Compare yourself with your peers in InfoComm International’s annual Presentation Professional survey. This year it’s shorter, easier and faster to complete. Whether you’re one of many in a corporate setting, or a one-person shop wearing all the hats, see how you compare in the skills you have and the challenges you face.
To thank you for sharing your opinions and experiences, you will receive a free survey report by e-mail.
The survey is at http://infocomm.qualtrics.com/SE?SID=SV_56aKHqv6ZbwQi3O&SVID=Prod. Contact marketresearch@infocomm.org if you have any questions.
Posted by Todd Dunn, CTS at 2:56 PM .
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Get all the details and register at infocommshow.org.
Dates: Saturday, June 3 – Friday, June 9, 2006
Location: Orlando, Florida
“InfoComm is the Best Conference and Exhibition to Explore AV Technologies!
“Plan to attend InfoComm, the largest event for the professional AV and information communications industry. It’s the only show you need to see the newest technologies for audio, video, display, projection, lighting and staging, digital signage, conferencing, digital content creation, networking, signal distribution and much more!”
The Presentations Council will again be providing a Super Tuesday event: Tools, Tactics and Technologies for Presentation Professionals.
Many Visual Being contributors are heavily involved in InfoComm 06 and the Super Tuesday events so there’s sure to be an ongoing series of updates posted here as the date grows nearer.
Posted by Lee Potts at 11:10 AM .
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To: All News and Wire Services
For Immediate Release:
Professor PowerPoint™ Loses Tenure
By Tom Bunzel
As an active member of the Visual Being web log, the Presentations Council of InfoComm International and the presentations community at large, I need to inform you all of a change in my circumstances necessitated by my recent correspondence with Microsoft’s law firm, Katten Muchin Rosenman.
I was contacted by a member of that firm a short while ago and informed that my use of the phrase “Professor PowerPoint™” was an improper use of its trademark and among other matters, potentially created confusion as to my relationship with Microsoft.
As many of you know, I have spent a fair amount of time and effort writing articles and books, educating users and in many ways promoting the use of PowerPoint™ in creating and enhancing presentations. However, when I explained these circumstances in some detail, I was informed that while Microsoft certainly appreciated my endeavors, my continued use of the trademarked name PowerPoint™ in my business and web site was inappropriate.
After consulting Microsoft’s web site pertaining to the proper use of its trademarks, I realized that there was no way I could continue as Professor PowerPoint™ without violating the clearly set forth canon of: “Do Not Use Microsoft Names or Trademarks as Part of Your Name”. There was very little wiggle room in that sentence.
To my relief the attorney added that Microsoft was not taking an aggressive posture in this issue. Since I had no great interest in retaining a law firm with the names of three partners on its letterhead, I appreciate that position immensely and sincerely.
So it is with some regret that this week I am publicly and irrevocably renouncing my position as Professor PowerPoint™, and now also admit that I got most of my diplomas through self study. (My B.A. in English from Tufts University is, alas, legitimate).
Obviously I had hoped to complete my career as a fully tenured Professor PowerPoint™ basking in the glory of a position in an albeit virtual and wholly nonexistent campus, but that is not to be. As of today the ProfessorPowerPoint™ web site is no more, and I have assumed a new position…
Henceforth my web site will be www.professorppt.com, and I hope that those of you who have linked to me in the past or referenced me in your own work will make the necessary adjustment.
The title of this web site has now been changed to “The Presentation Professor” (even though I shall remain, in reality, a humble untenured teaching assistant).
Let me make it perfectly clear that this entirely new web site has no relationship with either Presenters University or Presentations Magazine (even though I am an intermittent Contributing Editor at Presentations). Let me state for the record that I am also in no way connected to the “Ask the Professor” professor at Presenters University, the Video Professor on national television, nor any other real or virtual institution of higher education in the presentations industry. If in fact there are any other professors, real or virtual, teaching in the presentations community, I simply ask, can we all just get along?
It is indeed with a sad and heavy heart that I leave this entirely nonexistent campus, and set forth in search of new vistas in the presentations (and not just PowerPoint™) universe. I hope you will not forsake me for my past transgressions and continue to count me as a valued colleague as I carve out what I hope will be a new area of specialization and expertise beyond PowerPoint™ and into the virtually infinite realm of communicating more effectively using technology. (Oops, not to be confused with David Paradi’s http://www.communicateusingtechnology.com).
