Pre-Submission of Electronic Presentations Through the Internet

To assist speakers with managing presentation slides at SLEEP 2009, the APSS offers speakers the opportunity to upload their presentations prior to arriving at the meeting. ProjectionNet is a web-enabled presentation delivery and management system that will allow SLEEP presenters the opportunity to upload their PowerPoint presentations directly to a SLEEP 2009 meeting presentation server prior to arriving on-site. This pre-submission upload site is now active, and can be accessed from your web browser at:

www.projectionnet.com/Sleep/index.html

The deadline for pre-submitting your presentation will be 5:00pm EDT on Sunday May 31st, 2009.

The pre-submission upload process of your presentation is broken into three parts: the Login, the Upload and the Confirmation.

1. Login - For the Login process, enter your e-mail address and the password Sleep2009. The e-mail address and password will be queried against the SLEEP 2009 database of presenters. If validated by the server, you are sent to the Upload page.

2. Upload - On this page, you will be presented with a "data grid," which displays information about when and where you are presenting. Select the appropriate session for which you would like to download the presentation. After clicking the appropriate session, you will be asked to download an applet specific to your browser. You will only be asked once to download the appropriate applet. After this step is complete, you can select the appropriate file for uploading. During the upload process, you will see a progress bar that indicates the amount of time remaining before the upload is complete. 

3. Confirmation - After the files are successfully written to the server, the confirmation page will display a list of files that were successfully uploaded to the server. During this process, an e-mail is generated to you and the site’s technical crew. You will then be asked to logout to finish the process.

Please keep in mind that this electronic pre-submission presentation delivery system is not mandatory. It will benefit those presenters with high-speed internet access or those electronic presentations below 50 MB in size with a dial-up service account. Presenters with large, embedded video movie files within their PowerPoint presentations should make it a point to deliver their presentation media to the Speaker Ready Room for review and loading of their presentation onto the show server in person. Otherwise, the upload process of your presentation on-line could take a very long time, even with high-speed connectivity.

• Please visit the Speaker Ready Room at the facility where you will be presenting at least 24 hours in advance of your lecture, regardless of whether you have pre-submitted your presentation.
• Upon arrival at the Speaker Ready Room, a technician will check you in, upload your presentation, if necessary, and assign you to a preview station where you will be able to review and finalize your presentation.
• Internet connectivity is not available in any session rooms.

If you are attending SLEEP 2009 only for the day of your session, we strongly recommend visiting the Speaker Ready Room as early as possible to test and load your presentation file into the presentation server.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL PRESENTERS BE ALLOWED TO E-MAIL PRESENTATIONS TO APSS.

The SLEEP 2009 Speaker Ready Room is located in Room 603 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. The Speaker Ready Room hours of operation are:

Friday, June 5 4:30pm – 6:00pm
Saturday, June 6 6:30am – 5:30pm
Sunday, June 7 6:30am – 5:30pm
Monday, June 8 6:30am – 5:00pm
Tuesday, June 9 7:30am – 5:00pm
Wednesday, June 10 7:30am – 5:00pm

A Pentium PC format computer will be setup next to the podium in each session room with the following configuration:

• Processor: a minimum Pentium IV 2.5 GHz
• 1GB RAM
• 1024 x 768 at 24 bit color depth
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP3
• Microsoft Office 2003 (With 2007 compatibility pack)
• Windows Media Player (Version 11)
• QuickTime (Latest Version)
• Flash Player (Latest Version)
• Adobe Acrobat Reader (Latest Version)

All electronic files must be submitted in the Speaker Ready room using one of the software formats listed below:

• PowerPoint 2007 or earlier version
• Operating System: Media should be PC Formatted
• Web Browser: Internet Explorer 7
• Plug-Ins: Quick-Time 7*, Adobe Acrobat 9
• Video Playback: Windows Media Player 11; Quick-Time 7*
• PDF Reader: Adobe Acrobat 9
• Unix Users: Bring HTML Files or Adobe Acrobat 9

*Note: ALL Quick-Time users should make sure to submit their presentation to the Speaker Ready Room AT LEAST 24 hours in advance, due to additional processing time that will be required.

Please submit your presentation utilizing one of the following media types:

• USB Flash Drives or external hard drives – Any brand as long as they do not require drivers.
• CD-ROM a.k.a CD-R
• DVD-R, DVD+R
• CD-RW (not recommended)
• Memory Cards (Memory Stick, MicroDrive, Secure Digital, Multimedia, Smart Media, Compact Flash)

Audio-Visual Equipment that will be setup in each workshop session room:

• Minimum 3300 lumen LCD projector (1024 x 768 screen resolution)
• 17" LCD Flat Panel preview monitor (connected to computer)
• Audio Direct Box for computer audio connection to the meeting room PA system
• Podium and Microphone
• Projection Screen
• Laser Pointer

Fonts: The presentation systems will be loaded with Standard Windows Fonts. If your presentation contains any special fonts, you must provide a copy of the font to be loaded on the presentation system. The APSS recommends Arial, Times New Roman, or Tahoma font options. Please pay special attention to fonts and scientific notations within your presentation as this is often written using a non-standard font.

