Ed Brill

Post a Comment

1. 1  Wild Bill http://www.billbuchan.com | 1/30/2006 10:54:50 AM

   From a fairly-newbie speaker point of view:

   I joined Lotusphere at 2005, and must have sweated 35+ hours on my presentation during December.

   This year, as it was being given again, it must have only taken 10 or so.

   The repeat session that we did took little additional time - mostly just discussion on parts that we could do better..

   So - number of sessions might not be the best marker in this respect. As Bob Balaban for instance usually gives a lot of presentations, his prep-time for some of them might be far lower - these presentations MAY be ones he's given professionally, for instance.

   As speakers, I know that I submitted six proposals, but explicity said that I could only do two of those - and Rocky was good enough to honour that. So to a certain extent, speakers can also scale up and scale down based on their experience.

   I *do* know that doing presentations, hosting a stand, trying to close deals and actually attend presentations is almost impossible - so next year - if I can submit anything thats considered interesting - I may scale back my participation on my companies pedestal.

   After all, I attend Lotusphere myself to see some great content - and I'm sure I missed out quite a few... I've ordered a few DVD's already.

   On an aside, whats the record for *most* sessions ? I know Snapps had eight - and I've heard that Bob Balaban got the "iron butt" award one year with seven... ?

   Lastly, and perhaps a little later than most - can I congratuate the Lotusphere team for excellent organisation and delivery ? As a speaker and an Exhibitor, we had a well laid out website + process that we just had to follow. Excellent work.

   ---* Bill

1. 2  Chris Miller http://www.IdoNotes.com | 1/30/2006 11:11:54 AM

   One would think that there is a limit to the amount you can give. I responded some in the other thread, but 3 sessions over this many days are not really that bad. SNAPPS had a ton as it is, but they were given by different people. So no load on any one person. Bob is a just an IBM drone now :-) so he might do a billion in a couple years.

   It all goes around the fact of preparation and the ability to perform over and over again. Bill was runing wild in his kilt from the exhibitor floor to sessions and meetings. I personally witnessed a Marilyn Monroe moment when he exited the Dolphin and that lke breeze caught him by surprise. Ok, only kidding. The point is that that are those that thrive and perform presenting multiple sessions. And he is correct that some need to do only 1 and focus on it. All depends on whom

   But the organization of this year was better than any other time since I started presenting.

1. 3  Roberto Boccadoro  | 1/30/2006 11:13:00 AM

   From a absolutely-new speaker point of view:

   My case is slightly different from the general sessions, I ran a hands-on so I had to prepare also the labs, but I spent at least 2 weeks worth of work in setting up my session properly.

   I will never have the guts to propose to speak in more than one HND session (and I had a repeat as well); In general I believe that an expert like Bob, that routinely delivers presentations as part of the job, can really prepare 7 or more of good quality. As Ed said, in most cases is just a matter of collecting and putting together what you already have. The number of unique speakers does not relate to the quality of the sessions IMHO.

   RoB

1. 4  Bob Balfe http://balfes.net/blog | 1/30/2006 12:03:37 PM

   I also think that many people are going to Lotusphere for specific Domino and Notes knowledge when in fact Lotusphere is moving to a showcase spanning many IBM products. I have move to the Workplace Managed client area and while the sessions have an average attendance it is far from the core Notes centric ones. I think as Hannover gets closer people will be looking at other areas like Eclipse, Portal and Composite Applications. As Ed stated, there are over 300 speakers and the workplace side has a lot of those.

   Bob

1. 5  Jonathan Walkup http://www.thewalkups.net/weblogs/jonsworld.php | 1/30/2006 12:51:31 PM

   Wow, I didn't really think this would get top billing, but I am glad to see the numbers. I'm glad to see there were so many new faces this year. I do think it's good to raise the issue, so that we don't get the same presentations year after year, or conference after conference. (Excepting "The Boss Loves Microsoft ...", of course :-)) I do think, however, that there must be some effect from giving multiple presentations, and it should only be done when the second (or more) topic is a vital one that nobody else can deliver.

   I might add that I heard some disgruntled IBMers collecting evaluations saying things like "I can't believe they turned mine down and took this one instead" (now admittedly they were idiots, because this was at the Julie K. session which, while not a glamorous topic, was one that was chock full of information, but still...). Overall, I am glad to see that so many people were turned down this year, because it means that the "buzz" is coming back to Lotusphere, and that can only be a good thing.

1. 6  Charles Robinson  | 1/30/2006 12:53:56 PM

   I attended 32 sessions in 5 days and I only attended two from the same person, that being a session and its related hands on lab with Scott Good. Being a dual-propeller-beanie-wielding developer/admin, I probably had a wider breadth of interest that many attendees so that likely contributed to my lack of repeat speakers. I will say that there were a few sessions I skipped solely because I attended one session with the speaker and didn't want a repeat even if the subject matter was different. But hey, not everyone likes me, either.

