt a live demonstration or tutorial, be prepared in case of failure and don't rely on network access as your only presentation method.
Because the rooms used for the sessions can be much larger than typical conference rooms, use large, well-spaced type and allow space for the border around the image. The maximum number of lines on your viewgraph or slide should be around 8-10 lines of type which is preferably 24pt size or larger for most text and never smaller than 18pt for any text. Also, keep in mind that the best colors for visibility are yellow text on royal blue, white text on royal blue, and black text on white. Here are some suggestions for preparing slides and a PowerPoint template.
Typically, there will be facilities in the hotel’s "business center" for you to copy your presentation if CUG attendees ask you for copies. (The CUG office copy facilities are generally limited to just a few copies for extraordinary requests.) Note that there have been many requests in the past for copies of presentation slides to be available before the talk. If it is convenient, attendees will appreciate your effort to bring copies with you to your presentation. Most software tools have the ability to print reduced sized viewgraphs—several to a page (perhaps front and back as well). This is a good way to provide copies, but minimize paper and bulk for your baggage. An even better way to share your paper and presentation is to submit your materials in advance of the conference so we can post them on cug.org.
AT THE CUG MEETING
Arrive at your session track 15 minutes before the first talk (even if you are not the first presenter in the session) to discuss your part of the session with your Session Chair. Presenters are responsible for providing a laptop for their presentation or making sure one is available. CUG does not provide laptops, but will try to help if the one you plan to use fails. Please check that the laptop works with the audio visual equipment available and that your presentation displays correctly. Ask the Session Chair to ensure that your position will not obscure the screen so that the audience can see the visuals you will be using.
It is possible that the display screen will be located apart from the presenter (such as when a podium is used); in this case you should ask someone to assist you in controlling a laptop computer.
Prior to your talk, the Session Chair will introduce you, giving (at least) your name, site, and the title of your talk.
Remember, there is a maximum time for your entire presentation; the majority of your time (approximately 75%) should be dedicated to your formal presentation and the remainder to questions/answers from/to the audience. Your Session Chair will signal you when you have approximately 10 minutes remaining. The Session Chair will interrupt you if necessary to remain on schedule and allow about 5 minutes of questions from the audience.
Conference session layouts usually run approximately 90 or 120 minutes; breaks will be provided for sessions which run longer. Typically there are 3 tracks per session and 3 or 4 talks per track. Talks are scheduled across session tracks so that they end at the same time; hence, CUG attendees may attend a first talk in one session and then proceed to a second talk in another session. It is helpful if 3-5 minutes can be left between talks to allow people to transfer to other sessions. Sessions and talks must begin on time for these reasons.
SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR A GREAT TALK
If you are not a practiced public speaker, you may want a few tips. It has been pointed out by many professionals that no matter what you are explaining, people tend to have a very short attention span. You have to be really enthusiastic for your presentation to hold an audience's attention for the entire time period. Some "appropriate" humor from time to time, if possible, can help them stay tuned-in and focused.
Presentations can benefit from the beginning with a formal agenda listing the points to be covered. Studies show that people actually remember the first point and the last point better than the others in the middle; jump right in with the most important message first! Then, maybe you can save the second-most important thing for your big finish.
Watch for nonverbal clues to read the audience's reaction. It's a good sign when they are smiling and nodding appropriately at your good points. However, if they start looking around the room or at their watches, pull them back into the talk by asking if they understand what you are saying and what they think of your points so far. Or ask a poll question, like "How many of you think..?". Another idea is to encourage the audience to picture the benefits of your idea by saying "Imagine what this can do for....," and giving them a moment to think about the ramifications. Don't be offended by those inattentive (or sleeping) people in the audience; remember, sitting through lots of Conference talks in a row can be difficult sometimes, so help these folks out by being as "up" as possible! Perhaps (if appropriate), you could finish with a call for action, spelling out what they should do right now.
One Further Request
We all realize that plans change and emergency situations can and will disrupt our lives and carefully aligned schedules. If such an occurrence prevents you from attending the conference please take the time to inform us as soon as possible so that we may give another presenter an opportunity to fill in. If there are colleagues of yours attending, and they are familiar with your work and presentation, please feel free to ask them to present in your place. We try to keep the program meaningful and varied and want your ideas and observations integrated with other pertinent talks or discussion topics. Last minute changes disrupt this flow and often require schedule shuffling which can make for an uneven conference experience for others.
(revised Wednesday, February 15, 2012)
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