145 replies to this topic

[JMorgan]

I just got the issue in the mail today. That's pretty cool.

[tiamatskull]

I will defintely be there. Will be buying my ticket next week. [thumb]

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edit: full quote of first post removed

Edited by caliban, 29 September 2005 - 02:24 AM.

[justinb]

I am registered.

[Bruce Klein]

See you there, Justin!

[rudi]

Looking forward to the conference.

Rudi Hoffman

[Live Forever]

exactly one month till the conference!

[Bruce Klein]

Have about 80 individuals attending thus far...

[Mind]

I see the conference was the only thing mentioned in today's KurzweilAI email update. Pretty neat.

[circuitblue]

Coming with my friend and soon-to-register my girlfriend. Looking forward to it!

[Mind]

We should definitely invite him. I don't think anyone has yet.

[Lazarus Long]

Please contribute these kinds of sugestions to the list being put together.

[Bruce Klein]

I've sent Sanjay an ImmInst info packet with invitation to the Nov 5 Conf. to his CNN mail address a couple of months ago... no reply yet... I'll send another.

[bacopacabana]

What's the format on the conference, i.e. can all the speakers be seen (all speakers giving short, consecutive presentations) or do the speakers have competing time slots (which is what it looks like to me)? Serial or parallel?

[Lazarus Long]

Serial time-slots with designated breaks and events.

The speakers may be generally present during all of it but probably gathered together more at key moments and then in the audience rather than held prisoner on stage I believe.

Though Bruce will expound on this more I am sure.

[Bruce Klein]

Right, Laz... conf. will be in once hall and there will be 4 panels with speakers having about 20 - 25 min each...

http://imminst.org/c...rence/#schedule

Working on a more detailed schedule now..

[Bruce Klein]

Feel free to download the early version of the Conference Package, including detailed speaker schedules:

http://www.imminst.o.../s/schedule.doc

[JMorgan]

Well, I have to say that breakdown is pretty specific, which means only one thing: it will not go as planned.

I've been working at conferences for years and the one thing I can always count on is that things always go past their scheduled time. 5 minute breaks are always 10; 10 minute breaks are always 15, etc. But anyway, don't let my pessimistic attitude stop you.

The only thing I am really curious about is why Aubrey (as your key-note) is given the same amount of time as everyone else. Also, I'm sure each person won't actually need 5 minutes for an introduction, but that is fine since that gives you some extra time to play with whenever you need it.

Also, while it seems the setup is designed to have each person speak one-by-one, are you planning on having the panelists of each group sit on a dais on-stage or go up individually only when they're scheduled to speak?

While this is certainly a different audience than the lawyers that attend conferences I'm used to, most people generally prefer panels where speakers have the freedom to speak to one another while on stage, rather than for each speaker to give slotted speeches one-by-one. It's more entertaining, provides a little more spontaneity and keeps people awake, though it is more difficult to control time-wise (unless you have a firm chair like Susan that keeps things moving). [thumb]

Anyway, these are just random thoughts to think about. (Some perhaps a little too late, sorry.)

Regardless, I am confident that everyone will enjoy themselves, and I am glad you managed to schedule a lot of free time for people to interact and get to know each other. This will certainly be an event to remember!

[Bruce Klein]

Thanks for the valued feedback, Malchiah.

Susan will be the Emcee and I'll be the guy with the clock.

Each Panel will sit at a head table together facing audience.

Aubrey has been scheduled key-note.. and as you've seen, while the slot for Aubrey is 20min (like all other speakers), I plan to allow more freedom for him to talk longer, answering questions, etc., as he is the final speaker.

I'll keep in mind your suggestions for spontaneity.... and may allow each speaker an individual mic for this purpose.

[Mind]

One technical detail. In the section with the pictures of the speakers, you have a picture of Aubrey but his name is listed as Ben Best.

Also, my feeling is that the sponsors should get a little more "ad space". Maybe a short description of what they do or what services they offer (I know most people already know, but I thought it would give them more for their money). Maybe the additional printing cost cannot be justified? Or will they have their own tables with informational literature?

Also, I don't think we should plan for 5 minute introductions. It should take no more than 90 seconds to spit out a little history and a few accolades. Long intros are nice but not valuable at this conference, because most people already know each other. It would be more valuable to keep the intros short and sweet in order to keep things moving along and allow more time for questions and discussion.

[Bruce Klein]

Good suggestions, Mind.

Thanks for pointing out Aubrey's bio mix.. Joel (malchiah) had also found this too... should be corrected.

I agree about 60 to 90 second intros, so that the 5 minutes that are scheduled are made to give time between speakers (setup time) and to give speakers a bit more than the 20 min allocated if possible. In essence, I would like the speakers to be pleasantly surprised to know they have 22 or 23 minutes, rather than feeling any time crunch.

[JMorgan]

Oh, one last thing, also regarding A/V. Some speakers may or may not have Powerpoint presentations. It is a good idea to have this planned ahead of time, so it would be wise to contact all the speakers and ask them to forward you any specific A/V requirements.

If any speaker does have something to show, then we need to be ready to provide a laptop, hopefully with their presentations already pre-loaded. The Tech Center probably has one but will charge for the use of it during the day. Then the Conference center would need to know to provide a projector during the actual conference (and not just during the film screening).

Anyway... I'm sorry if I'm bringing up things that have already been planned/discussed. I'm merely bringing up the issues that I normally deal with in conference situations.

Edited by malchiah, 17 October 2005 - 01:34 AM.

[Bruce Klein]

The more double-checking the better, Joel.

I'll be in touch with speakers in order to pre-load as many power points as possible into the presentation laptop to bypass potential technical glitches.

Bruce

[Live Forever]

Hey guys,

I was interested in the conference and becoming an ImmInst Full Member, but when I clicked on the link to become a full member (on the conference page), then on "New Member", and then if I click on any of the options to join, they all say the following:

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Warning: Illegal offset type in /home/imminst/public_html/amember/smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 196

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: array() in /home/imminst/public_html/amember/smarty/SmartyNoWrite.class.php on line 165
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Could someone else try and see if it is just my computer or something? I'd really like to become a full member/come to the conference. I could mail a check I guess if the link (to Paypal I think) is broken.

[Lazarus Long]

Yep. Looks like more new server problems.

I hope Bruce gets a chance to look into it soon.

[Bruce Klein]

Working on it... in the meantime, please feel free to register for the conference as a Full Member, and then as a Full Member after this problem is corrected.

Thank you,
Bruce

[mike]

I am planning to attend the conference, and registered last night.

[Live Forever]

The server problems seem to be cleared up now, you can register to be an ImmInst Full Member again.

[swami17]

I'll be there. Can't wait. Flying from LA. I've spent some time in Atlanta, so I've got a couple friends to see. I tried to talk a couple people into joining me, but no go. That's okay. I'm really looking forward to meeting some new like-minded people (like those of you who are reading this post!)

[Bruce Klein]

At this point, we look to have 118 people attending the conference. Three different film crews and a number of journalists. Should be fun!