[[!meta title="Instructions for presenting"]]
[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2019, 2020 Amin Bandali and Sacha Chua"]]
Hello there!
Please see below for important details, instructions, and tips about
your presentation for EmacsConf 2020 and the logistics of how the
event will unfold on Saturday November 28th and Sunday November 29th.
[[!toc]]
## Summary of action items if you will be doing live presentations or Q&A
- Send emergency contact info and complete a tech check by November 22
- Update your talk information page (optional)
- Review the schedule close to the time of your presentation
- Check into `#emacsconf-org` at least 15 minutes before your
presentation
## Send emergency contact info and complete a tech check by November 22
If you are delivering a live presentation or will be taking live
questions via video, please email one of the people listed on the
table on the <https://emacsconf.org/2020/prepare/> page with a few
possible times and dates for a short tech-check to make sure you are
able to connect and use the BigBlueButton instance we will be using
for video calls. Because you might not notice technical issues while
presenting, please consider emailing <bandali@gnu.org> your emergency
contact information (e.g. phone number) so that we can get in touch
with you if there's a problem.
Please complete your tech check by November 22.
## Update your talk information page (optional)
If you would like to update your talk description, add links, or
indicate your preferred way of hearing from interested people, feel
free to edit the individual page for your talk. You can find your
talk ID by going to the [[schedule]] page, following the link to your
talk, and noting the two-digit number at the end of the URL. To edit
the talk information, follow the instructions at
<https://emacsconf.org/edit/> to check out a copy of the repository,
edit `2020/info/YOURTALKID.md`, commit, and push your changes. See
`2020/info/01` or <https://emacsconf.org/2020/schedule/01/> for an
example.
Alternatively, you can email one of the organizers
(e.g. <sacha@sachachua.com> or <bandali@gnu.org>) and we would be
happy to make the change(s) for you.
## Review the schedule close to your presentation time
The schedule for EmacsConf 2020 is available at
<https://emacsconf.org/2020/schedule/>, with rough approximations for
session times. We will update this as prerecorded talks are submitted
and throughout the conference as things come up. In case of technical
issues, we might play prerecorded lightning talks while sorting things
out. If you check in early or send us your emergency contact
information, we can let you know if there are significant changes to
the time of your presentation.
## Check into #emacsconf-org at least 15 minutes before your presentation
If you will be presenting or answering questions live via video,
please check in with us at `#emacsconf-org` (a low-traffic channel for
coordination between organizers and speakers) on freenode IRC maybe 15
minutes before the approximate time of your talk (or earlier if you're
available then) and say hi. You can connect to freenode using your
favourite IRC client and pointing at `chat.freenode.net` (e.g. see our
[[quick ERC setup|2019/tips#erc]] tip), or by using the EmacsConf web
IRC client at <https://chat.emacsconf.org>. To help us recognize you,
please include your name (or pseudonym you submitted the talk under)
and talk title in your check-in message. One of the organizers will
then tell you which BigBlueButton room to join and confirm your
audio/video/screen-sharing setup. If something comes up and you
cannot check in via IRC, please contact us using the emergency contact
information in the email sent to you.
We will likely collect questions in a collaborative pad (URL to be
announced on <https://emacsconf.org/2020/> later). If you have space
on your screen, you may want to have the pad open on the side so that
you can keep an eye on the section for your talk, either throughout
your presentation or during the portion of your talk that you dedicate
questions and answers. That said, some of the audience members might
still choose to post questions in the `#emacsconf` and/or
`#emacsconf-questions` IRC channels. We will try to copy over those
questions into the collaborative pad so you wouldn't have to monitor
several places (but if you'd like to, you're more than welcome to!).
For more information about IRC and the collaborative pad, check out
<https://emacsconf.org/2020/> closer to the conference date. If you
do not have the collaborative pad open or find it difficult to
monitor, you can also ask the organizer in the BigBlueButton room with
you if there are any questions.
When it is time for your talk, Amin (bandali) will join your
BigBlueButton room and give you the go-ahead to begin. If you have
prerecorded your talk and choose to use the prerecording, he will
stream it and then give you the go-ahead when you are live.
During the presentation:
- **Use a headset or earphones to minimize echo**. To help reduce
echo, if possible, please use a headset or earphones instead of
external speakers during live presentations including during Q&A.
Headset microphones tend to have some form of noise-cancelling built
into them, which might be helpful for decreasing the ambient noise
captured by the microphone. If you have one, it might be worth trying
using it instead of a laptop's built-in microphone.
- **Describe what's going on**. To help the visually impaired members
of our audience, it would be great if you could try to verbally
describe what you're showing on the screen. We are also asking
volunteers to describe what's going on in each talk in the
`#emacsconf-accessible` channel. Additionally, we would be very
grateful if you could add transcription(s) or subtitle(s) for your
talk(s) to your talk page(s) for EmacsConf 2020.
- Lastly, please consider our [[guidelines for conduct|conduct]] while
presenting your talk(s) and in discussions in our communication
channels. Thank you in advance!
## Going over time
Please keep an eye on time and on your presentation's length. The
organizer in the BigBlueButton room with you will try to signal you
(e.g. politely clear their throat) or mention to you if you're going
over time.
If you still have a lot of things to cover or there are lots of
questions you want to explore, you have a few options:
- *You can stay in the BigBlueButton room and keep presenting.* You
may continue even after the organizer leaves for another
BigBlueButton room. The extension will not be streamed on the main
conference track, but it will be included in the recording that will
be posted on the individual talk page after the conference. You can
continue to monitor the collaborative pad and/or the IRC channel for
additional questions. When you are all done, please check back into
`#emacsconf-org` on IRC and let us know so that we can stop the
recording and prepare the room for the next speaker.
- *You can switch to Jitsi for the "hallway track."* That way, you can
talk with anyone who's interested in learning more. (This is to
avoid overwhelming the BigBlueButton server with lots of guests.)
We'll give you the Jitsi URL to go to and make you the moderator
there. We'll also announce it via the stream, and we'll post the
URL in the collaborative pad and in IRC. If you want, you can wait
in the Jitsi room for 5-10 minutes in case anyone joins in order to
continue the conversation. Please consider recording the meeting
and sharing the video with us.
- *You can take a break, enjoy the next talk, and follow up whenever
you like.* At the end of your presentation, you can let people know
how you want them to follow up with you and where to look for any
updates. We will also put that information in the collaborative
pad and on the individual talk page. For example, you may want to
record a video following up on the questions. We can link to and
include it in the updates sent to
[emacsconf-discuss](https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacsconf-discuss).
As you wrap up the scheduled part of your presentation, please let us
know what you want to do.
## After the presentation
Hooray! Feel free to enjoy the rest of the conference sessions.
Thanks for sharing your Emacs story with us!
Once the recordings have been processed, we will post the recording of
your talk and any questions, answers, or additional resources to the
individual talk page. If you would like to include additional
information, please feel free to update the page, or email us and we'd
be happy to update it for you.
If there are unanswered questions that you would like to respond to,
you can answer via the collaborative pad, updating the wiki page, or
emailing us after the conference.
## In case of technical issues
We have set up a status page at <https://status.emacsconf.org> where
you can monitor the status of various parts of our infrastructure for
any disruptions. If you notice a problem or experience disruption
that's not acknowledged on the above page, please check `#emacsconf`
and/or `#emacsconf-org` and notify the organizers as they may not be
aware of the issue. If you cannot connect to IRC, please use the
emergency contact information in the e-mail that was sent to you.