GRC Speakers

SPEAKERS

Equipment available

Computer (PC) with video-projector - Please bring your presentation on a CD-R or on a USB key (we will rather avoid trying to connect your own computer to the videoporjector which is always a source of problem)
Slide projector
Overhead projector

Role of Speakers

Speakers should be encouraged to follow a format in which they give a brief introduction (5 minutes) where they introduce the problem(s) that will be addressed and the reasons for the topic's significance. Since Gordon Conference audiences are often drawn from a broad range of disciplines, terms and jargon should be defined for the benefit of non-experts in that field. The main part of the lecture should bring conferees up-to-date on the latest developments in the field, analyze the significance of these developments and provoke suggestions concerning underlying theories and profitable methods of approach for future research. The range of methods used to approach the problems should be indicated and a critical assessment given as to their contribution in solving important questions. Examples of the speaker' s work should be given, but other relevant work should also be presented so that the audience can obtain an assessment of the field as a whole. Reference should also be made to other lectures and to posters at the Conference, where appropriate. The nature of the uncertainties in the analysis of data and of conceptual understanding should be specified as an outline of unsolved problems, opportunities for future research, and a fo- cal point for discussion.

While the speaker should provide a context for the new work being presented, the emphasis should be on the advances, new ideas and speculations for the future rather than an extensive review of the field.

One of the long-standing tenants of the Gordon Research Conferences is that the presentations should contain previously unpublished material. The reasons for this are many fold and include the opportunity to present new science to an audience of peers and to evoke immediate commentary and discussion. At some conferences, particularly those frequented by industrial scientists, there is a developing viewpoint that the obligation to file patents, and thereby protect intellectual property, precludes disclosure at a Gordon Conference. Under U.S. Patent law a presentation at a Gordon Conference does constitute a public disclosure even though the meeting is private and the presentation material is not made available to scientists who do not attend the Conference. Filing a U.S. patent establishes a priority date for the invention. Public disclosure, including at a Gordon Conference, after the priority date will not affect the ability of the inventor to obtain a patent anywhere in the world on the subject matter claimed in the patent application. The normal process is to file patent applications outside the U.S. within one year of the U.S. date of filing, and these applications will publish 6 months later, thus disclosing the full specification and claims.

The decision of when and where to disclose scientific information that is included in a patent application must be made by the inventor and his/her sponsoring academic, government, or industrial organization. Once that decision has been made and the timing established, a Gordon con- ference makes an ideal venue for first disclosure. The Gordon Conference offers the scientist an opportunity to present his/her work before a group of peers and to refine the presentation as appro- priate for a subsequent disclosure at another major scientific meeting, which, unlike the Gordon Conference is abstractable in the scientific literature, or via a peer reviewed journal. This practice of first disclosure of scientific work at a Gordon Conference followed closely by presentation or publication in the literature provides the scientist with the maximum opportunity for the scientist to be recognized for his/her work.

The Gordon Conferences strongly encourages all participants (speakers, discussion leaders and conferees) to stay for the entire week of the Conference. It is GRC policy that support for speaker expenses is conditional on the speaker staying an absolute minimum of 24 hours after his or her talk (or until the end of the meeting). If a speaker is leaving early, the Conferees should be advised of the limited time for informal discussions with the speaker.

Suggestions for Speakers

The meeting is a true conference, an interchange-not a lecture. Limit your own presentation to approximately 45 minutes.

Minimize "review"-present a maximum of new data, theory, inference, deduction, to stimulate further examination and discussion.

The Conference is strictly "off-the-record"-no written papers are required, speakers may not be quoted in print, the taping of your discourse is prohibited.

Your reporting of new, unpublished, even incomplete results is encouraged.

Your audience will contain mostly participants from academic and government laboratories in reasonable balance and a mix of disciplines.

Prepare your Material so it Communicates Clearly:

You will cover your topic both in speaking (and answering questions) with a microphone to an audience that will number about 116 participants.

Consider the value, for discussion and understanding, of interjecting pauses at significant points to ask for and answer questions from the floor.

Evaluate for purposes of better understanding and memorability the value of using visual aids (slides, overhead transparencies, or computer based presentation) to more effectively and briefly communicate involved data.

Prepare your visual aids so they are readable:

For projected slides, text only-limit the number of words to 30 maximum.
For slides with tabular material-provide an identifying headline; limit tabulations to a maximum of 5 columns with a maximum of 5 lines of entries.
For ALL slides-photograph the material for projection to be as large and readable as possible, with minimum surrounding waste space.Multimedia projectors wi..
Multimedia projectors, whiteboard, slide and overhead projectors will be available.

Prepare your lecture's progression with the proper pacing vis-a-vis your visual aids to allow sufficient "dwell time" for your audience to absorb the visual communication.

Advise the Discussion Leader before hand of any points he/she should cover in introducing you and your topic.

Deliver your Presentation with these Factors in Mind:

Unless you maintain the proper distance from the microphone (within reasonable limits), the variation in volume and modulation will be distracting. Make a quick test for “level” with a few opening words before launching into your more important statements.

With the Conference format, expect spontaneous questions during your presentation-and these will be solicited by the Discussion Leader afterward.

Should an interrupting question require too long to answer properly and will be answered subsequently in your presentation or is far afield of your subject, so advise the Discussion Leader.

Since the purpose of the conference is to stimulate interest, promote interdisciplinary cooperation and advance the art, consider "spelling out" specific projects or ancillary studies and soliciting participants' ideas. Adjust and focus projector for slides; test the public address system by listening to yourself. (See projectionist)