All I knew about Gnomedex in the past was that it had something to do with new media, open source/tech, and if you are invited to get on stage and speak about your company there is a chance that doing so will cause uproar in the audience. When I was invited to speak on behalf of Bug Labs, I decided to hold off on creating a presentation until I was a few hours into watching others do the same.
Some of the presentations were eye-opening, such as Danny Sullivan demonstrating the power of search and the challenges of privacy. I learned a lot of useful camera tips from Vancouver photographer Kris Krug (go Canada!). I was inspired by the power of the crowd when the attendees + audience raised over $3000 during Beth Kanter‘s presentation. I also paid a lot of attention to the backlash on Twitter during the Magnolia presentation and the debate over Sarah Lacy’s keynote (which was unquestionably NOT the focal point of the show for those who only read CNET’s coverage).
After watching a few and following the feedback on the live video stream as well as on Twitter, I started making my deck (a.k.a. powerpoint presentation). I decided to (1) keep the “Bug Labs company/products pitch” extremely short (2/53 slides), (2) keep the “Bug Labs vision pitch” as the centerpoint of the show, (3) keep it moving fast, (4) inject humor, and (5) make a point.
All was well until the guy before me gets up and starts showing off stuff I couldn’t possibly “compete” with. Robots and spaceships. Yep, it was Scott Maxwell from JPL, the guy who drives the Mars Rover! Come on! Seriously though, fascinating content, with a highlight of a picture showing the planet Earth from the surface of Mars – the first such picture ever taken. Scott received a standing ovation for his show. Next up, JT…
I had a great time making the slides as well as during the presentation itself (few more thoughts here). Thanks to the audience for your support and positive energy, it was a lot of fun. To those of you who couldn’t be there, just do a twitter search for #gnomedex, you’ll see a lot of action.
great job, it was one of my favorite presentations at gnomedex!
Yeah man, you mixed in the humour with useful, real-life/do today tactics to make minor revolution. Big marks on content and delivery – now how to get a tester unit ;-).
You are a natural presenter.
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