NANOG-futures

[William Norton]

On Feb 29, 2008, at 11:35 AM, Martin Hannigan wrote:

> On Thu, Feb 28, 2008 at 3:05 PM, Joel Jaeggli <joelja@bogus.com>  
> wrote:
>> Martin Hannigan wrote:
>
> [ clip ]
>
>>> The point is that something non obtrusive would be better. The soft
>>> lighting of cue lights seems "less" intrusive, but they sure are  
>>> damn
>>> expensive. I think I'll swing by Radio Shack and see if I can rig  
>>> up a
>>> system for < $10 + 9v.
>>
>> Alternate attempts at improvisation are of course welcome... ;)
>>
>
>
> I did swing by Radio Shack. It can be done, but then I thought about
> it and the professional queue system was < $1500. I think that Merit
> should make an investment in it to improve the conference and speaking
> experience. It would be well worth it in terms of making things run
> smoother.

One of the best conferences I have ever spoken at (Next Generation  
Networks) had an alternative solution.

They had two monitors on the floor angled up towards the speaker, one  
of which ran something like Joel's full screen Powerpoint countdown  
timer.

It showed with green background from 20:00 down to 05:00, then Yellow  
05:00 down to 02:00, and finally red from 02:00 to 00:00 and then it  
stopped/flashed. At least that is my memory. It was non-obtrusive; you  
tended to see it when you looked out to the audience.

They also found a way for the speaker not to have their laptop screen  
flipped open preventing the audience (or the video camera) from seeing  
their face.  They made sure the speaker didn't have their badge on, as  
it would flash the lights reflection to the video camera. I also like  
that they wired the clip on microphones under your shirt so you would  
see the wires nor pull out the microphone accidentally. Very  
professional.

Bill 

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