Perfect Presentations: It's All in the Network

By Margo McCall -- Tradeshow Week, 1/10/2005

No one wants to waste time watching a conference presenter fumble with cords, struggle to launch software or wait for his laptop to reboot. That's why, increasingly, organizers are turning to networked meeting rooms.

Although it may cost more due to the necessity of using highly paid convention center personnel for setup, providers say networked meeting rooms go far in smoothing out potential rough spots during conferences and seminars.

"Once they make the change, it's very difficult to go back," said Brent Rogers, AVW-TELAV Audio Visual Solutions' national director of computer services, who estimates that 80 percent of his company's clients have embraced a networked approach.

Networked meeting rooms allow presenters to stop by the speaker-ready room beforehand to upload presentations, then at the designated time just walk to the podium and click on an icon to launch them.

"If you're Dr. Smith and you click your icon, there's your presentation. There's no reason to bring in your laptop. Everything is preloaded when you walk into the meeting room," said Ken Scully, president of Atlanta-based audiovisual provider Convention Presentation Services.

For years, slide and overhead projectors were the presentation tools of choice. The arrival of computers brought an end to the monotonous cries of "next slide," as well as the indecipherable handwriting and diagrams scrawled in overhead projector markers.

But the sophistication of computers didn't come without a price. Those running early operating systems, like the notoriously unstable Windows 98, frequently crashed or locked up in the middle of presentations, creating disruptions and delays.

In addition, before PowerPoint became the norm, meeting planners had to anticipate problems with speakers using competing presentation software programs. Laptop batteries ran out of juice; hard drives died. And then there were the annoying delays associated with presenters plugging in, then booting and rebooting their laptops and struggling to launch software programs.

To ease delays, many meeting planners began dedicating a single laptop for each meeting room. That approach, still occasionally used, enabled presenters to walk up to the podium, insert a CD in the drive and launch into their presentation without delay. But it also provided an opportunity for viruses to render host computers unusable. In addition, sometimes problems would crop up with the presentation software not being loaded on the dedicated computer.

The solution, said Rogers, was to connect all the meeting room computers to a central server in the speaker-ready room, allowing presenters to upload their presentations beforehand. To render that process easier, AVW-TELAV developed a software tool called Presentation Management, after gathering input from meeting planners.

In addition to allowing presentation uploading in the speaker-ready room, the software lets speakers use a Web site to submit their presentations before leaving home. "Now, presenters well in advance of the show can upload their presentation. They don't even have to bring media or the presentation to the meeting. They don't even have to go to the speaker-ready room anymore," Rogers said.

One of the biggest users of the program is the American Heart Assn., whose annual scientific meeting draws 30,000 attendees and features a 200,000 net square foot exhibit floor with nearly 400 exhibiting companies. In addition, the Tradeshow Week 200 event's sessions feature about 2,800 speakers.

Before the association began using the software two years ago, speakers had to bring their own laptops for presentations. Event organizers used a switcher box to move from one presentation to another. "It was just very choppy," said Heather Halford, the association's senior manager of operations.

Halford said the busy medical professionals who typically speak at the event like the new arrangement. "We've actually had several speakers not even come to the speaker-ready room. That way they get to maximize their time," she said.

The latest version of the software, released this summer, lets organizers monitor which speakers have yet to file their presentations, and send out broadcast reminder e-mails to tardy individuals. It also allows speakers to submit updates and revisions.

Paul Wedesky, senior vice president of sales for AVHQ, said one of his company's first networked customers was the American Academy of Neurology, whose annual meeting features 3,000 speakers. AVHQ has also developed a program that lets customers load presentations via a Web site. Technicians can make sure the slides are readable, the audio works and the video opens correctly long before the event.

"There are no long lines outside the speaker-ready room. The speakers don't lug around their laptops to the convention center. The sessions run smooth and on time. The presentations work. The fonts are correct. And there's no disruption," he said.

Because AVHQ supplies both computers and audiovisual services, it's been able to benefit from the trend toward networked meeting rooms. "It's been one of the newest innovations that has gained us additional business," he said.

Although proponents of the networked approach take much of the credit for smoothing out presentation bumps, improved operating systems are also responsible. When laptop computers started becoming the norm for conference presentations, the prevalent operating system was Windows 2000, which wasn't designed for multimedia use.

Mike Evans, director of sales and marketing for Orlando-based AV Services, said Windows NT was a little better, but the biggest improvement came with Windows XP.

"Things go a lot smoother than they used to. With respect to software, everyone uses Windows. XP is much more reliable," said Evans. "Every generation was better."

The 2003 version of PowerPoint allows users to easily package graphics and movie files and put them on one CD. The fact that PowerPoint has achieved market dominance over more complicated presentation software programs is a big help, Scully said. "PowerPoint is pretty much the main program driving presentations. The fact that there's standardization has helped," he said.

Today's software programs and operating systems may be perfectly designed for the conference presentation environment. Still, redundancy isn't a bad idea. AV Services typically has a backup computer running on the podium. In the event one computer locks up, the presentation can be seamlessly switched to the backup. It's also prudent to post an audiovisual technician in the back of the room or have one at the ready in case of problems.

Rogers said his company uses the same type of computer in both the meeting room and speaker-ready room, so presenters have an idea beforehand of what their presentation will look like.

And while advancing technology has made it much easier to achieve the perfect presentation, there remains one wild card: the user. "I don't care which conference you go to, there's always somebody who's not prepared or not comfortable with technology," said Scully.

He said organizers should also be prepared for speakers to revise their presentations. "What we have witnessed in the past is that assistants do PowerPoints for them, and a lot of times speakers don't know how to do it themselves."