   I came back from Lotusphere extremely excited about the future and what can be achieved in Notes/Domino. Then I got back to work this morning and reality intruded so I'm back to my old jaded cynical self. I am cooking up a few ideas for sessions that I might throw out and see if they stick. Who knows, maybe I'll be one of the speakers people avoid next year. :)

1. 7  Christopher Byrne http://www.controlscaddy.com/ | 1/30/2006 1:07:06 PM

   I posted in the original thread as well. I have to second what Ed said, i.e. I am contantly updating my presentation(s) with new and relevant information that has come forth between the time I submit and the actual show. While I try to do this without making changes to the slides (which is not an ideal practice), I think it is just one example of the "tax season" syndrome.

   What is important is that many speakers are consultants and business partners who take non-billable time to present at conferences, and in the case of Lotusphere also pay for travel, accomodations and food. I think this is a point lost on many people. We do it for different reasons, but there is still this opportunity cost of being non-billable.

   When we get up there, we are putting our professional reputations and our businesses on the line, so you better believe that a lot of care and feeding go into the presentations.

   The bottom line is that people have to create the opportunity to present at conferences and write. It took me a long time to learn this valuable lesson.

   Dang, I am rambling again...

1. 8  Jonathan Walkup http://www.thewalkups.net/weblogs/jonsworld.php | 1/30/2006 2:43:44 PM

   (I guess it's a slow monday)

   Here's what I came up with (these are probably slightly off, I did them by hand):

   36 times at LS2006 a session in one of the main tracks was preented by someone who had already presented one (not counting repeats). This is really the only bit I was concerned about.

   45 times sessions were repeated. This is to be expected in such a busy conference and not a problem in my book.

   16 times a presented did a Hands-On lab in addition to a regular session. Again, this is a good thing. Often the Hands-On labs were extensions of the talks.

   10 times a presenter gave a jump start presentation in addition to a regular track presentation. Not a problem, the Jumpstart presentations were really a different beast from the normal presentations.

   1 time a presenter gave a BD Day presentation in addition to a regular track presentation. I separated out Jumpstarts, so I should separate BDD too, I guess.

   If one were maximizing the variety of presenters, there could have been some 108 more presenters than there were, but I think it's only the first number, 36, that should be held to a minimum. Again, this is all jsut my personal opinion. No offense meant to anyone who gave more than one session.

1. 9  Christopher Byrne http://www.controlscaddy.com/ | 1/30/2006 3:24:48 PM

   @9 Jonathan,

   Let us add another element to the mix. Suppose these are important topics for IBM to get presented and these people are considered to be THE subject matter experts (SMEs) in these areas. Are the track managers to be faulted when abstracts are not submitted in these areas or submitted by new speakers who are considered SMEs in these topics? It is a variable that cannot be controlled easily, I think.

1. 10  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 1/30/2006 3:30:19 PM

   @8 a good set of variables. So, for example -- Rob Ingram did both Domino 7 what's new and Domino 7 Administration what's new. I think it's reasonable for him to have done both sessions -- he's the PM for this area, so he's an expert. Makes a lot of sense.

   I think a good conference does a mix of both -- I know there are some speakers who will get great attendance if they read pages from the telephone book, and others who are tolerated only because of their expertise (nobody who reads this blog, of course ;)). It's true in any industry, and we just do the best we can given these factors.

1. 11  Jonathan Walkup http://www.thewalkups.net/weblogs/jonsworld.php | 1/30/2006 3:56:51 PM

   One last comment, then I'll shut up for a while :-)

   Stefan Hepper must deserve some kind of medal. I didn't go to any of his sessions, but he was scheduled for 4 solo presentations at Lotusphere, back-to-back-to-back-to-back on Wednesday. That must be some sort of record.

1. 12  chris bordeleau http://chris.bordeleau.net | 1/30/2006 4:38:48 PM

   Another dual admin/developer ( after the worst practices session I should probably chop off one of my hands :) who did not see to many of the same faces presenting. I also had no sessions this year where I felt the need to get up and find another session... a first in my seven years... So either I am getting better at picking sessions of the sessions are getting better...

1. 13  Mick Moignard www.dominopower.com | 1/31/2006 3:39:19 AM

   I'm not bothered by seeing the same faces more than once. I agree with Ed's comment in @8 - I'd rather have the subject matter expert appear more than once than someone who is less knowledgeable. And then there's the thing that you get to know the speakers themselves, and that helps choice of session. You see a session with (to pull a name or two from a hat) Bob B or Wild Bill presenting, and you know that it will be entertaining, as well as educational. That affects your choice. So I for one am happy to see the same faces year-on-year and session-on-session, so long as they still have something useful and new to say.

   Mick Moignard

1. 14  Rock http://www.lotusgeek.com | 1/31/2006 12:43:21 PM

   Since Ed called me out by name, here's my response to this topic on my own blog:

   { Link }

1. 15  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 1/31/2006 1:54:15 PM

   Ooh, I really like this bit from Rocky's comments:

   Don't bug the track managers - Don't ask us what you should submit (that's your job). Don't ask us if we're going to pick you. Don't lobby on your own blog for us to pick you. Don't whine if you're not picked. All of this will pretty much guarantee that you won't ever be considered.

