Meeting format

We’ve tried various formats over the years and I wonder if the presentation time is scaring off some potential topics. Delivering a 1 hour talk is tough if you aren’t used to doing things regularly. I saw this group linked somewhere and wonder if maybe a meeting of short presentations might be more welcoming to people. People that have never talked before might be more willing to give a quick 5 minute talk then to give a 60 minute talk.

Comments?

The link: http://oxford.geeknights.net/2007/april-11th/ The part in particular I found interesting: This second Oxford Geek Night consisted of two keynote talks of 15 minutes each, followed after a healthy period of socialising with two sets of 5 minute long open microslot sessions.

We’d have to keep side stories/comments at a minimum to let the speaker have the full 5 minutes.

And I know Al mentioned this in the past about “micro-talks” he called them.

I think that it would be nice to give them a choice of time. I know from doing paper presentations that I tend to underestimate the time needed for my talks. A 5-15 minute talk for someone new to presenting would usually be enough, but more experienced people like more time.

Just my 2 cents!

Dave

For what it’s worth, a “presentation” should be whatever the speaker feels is necessary, so long as it doesn’t go beyond 60 minutes. For anyone who feels they need less than 15 minutes, I think a “discussion” would be better suited. In other words, the person could just remain seated, stand or goto the front of the room if (s)he so chose while giving her/his talk. Make it a conversation.