Greetings, Maize Meeting Speakers!
I am planning on assisting with computer support for talks at the upcoming Maize Meeting. To make your preparation time more productive and the presentation hand-off at the meeting less stressful, I have prepared a few notes that detail what you can expect once you arrive along with some tips for presentation preparation.

The presentation computer... is a 2.4 GHz MacBook, 4 Gb ram with Version OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) with a full install of Microsoft Office 2011. In addition to the base Mac OS it has VMWare Fusion with a virtual Windows 7 PC with Microsoft Office 2010. VMWare allows a Microsoft Windows PC to operate “inside” the MacBook. Howerver, since there are known performance issues with a virtual machine, we will use the virtual PC as the last resort if the presentation will not work on the Mac. Do not install special software specific to your presentation and expect it to work on-site. The only presenters allowed to use their own presentation computer are the Plenary speakers.

The presentation software... will be Microsoft PowerPoint as it has been in the past. As you know, it can be frustrating when the presentation “looks different” on the presentation computer than it does on the development computer.
Take a few minutes to review these bullets to keep the “gottcha’s” at bay:

• avoid font mishaps in PowerPoint (fonts you can rely up on to render correctly on any machine include Arial, Verdana, Times, and Times New Roman).
  URL: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/HA010348241033.aspx
• download and install the free viewer if you like to test your presentation on a computer that may not have PowerPoint installed.
  URL: http://www.google.com/search?q=powerpoint+viewer
• this “About” page brings it all together with some great points to consider when moving a presentation between computers.
  URL: http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointtipsandfaqs/f/change_fonts.htm
• 10 Font Tips for Presenters is a great list of tips for all of us that prepare presentations.
  URL: http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointtipsandfaqs/tp/080119powerpoint_font_tips.htm

Images in presentations:
Most if not all presentations have images embedded in them. And most of us have witnessed a presentation where the speaker has to wait for the presentation to “catch up.” In general this is caused by having large images embedded into the presentation then resized in PowerPoint using the “handles” on the corner of the image. Here are some easy pointers to keep in mind when resizing images in power point.

• don't resize the image using the corner handles.
• resize images outside PowerPoint than place that image into the presentation.
• An article by Microsoft talks about resizing images and how to make good decisions when placing them in your presentation.
  URL: (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/HA011163551033.aspx)

There are many image processing software applications available that help with resizing, several are free. If you don’t have access to them, or need assistance drop me a note and I’ll be happy to assist.
Here’s a document prepared by Microsoft that discusses image resolution.
(URL: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint-help/what-resolution-should-i-make-my-images-for-powerpoint-slide-shows-HA001116355.aspx)

On-site preparation:
Near the back of the presentation room, there will an iMac for you to edit your presentation BEFORE it’s loaded on to presentation laptop. It will be as nearly configured as the presentation laptop as possible. I will have folders set up for each presentation block where you can leave your “now Mac proofed” presentation and I’ll be responsible for moving it to the presentation laptop. I would encourage you to verify that your presentation is ready to go on the presentation laptop just before your presentation segment. If you would like, feel free to send your presentation to me before the Maize Meeting and I’d be happy to check it out on the presentation laptop.

One final thought:
Regardless of the computer or operating system you have used to create your presentation, it would be in your best interest to view it on another computer before arriving at the maize meeting. This will go a long way to help determine if there will be issues with fonts, images, etc. Keep in mind if you have a special application installed on your personal computer you can assume it will not be installed on those provided.
I hope to make this process as pain-free as possible, and it begins with helping you to be prepared the best you can. If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to drop me a quick note.

Darwin Campbell
MaizeGDB Database Administrator
[email protected]
515.294.8209