IC08: Imagine Cup 2008 Update – Team SOAK through to Finals!!
Team SOAK is winning hearts and minds here in Paris. To date they’ve delivered their presentation some 3 times in the various rounds of competition. Our first goal was to get through the two heats of round one, to be announced as one of 12 teams in the Semi-Finals.
That was Saturday.
Delivery #3 was that very evening, so with another run through in the bedroom, the team honed their skills and fronted up for the semi-final presentation. By this stage word about their presentation had got round and a further 6 people (including “off-duty” judges) came to watch their delivery.
The finalists were announced on Sunday morning. This time, rather than being the first team announced, allegedly to make us sweat, Joe Wilson announced Australia 6th of the 6 finalist teams
The finalists had to head out to the Louvre Musee, to prepare for the finals competition. This is an almost surreal experience, as we enter one of the worlds most prestigious (and largest) museums. Down in the depths of amazing history, the teams set up their most innovative technology. The scale of the event is bigger even than I expected, and has the buzz of a rock concert.
At the setup and rehearsal we met our first real challenges: Over the last year as the team has been practicing, they’ve used the dual monitor feature with presenter view for their slide presentation. This gives them the opportunity to skip ahead if appropriate, and keep key phrases top of mind on the notes page. However, here at the Louvre the presenters need to be in front of the presenter plinth, which means their laptops are not visible.
The second issue came only at the end of the rehearsal, when the teams were told they had to leave their computers and equipment on stage. This means they couldn’t reset the demo environment, nor use their computers to put in a final practice back at the hotel.
For the first challenge we went through a number of iterations of second machines being controlled from backstage, or one of the team onstage. It worked out that there was less effort (and risk) for the team to practice without the prompts, than introduce more technology onto stage.
For the second, we reset the environment before leaving the Louvre, and grabbed the presentation on a thumb drive.
Then it was off to the Seine for a (another) video shoot
We took a little down time, actually looking at exhibits in the Louvre, and then headed back to the hotel for the much vaunted Dinner Cruise down the Seine.
At this stage the team was still feeling a little anxious about the changes to their presentation style, but (wisely) decided to take a much needed break, and join the rest of the attendees on the cruise.
Finally we headed back to the hotel, and up to the room to hone that presentation. No notes, no prompts, just pure adrenaline and talent, pushing through until the early hours of the morning.
In the midst of all of this, we had to call Australia to change Dimaz’s flight, which had been booked for Monday afternoon. Now that the team is in the finals, we had a couple of frantic hours trying to find a seat on over-booked flights for a later date. But we’re all breathing a little easier now, as Dimaz has a confirmed flight on Tuesday night.
Do follow the Twitter Feed from myself, David Burela and Long Zheng to get up-to-the-minute updates and pictures about what’s happening. Also you can check out pictures at Dimaz or Ed’s Facebook pages, and Long Zheng’s Flickr Stream.
Of course official updates can be found on the MS Australia Academic Blog
Now, the finals, and pushing for the first Australian University team ever to be placed at the Imagine Cup
R42
