[Speakers] Re: SVLUG Meeting, Wed June 5, 2002

[Steve Traugott]

Most people talk for somewhere 1:15 to 1:30.  It's a relatively
interactive audience once they get warmed up.  If you aim for an hour,
they'll stretch it out to 1:30.  There are announcements etc. before
and after, which uses up the balance of the time.

In case I haven't mentioned it yet, a crowd of us usually goes to the
IHOP afterwards for a late dinner; speakers usually go (we pick up the
tab) and that gives more opportunity for in-depth conversation about
the talk and about everything else under the sun.

As far as content goes, if all you do is stand up there and talk about
the same things you say in the article, you'll do fine.  Any new or
original work you discuss beyond that is gravy.  Feel free to talk
about what *didn't* work, where you wasted time, what things you
learned the hard way, etc.  Nobody expects perfection, and the
failures can be fascinating.  

If you're stuck on slide content, then make sure to pad things out
with pictures -- a good picture can generate 5 minutes of discussion.
Overall you're probably looking for 20 slides or so -- I use more than
that for a talk this long, but then I move them pretty fast.  Some
people use as few as 10.

Presentation -- this was in my early boilerplate, but the room has an
SVGA projector system; don't bother printing the slides.  Just bring
your laptop.  If you don't have a laptop, call me ASAP and we'll work
something out.  I use OpenOffice but can find PowerPoint.  

If you have any more questions, feel free to call me.

Steve


On Fri, May 31, 2002 at 11:20:16AM -0700, Sam Clanton wrote:
> 
> Ok cool... is it really for 2 hours straight?  whoa.  can people sit 
> through me talking for 2 hours?
> 
> Sam
> On Fri, 31 May 2002, Steve Traugott wrote:
> 
> > Hi Sam!
> > 
> > I'd speak at whatever technical level you're comfortable.  This
> > audience is mixed application, embedded system, and kernel developers,
> > engineers, systems administrators, security folks, and the like.
> > Basically the same audience as Linux Journal.
> > 
> > Steve
> > 
> > On Fri, May 31, 2002 at 08:28:52AM -0700, Sam Clanton wrote:
> > > 
> > > Steve,
> > > 
> > > How technical should the presentation be?  Am I really talking for 2 
> > > hours?  Any other tips/guidelines?
> > > 
> > > Sam
> > > 
> > > 
> > > On Wed, 29 May 2002 stevegt at svlug.org wrote:
> > > 
> > > > We're pleased to announce the next meeting of the Silicon Valley Linux
> > > > Users Group!
> > > > 
> > > > WHAT:
> > > > 
> > > >   NASA Linux Research
> > > > 
> > > > WHEN:
> > > > 
> > > >   Wednesday, June 5, 2002, 7pm-9pm or so
> > > > 	
> > > > WHO:
> > > > 
> > > >   Sam Clanton, NASA Ames Research Center
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > ABOUT: 
> > > > 
> > > > Sam's work in building an airborne embedded Linux spectrometer control
> > > > system was featured on the cover of the March/April 2002 Embedded
> > > > Linux Journal -- the ER-2 photo.
> > > > 
> > > > Sam is a researcher in Computational Sciences / Atmospheric Sciences
> > > > at NASA Ames, where he is involved in a number of Linux-based
> > > > projects.  His current work is mainly in EEG pattern recognition and
> > > > real-time data processing for brain-computer interface projects taking
> > > > place at the NASA Ames Neuroengineering lab.  
> > > > 
> > > > Sam will talk about the use of Linux as a part of the research
> > > > projects that he has been a part of at NASA, what he is up to inside
> > > > and outside of the space agency, and where a relative
> > > > newcomer/outsider to the Linux community thinks this Linux thing is
> > > > going.
> > > > 
> > > > MORE ABOUT THE SPEAKER: 
> > > > 
> > > > Sam is a recent graduate from Johns Hopkins University, where he
> > > > studied Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science.  He is currently
> > > > serving a year-long stint at NASA Ames, before he begins work on an
> > > > as-yet-unnamed technological development nonprofit he is co-founding
> > > > in South America.  In the future, he is most probably going to go to
> > > > medical school.  
> > > > 
> > > > Sam got into Linux in college as a result of dissatisfaction in not
> > > > being able to really control his own computer, or understand what it
> > > > was actually up to, with closed-source systems.  He views Linux as the
> > > > natural choice for research, and he believes that if more scientists
> > > > were to view a computer as a highly developed and tunable rack of
> > > > custom data acquisition and processing equipment, a lot of new
> > > > imaginative and effective research could be done.
> > > > 
> > > > Aside from work, Sam has been an avid rugby player for most of his
> > > > adult life.  He also enjoys mountain biking and hanging out in really
> > > > nasty bars.  At one time in his life, he was fluent in Japanese and
> > > > had plastic pants.
> > > >   
> > > > WHERE:
> > > > 
> > > > Cisco Building 9.  The land of NUMBERS. The VINEYARDS conference
> > > > center.  The side we are on is the Silver Oak/Jordan conference rooms,
> > > > where a large Cisco fountain is usually not turned on.  Directions on
> > > > how to get there are listed at:
> > > > 
> > > >         http://www.svlug.org/directions/cisco-9.shtml 
> > > > 
> > > > We've tried our very best for these directions to be accurate.  If you
> > > > have any improvements to make, please let our Web Team know!
> > > > web-team at svlug.org
> > > > 
> > > > NOTES:
> > > > 
> > > > It's best if you arrive close to on time, as otherwise there may not
> > > > be someone posted at the door to let you in.  After the speakers end
> > > > their presentation there is usually a Q&A session, time for job
> > > > seekers and employers to meet, and often a few door prizes.  When the
> > > > meeting is over people are encouraged to chat a bit, but also to exit
> > > > the building so Cisco can lock up. Don't worry, a lot of us go to
> > > > dinner afterward so there's plenty of time to chat outdoors or
> > > > offsite.
> > > > 
> > > > We look forward to seeing you there!
> > > > 
> > > 
> > 
> > 
> 

-- 
Steve Traugott 
Speaker Coordinator, Silicon Valley Linux Users Group
http://www.svlug.org
--
UNIX/Linux Infrastructure Architect, TerraLuna LLC
stevegt at TerraLuna.Org   
http://www.stevegt.com