First impressions

[Steve Dyer]

The superior random-access capability of overheads is really a red herring,
given the fact that you the speaker are not able to leaf through them.
In every other respect, slides have a whole lot more "punch", and they can
be easily prepared from laser printer output by commercial photography shops
located in even mid-sized cities.

In addition, the fixed time allotted for a USENIX talk doesn't really give
you much time to review slides anyway.  There's nothing more trying to my
patience than a speaker who attempts futilely to extemporize on some objection
or misunderstanding by an audience member, when a well-placed "see me after
the presentation" would do much better.  If it takes more than 30 seconds to
reply to a question, I defer it.

Finally, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of rehearsal for USENIX
presentations.  It improves everyone's delivery, and makes you conscious
of time, pacing and clarity.  I've always done at least two rehearsals; one
or more before a small group, where they could critique delivery, timing, etc.,
and another formal presentation (dress rehearsal) before your own department
or members of your company.  Anyone who attempts to give a new talk without
this preparation is asking for trouble.

Finally, I think this problem with quality would all disappear if there were
only one USENIX Conference (as we know it now) per year.  The program committee
would have a larger field of papers to choose from.  I'd rather have one
quality conference rather than two mediocre ones.


-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer at ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer
dyer at arktouros.mit.edu