Preparing for Perth
I got into Perth this afternoon, and after a bite to eat, headed straight to the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. What a great location.
Of course, the sound, vision, technical, and events crews were still in the process of "bumping in" and I wondered over to the Auditorium, where the Keynote, and my 3 demos will be delivered to our customers.
The stage is huuuuuuuge, and from behind the "demo surround", can look a little on the daunting side:
Of course, there isn't an insignificant amount of technology to manage and present either. This is my view of all of the computers we need for the demonstrations:
On the table are four of the five computers I need, and in the background (above) are plasma screens which show what's on screen behind us. This is pretty important in helping, very quickly to identify whether we've switched to the correct computer or presentation.
Also we have a visual fold-back monitor showing "Time to go." It's currently switched off in this photo, and sits between the left and middle plasma screens.
Note: That screen itself adds to the pressure...
Behind the speakers is the main presentation screen, as well as dynamic side creative projections.
By the way, that's David Bryan, an old Consulting Manager colleague from my HP days. We managed the Microsoft and Networking Consulting Teams together back in '04. David now works for the National Australia Bank, and is seen here commenting on their adoption of our new technologies.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, it is easy to look at the sheer scale and size of the event, and be daunted. But that would be to forget Presentation Rule #1 (Thanks Craig Bailey for your recent post on this): The demonstration isn't about how I feel! It's about the value of what I'm presenting, to the audience. The presentation is about the content, and the audience. Meeting their needs, helping them see value.
Once looked at through these lenses, everything falls back into perspective. All that technology, the size of the audience, all immaterial to whether I can demonstrate clearly enough for he Audience to see value.
R42
