GUIDELINES FOR MODERATORS

Abstracts:
Get abstracts from your speakers as soon as possible and send them to Margaret or Bonnie so that we can link them from the conference pages. This information is one of the most important ways of attracting participants! We have suggested an October 1 deadline for abstracts. You need to follow up.

Audio:
We are not recommending that speakers rely on audio only, although they are welcome to add audio via the Web window using the method of their own choosing, such as Hearme. There will be no live transcription of audio, nor will we record the realtime voice communications. If the speakers have systems to do this and want to provide the logs or streaming sound files, great! we have room on the server.

Web Page for Track:
If possible create a Web page for your track that includes abstracts and homepages, etc for each speaker. You may or may not choose to give an agenda/order of talks. This can be risky. Be flexible, we are. This whole thing is being pulled together by volunteers like yourselves. It is online and Web/world-based.

GUIDELINES FOR PRESENTERS

Presentations are fluid experiences within the context of this experimental medium. Please be patient and be prepared :>)

The report from the first conference is available at : http:// ETC. We are incorporating many lessons learned from that first program, and expect to learn many more from this years activities.

Time:
Specific presentation times will be communicated by the track coordinators and/or moderators. Please plan on attending your entire session, so that you can be available to jump in to fill a slot in the event of a network failure or other problem. Time allotted for each speaker will be determined by the track coordinator and enforced by the panel moderator. In general, 2/3 of the allotted time should be allocated to the presentation and the final 1/3 of the allotment should be reserved for Q/A session. Check with the moderator in advance of your session.

Posting Abstracts
Please provide us with the URL for a brief abstract of your talk. We recommend keeping it to less than 200 words. In addition, feel free to provide additional links from this page, beginning with your homepage. We need this URL by October 1. The sooner, the better.

LOGISTICS

Back-up Person:
We have found that it is ideal for each speaker to have a backup person who is familiar with your plan and can deal with the unexpected. While the moderator and experienced users will support the speakers, the ideal is to have a backup person/copilot at your site. The backup person can compile questions and/or important point, and support you in a variety of ways, for example, by taking snapshots of the event for inclusion in the log of your talk.

Gesturing:
When beginning the talk you can ask the audience to gesture to you (wave, etc.). This will let you know who is actually in their avatars at the moment, get their attention, and give you some idea of the communication lag for individuals in your group.

Gathering Questions:
Outline your talk and the process that you will use in presenting it for the audience. For example, if your backup will be gathering questions, you may want the audience to whisper their comments and/questions to this person. Another approach is to have the audience indicate that they want to comment with a “!” and to ask a question with a “?”. In this case, the backup can get in touch with them. Periodic breaks are a good way to deal with and/or gather questions.

Presenting Text:
One proven method for presenting is to write out the presentation in advance in a text only format. You will be glad you did—especially if you are going it alone. The chat box will accept about 220 characters at a time. You can keep a text editor window open in a narrow dimension on the side of the browser so that it is easy to move from one to the other. Give people time to read each entry. We often end up panting at the end of an exciting session. It is not necessary to limit each thought to 220 characters, but if you cut the overall text up into small chunks in advance of your presentation, you will be able to run through it beforehand and will get a sense of how it will flow for your audience. For example, you can use short posts for emphasis and incorporate chat shorthand/icons into the content.

Be prepared to modify your text as you go if needed. Allowing some line breaks between segments will make it easier for you to type changes on the fly and keep track of your location. Some people post the entire talk at once, in a continuous flow of text. However, you might consider breaking the content up into segments, especially if you are using slides. Consider checking with the audience to make sure the slides have downloaded for them before moving on. Remember, some people will be on the other side of the Earth and they will be accessing the sessions using the full range of bandwidth, from 28.8 to TI and better.

Graphics:
Limit the number of images you plan to use. There are several ways to incorporate images into your talk.
1. Inworld Images: One way to incorporate images is through images linked from web pages to sign objects in the space where you will be presenting. Each image should be either 256 x 256 or 512 x 512 pixels in dimension and made available on a Web page of your creation. These images will be linked to the sign objects within the space. Limit your images to four. ARRANGE FOR CHANGING GRAPHICS IN ADVANCE.

2. Web Site Slides:
As mentioned above, you can provide images and even packaged slide presentations via the Web window in the browser. If you chose to do this, consider incorporating two simple modes of navigation among the slides. DO NOT USE FRAMES IN THE WEB SLIDE PRESENTATION. The browser window is narrow and the left frame for navigating within the slide presentation will dominate the window and distract your audience. Instead, we recommend simple pages with the slides presented as images that incorporate forward and back navigation using buttons. In addition, each slide can be linked to a series of objects in the world, which can be numbered sequentially so that the audience can simply click along with you to view the slides.

Additional Multimedia: AT YOUR OWN RISK :>)
You can arrange to broadcast via a Webcam from your location to an object in the world. You must do this in advance of the session, however, and set the framerate for a low number to ensure that it will work for everyone. It is fun to see the real people behind the avatar. Audio can be added to your presentation as .wav sounds linked from objects in the world if this will enhance your talk. Also, live audio can be incorporated into the Web window via such technology as HearMe. However, this may be more of a distraction than a benefit given the time constraints of the sessions and more appropriate for BOFs. In addition, because we have no way of transcribing on the fly and will not be recording the audio, the unique content of the audio communications may not make it into the proceedings.

End of Talk:
If the exchange is still lively at the end of your alotted time, you should consider suggesting a breakout at the end of the track for a BOF session. In fact, you may want to plan one in advance. These sessions will be taking advantage of the Virtual Discussion Rooms from Digitalspace.com, registration is automated and sessions are automatically posted to a schedule for all participants. Please refer to the BOF page for details.

Proceedings:
We will post the chat log of each session, edited minimally, at the Vlearn3D.org Web site as soon as possible after the conference. In general, the logs will include screen grabs/snapshots of the occasion and graphics from your talk if provided. You will be notified in advance of the posting and provided an opportunity to review the log for content. If you do not respond within a reasonable amount of time with edits, the log will be posted anyway. You can provide additional content after the posting, if necessary.