   That's for darn sure. Nothing I hate more than whining about Lotusphere as if it is entitlement.

1. 16  Jens http://www.ligonet.ch | 1/31/2006 7:27:06 PM

   Well, there is really more to this topic than has been said already. I for myself have been in two of Bob B sessions and I was not that happy: in both cases content did not come to my expetations.

   Then, Ed has put up very, very valid point in posting 10: The perception of sessions varies really big time. Having said that, you won't be surprised, if I tell you, that interpreting the feedbacks/evaluations is really an art, that is seldom really understood. Interesting enough, if you have a session with easy content and much entertainement, you may be sure to get almost only excellent feedbacks, if - and this is a big if - this is not the normal format/quality of the conference. If you have too much of these sessions, feedbacks will fade away to less and lesser "points on the sheet". On the other side, if you have rather complex content, which needs some knowledge to even follow the presenter, you get for sure some bad feedbacks without beeing any thing, that you could do against it: This is a setup, which will inherently have some attendees, that did overestimate their skills, and instead of acknoledging, that they have been in a session not suited for themselves, they will give you bad evaluations. "Anything is relative" (Albert Einstein 101 years ago in Berne, some kilometers away from me ... :-) ).

   Oh, and then there is an effect I really don't understand at all: There seem to be a lot of people, that are giving totally different responses on the feedback sheets that later when sitting with a beer at the bar.

1. 17  Bob Balaban  | 1/31/2006 8:11:09 PM

   @16 - I'm very sorry that 2 of my sessions did not meet your expectations. I would very much appreciate more detailed feedback, if you would be so kind as to send me an honest appraisal. It would help me do a better job next time.

   If you are willing (could I bribe you with a Looseleaf t-shirt?) please send me an email (which I will keep confidential) to bob_balaban@us.ibm.com.

1. 18  Andrew Pollack http://www.thenorth.com/apblog | 1/31/2006 8:28:27 PM

   Steve Martin once said "Everyone THINKS they have a sense of humor." The same is true for presentation skills. Every wanna be geek with powerpoint and a few programming chops thinks they can present. Well, they can't. Presenting is a skill that requires practice and study if it is to be done well.

   Rocky and I spent some time coaching a friend who had some trouble getting used to it at first. Why? Because its a skill and as a skill it needs to have attention paid to it or it will not be as good. I'm pleased to say that person is one of the best presenters in the list having now had time to refine those skills.

   If you think its easy, pick a small show and try it. See if you get invited back. Read every single survey you get each time you give a session looking for that one bit of feedback which has constructive, well considered, and accurate feedback with which you can improve your session. Do that without loosing sleep over it if you can.

   Here's a few dirty little secrets to let you in on, as to why shows like to use fewer speakers of highest callibur.

   1. The same presentation given by different speakers will achieve entirely different audience reactions. Great content, poorly delivered, will dissapoint. Poor content, well delivered, can be made to shine.

   2. Presenters are a pain the butt. Getting presenters to have their stuff in on time, make the flights, get to equipment checks, etc.. is difficult. Its like hurding chickens. The less chickens you have to herd, the better.

   3. Presenters are expensive. Most shows cover airfare, hotel nights, and conference fees along with a small fee. Less speakers is more economical.

   4. Many presenters will draw people regardless of topic. I'll skip naming names here -- you all know who some of them are or were in the Domino field. The best compliment you can ever give a presenter is to tell them that you'd come see them deliver a presentation on nearly any topic.

   So, are you geek enough? Can you think on your feet in public when 900 people are staring at you and you've just crashed a demo? When you can destroy your laptop with the only copy of the presentation or demo in the room on it with a room full of people watching only 5 minutes into a 75 minute session and STILL get good reviews for the session, you have the right to bitch.

   --Andrew Pollack, Alpha-Geek

   P.S. If you think you're geek enough, come knock this beanie of my shoulder. I dare ya. :-)

1. 19  Jens  | 2/1/2006 4:31:43 AM

   @Bob: Yes, I'll contact you by mail, but don't worry that much, this things may happen. Of course, there is always room for improvements, but then, Andrew is making very clear, how difficult presenting is, and he even does not come to the point, where he is writing about getting meaningful content into it. I think, this discussion is really very meaningful as it shows attendees, how much work and energy has to go into a presentation until it is good in content and presented with really high quality.

1. 20  Christopher Byrne http://www.controlscaddy.com/ | 2/2/2006 11:28:12 AM

   @20 Andrew -

   Don't true alpha-geeks always carry 5 laptops with them?:-)

1. 21  Andrew Pollack http://www.thenorth.com/apblog | 2/11/2006 9:35:04 AM

   @Chris (20) -- wannbe geeks do that. Alpha geeks use VMWARE.