Speaker Resources
General Speaker Information
The EDUCAUSE staff is committed to assisting all speakers in making sure their presentations are a success. There are many logistical details that are best organized in advance, so your cooperation in responding by the various deadlines as communicated to you is sincerely appreciated.
- Track Presentations (Tracks 1-8, Featured Speakers, and Technology Solutions sessions (formerly Corporate Presentations)
- Poster Sessions
- Preconference Seminars
Speaker Frequently Asked Questions
In an effort to answer speakers' questions, we have developed this FAQ section. The FAQs are divided into session types, so follow the links below for answers to commonly-asked questions.
If you still have a question, contact Leslie DeGrassi for track-, corporate presentation-, or featured speaker-related questions, Victoria Fanning for preconference seminar-related questions, or Kerri Sherwood for poster session-related questions.
What Kind of Session Are You Presenting?
- Technology Solutions Session (formerly Corporate Presentation)
- Featured Speaker Session
- Poster Session
- Preconference Seminar
- Track Session
Speaker Staging Room
The speaker staging room is located in the Convention Center in Room W231C, open Monday through Friday; see below for exact times. Speakers using technology are encouraged to visit to test their equipment, prepare for their session, and make last-minute modifications. A printer will be available for speaker use.
Testing
If you plan to use A/V equipment, please visit the speaker staging room well before your session. You can connect your laptop to a meeting room projector, and test all equipment as needed. You can also use EDUCAUSE-provided computers to either transfer your presentation to the server, which can be accessed from the meeting room computers, or write your presentation to a CD.
You can also upload your presentation materials before the conference begins.
Each computer will run on Windows XP and have the latest versions of following programs as well as DVD drives and USB ports. There will be PCs available in the Speaker Staging Room on which speakers can make last-minute changes to their presentations.
- Microsoft Office 2007 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access)
- Acrobat Reader
- Internet Explorer
- Firefox
- WinZip
- Windows Media Player
- Real Audio
- Macromedia Flash Player
- Macromedia Shockwave Player
When you arrive at the conference, please come to the Speaker Staging Room to test your computer, review your presentation, and/or place your presentation onto removable media and the network. The room will be staffed by Davis Audio-Visual personnel for help in connecting your personal computers to the AV equipment, as well as providing a test run of presentations to be made using the meeting room computers. EDUCAUSE personnel will also be staffing the room to help transfer your presentation to CD and/or to place a copy of your presentation on our local server.
Speaker Staging Room Hours
- Monday, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
- Tuesday, 7:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.
- Wednesday, 7:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
- Thursday, 7:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
- Friday, 7:00–9:30 a.m.
PowerPoint Template
Here is a PowerPoint template [POT 144 KB] that you can use as you create your slides. To use this template, follow these steps.
- Download it to your computer.
- Right click on the link above, then release.
- Select "Save Target As..."
- Choose a destination folder, and click the Save button.
- The "Download complete" dialog box will appear.
- Click the Close button.
- Open Microsoft PowerPoint
- From the Menu Bar, select File > Open. The Open window will appear.
- Go to the directory containing your download and double-click the EDUCAUSE2008_Speaker_template file to open it. This will give you the template for your presentation.
- To modify the editable background areas shown on the template, select View > Master > Slide Master from the Menu Bar, and make desired changes.
Read tips for creating effective PowerPoint presentations.
Contact Information
For answers to any track-, technology solutions-, or featured speaker-related questions please contact Leslie DeGrassi, 303-939-0325.
For answers to any poster session-related questions, please contact Kerri Sherwood, 303-939-0312.
For answers to any preconference seminar-related questions, please contact Victoria Fanning, 303-939-0315