I will post my new office hours shortly but drop in any time. With fondest memories of a great ride, I remain sincerely,
Tom Bunzel
The Presentation Professor
Posted by Tom Bunzel at 4:10 PM .
5 Comments »
Visual Being contributor and fellow Presentations Council steering committee member Todd Dunn has been elected to serve as council chairman starting in January. Most of the Visual Being contributors belong to the council and I strongly suggest that you join InfoComm International (formally the ICIA) and the council if presentations are an important part of what you do. Contact Mary Waldera for more information.
I’d also like to recognize the significant contribution of time, energy and ideas our current chairman, Bob Befus, has devoted to council. He has continued in the tradition begun by our first chairman, Ray Guyot, of working beyond the call of a volunteer’s duty to grow and develop the council into a fantastic resource for presentation professionals.
Posted by Lee Potts at 2:48 PM .
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Please join the ICIA Presentations Council on their upcoming webinar, Wednesday, August 10, beginning at 5:00pm ET. Rick Altman, PowerPoint Conference Host, will present “Too Many Chefs? The Fragile Art of Collaboration.” To register, please send an email to Ellen Weber at eweber@pstrat.com. Registration will be limited to the first 50 who respond.
Too Many Chefs? The Fragile Art of Collaboration
A funny thing happened recently on the way to a PowerPoint Design Contest: There were 10 judges and 10 different opinions. The result was a comically-chaotic and mostly-futile effort at consensus. This is especially illuminating in light of the Presentation Council’s recent discussions about “best practices.” To what degree can we define a best practice? Can an art form be quantified that way? These fascinating questions all played out in a flurry of emails between 10 professionals who all had strong opinions to share.
This session will showcase many of the fine entries to the Sweepstakes (www.pptlive.com/contest.htm), as well as a few of the, um, less-than-stellar efforts. And we’ll unveil the winning entry and walk you through how a team (of less than 10!) turned the winning entry into the template that our entire presentation team will use.
Posted by Lee Potts at 12:01 AM .
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With just a little more than two weeks until the conference opens, we would like to announce the availability the Visual Being Online Bulletin Board for Presentation Professionals at InfoComm.
This bulletin board is meant to enhance your InfoComm experience, both before you leave and once you are on site, by helping you:
- make the most effective use of your limited time, prepared with information about activities that are of interest to presentation professionals.
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make connections with other attendees who share your professional interests and concerns.
- stay informed of breaking news and important announcements.
One of the things that makes InfoComm valuable and important is the sheer scale of opportunities, activities and learning experiences it offers. Even conference veterans can find themselves feeling overwhelmed there. We sincerely hope that the bulletin board makes it all more manageable by helping you to connect with and feel part of a vibrant, active presentation professionals community.
Posted by Lee Potts at 8:23 AM .
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At today’s quarterly Webinar, the ICIA Presentations Council previewed their InfoComm 2005 Super Tuesday program for presentation professionals. It looks like it going to be an extremely useful set of sessions covering technology, design, coaching and business strategy.
Please don’t take my word for it. You can see for yourself as they have been kind enough to provide a link to an archived version of the webinar for Visual Being readers. Although the webinars themselves are open to the general public, access to the full archives is one of the benefits of membership in the Council.
Posted by Lee Potts at 8:31 PM .
1 Comment »
ICIA Presentations Council Webinar – May 3rd at 1:00 PM Eastern
This summer at InfoComm, the Presentations Council of the ICIA is presenting a one-of-a-kind professional development opportunity for presentation media professionals. It all happens in Las Vegas on June 7, 2005, during Presentation Super Tuesday at InfoComm 05.
On May 3rd, the Presentations Council will host a preview of Presentation Super Tuesday featuring Bob Befus (Technology), Nancy Duarte (Design), Fred Barnes (Presentation Skills Coaching) and Jim Endicott (Communication Strategy).
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to preview the new Presentation Super Tuesday session!
To register, please send an email to Ellen Weber at weber@pstrat.com.
Posted by Lee Potts at 4:16 PM .
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Now it can be told and revealed. Check my story on InformIT for the full details of Microsoft PowerPoint Secedes from MS Office. Suffice it to say that this is huge, HUGE, HUGE — only my sources in the PowerPoint community let me reveal the sordid underbelly of what has been festering in Redmond. Here’s a hint — check the package of the next version of Office and guess what WON’T be there. Read it all now! (It’s all there with the full final slide show from the PowerPoint team).
Posted by Tom Bunzel at 5:05 PM .
3 Comments »