Formatting: Presentations are most readable when using a dark background (such as dark blue) and bright lettering (such as yellow or white). It is often helpful to step 8-10 feet back from your computer screen and make sure that your slides are readable. Stay away from small fonts, which will be illegible from the back of the room.

Slide Master: The Slide Master feature will help standardize the appearance of your presentation. Bullets and font features can be changed globally rather than editing individual slides.

Embedded Images: The maximum display resolution of the SLEEP 2009 presentation machines is 1024 x 768. When inserting images into a PowerPoint presentation, you should reduce their Image Size (in an external program such as Photoshop) to approximate their on-screen size in the presentation. If you insert large scanned images or large images from a digital camera (above 1024x768), PowerPoint will have to re-size the image to fit the screen “on-the-fly” during your presentation. This will cause your presentation file size to be much larger and can often cause unwanted pauses and slow performance during slide advance.

Linked Media Files: If you will be using Linked Media Files, please create a folder on your computer to store your presentation and all relevant media files.

Media files fall into three categories:

• Files that can be played within PowerPoint natively.
• Files that can be played within PowerPoint, with the addition of an appropriate “Codec.”
• Files that cannot be played within your PowerPoint presentation and require an external viewer.

Windows Media: Generally, any media file that can be played within Windows Media Player can be linked to and played within your PowerPoint presentation. Please pay close attention to the codec that was used to encode the file. If you’re not certain of the codec, please contact the person who created the file. Example codec files that are supported directly for playback within your presentation are: MPEG1, Indeo 5 and Cinepak, If you are using a “non-standard” codec, you will have to provide a copy of it at least 24 hours in advance so it may be installed it on the presentation computer.

Real Player and QuickTime movies cannot be played within your PowerPoint presentation; however, you can create an “Action Button” which will allow you to click on an icon in your PowerPoint slide and it will spawn the appropriate viewer application and load the movie for you. Because of this limitation, you may want to consider compressing your movie file into an appropriate Windows Media format.

Macintosh Users: There are a number of challenges involved in transferring PowerPoint presentations between the Mac and Windows. Fonts are often a problem, and you may want to consider using Tahoma. If you have any embedded images, please convert them to JPEG before inserting them into your presentation to confirm that they will transfer properly. If you are using QuickTime movies in your presentation, you will incur the same limitations outlined above.

Unix Users must have HTML files or PDF files in Adobe Acrobat 6.

Acrobat Reader: You are welcome to bring your files in Acrobat’s PDF format; however, editing these files at the meeting will not be possible.

HTML presentations : Make sure that your files are portable. Data will be copied from your media to the networks hard drive. If files are not portable, you could lose links between pages.

Web Server : Web Server is not on the network so please plan accordingly.

Other Plug-Ins or Active X controls : These cannot be installed into the network. If your presentation takes advantage of a function not built into Internet Explorer 6 or the Plug-Ins mentioned above, you may have difficulties on site.

Please contact Sleep@projection.com with questions.

• Graphics must be well designed, simple, and readable by everyone in the audience. It is worthwhile to use professional preparation services, if possible.
• Use as few graphics as needed. As a general rule, use one graphic for each one or two minutes of presentation time.
• Presentations are most readable when using a dark background (such as blue) and bright lettering (such as yellow or white). If is often helpful to step 8-10 feet back from your computer screen and make sure that your slides are readable. Stay away from small fonts, which will be illegible from the back of the room.
• Devote each graphic to a single fact, idea, or finding. Illustrate major points or trends, not detailed data.
• Do not show long or complicated formulas or equations. Each graphic should remain on the screen for at least 20 seconds.
• Use the absolute minimum number of words in the title, subtitle, and captions. Remember that standard abbreviations are acceptable.
• Use bold characters not fancy serifs.
• Table preparation: Do not use more than three or four vertical columns and six to eight horizontal rows. If there are any more columns or rows, the information will not be readable. Do not use ruled vertical or horizontal lines; they distract the eye and clutter the graphic. Whenever possible, present data using bar charts or graphs instead of tables.
• Graph preparation: Generally, do not use more than one or two curves on one diagram; a maximum of three to four curves may be shown, but only if well separated. Label each curve; do not use symbols and a legend. Do not show data points unless scatter is important.
• Colored graphs are very effective. Color adds attractiveness, interest and clarity to slide and viewgraph illustrations and should be used whenever possible. If you use color, remember that contrasting colors are easier to see.
• Critically examine every graphic and view them under adverse light conditions before presenting at a meeting. It is sometimes impossible to provide excellent light conditions at meetings.
• An introductory and concluding graphic can greatly improve the focus of your talk.