Oral Presenter Guidelines

Please use the checklist below to ensure that you have not missed any important steps in preparing for your presentation for the 2010 Fuel Cell Seminar & Exposition.

Submit an Extended Abstract
Register for the Meeting by September 15 for Advance rates
Confirm Hotel arrangements by September 24
Prepare Your Presentation
Create a Back-up Copy of Your Presentation
Pre-submit Your Presentation via Internet by August 27
ON-SITE: You Must Check in at the Speaker Ready Room at Least 4 Hours Before your Session
Give Your Presentation

Submit Your Extended Abstract

This year's Extended Abstract Submission is web based. If your abstract was selected for presentation, instructions on how to submit an extended abstract can be found in the notification email that was sent informing you of your selection. If you did not receive an email or are having trouble accessing the submission site, please contact support@abstractsonline.com.

Register for the Meeting

ALL PRESENTERS & SESSION CHAIRS ARE REQUIRED TO PRE-REGISTER FOR THE SEMINAR & EXPOSITION.

Presenters will be notified once registration opens.

Presenters receive discounted registration for the Seminar. Only one person, the actual presenter of a paper, may register at the presenter rate. You will be asked to provide your paper number at the time of registration.

If you register by the Early Bird Deadline of July 14 the presenter rate is $500
If you register by the Advance Deadline of September 15 the presenter rate is $550
On-site registration for presenters is $600.

There is an additionally discounted rate for Student Presenters.

Seminar Registration includes:

Admission to all Technical Sessions, Poster Sessions, Plenary Sessions, and CEO Roundtable
The Exposition (including Exhibitor presentations, and Ride and Drive)
All food functions
One copy the 2010 Fuel Cell Seminar & Exposition Abstract CD, with Meeting Program
One copy of the FCS Exposition Buyers Guide

Visit our Registration page to register!

Arrange Housing

You are responsible for making your own hotel reservations. Discounted rates have been negotiated with two San Antonio hotels. For more information, including rates and availability, please visit our Accommodations page.

Prepare Your Presentation

Acceptable formats for Presentations:

MS Windows: Microsoft PowerPoint, Acrobat PDF.

Macintosh: Microsoft PowerPoint, Acrobat PDF, Apple Keynote.

Graphics must be well designed, simple, and legible to everyone in the audience. Use as few graphics as possible for the time allotted. As a general rule, use one graphic for each 1 or 2 minutes of presentation time.
Presentations are most readable on a dark background (blue, for example) and bright lettering (yellow or white). It is helpful to step 8-10 feet back from your computer screen and make sure your slides are legible. Avoid using small fonts that will be illegible from the back of the room, and break up a complex slide into a series of slides.
Devote each graphic to a single fact, idea, or finding. Illustrate major points or trends, not detailed data.
Avoid long or complicated formulas or equations. Each graphic should remain on the screen for at least 20 seconds.
Use the minimum number of words possible in titles, subtitles, and captions. Standard abbreviations are acceptable.
Use bold characters instead of fancy fonts.
Table preparation: do not use more than three or four vertical columns or more than six or eight horizontal rows. Information is hard to read with more columns or rows. Avoid vertical or horizontal rules as they distract the eye and clutter the graphic. Whenever possible, present data using bar charts or graphs instead of tables.
Graph preparation: Avoid more two curves on one diagram -a maximum of three or four curves may be shown, but only if well separated. Label each curve; Avoid symbols and legends. Avoid 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. Contrasting color schemes are easier to see.
Examine every graphic and view each under adverse light conditions before presenting at a meeting. It is often difficult to provide excellent lighting at meetings.
An introductory and a concluding graphic can greatly improve the focus of your talk.

Create a Backup Copy of Your Presentation

We recommend you bring at least two copies of your presentation to the meeting in case there is a problem with one. The following media formats will be supported:

CD-R and CD-RW
CompactFlash card
MultiMediaCard (MMC)
Secure Digital (SD) card;
Memory Stick card
Zip 100, 250, and 750.

Pre-submit Your Presentation by August 27

You must email a copy of your PowerPoint slides by August 27 so that your session chair may review your slides and request any changes if needed.

All oral presenters are required to prepare PowerPoint slides for their visual presentations. You do not need to submit a hard copy of your slides and you do not need to bring a computer onsite, as all presentations will be pre-loaded onto the Seminar computers.

Instructions

Open Your Notification Email and click on the link found within the email (note that all correspondence is directed toward presenting authors only).
Click "Continue"
Read through the step by step instructions provided to upload your file.

Important Notes

Before you upload your file, please be sure to name your presentation file as follows: FirstNameMiddleInitialLastName_New Paper Number

Example: Joe M. Doe is presenting his paper HRD25-3 and submitting a PowerPoint file. The file should be saved as JoeMDoe_HRD25-3.ppt.

Check in at the Speaker Ready Room at Least 4 Hours Before your Session

The Speaker Ready Room is located in the Henry B Gonzalez. Convention Center. You MUST check in at the Speaker Ready Room at least 4 hours prior to your presentation. Even if you have submitted your presentation in advance and have no changes, you must check and confirm that the presentation is correct.

Checking in at the Speaker Ready Room is the most important step you will take to ensure your presentation is a success. ALL speakers are required to check into the Speaker Ready Room at least 4 hours before their presentations. Those presenting on Tuesday, morning must check in on Monday between 2pm and 6pm.

The hours of operation of the Speaker Ready Room are as follows:

Sunday, October 17:	2:00pm - 6:00pm
Monday, October 18:	7:00am - 6:00pm
Tuesday, October 19:	7:00am - 6:00pm
Wednesday, October 20:	7:00am - 6:00pm
Thursday, October 21:	7:00am - 3:30pm

When reviewing your presentation, make sure all fonts appear as expected and all audio/video clips are working properly. You may edit your presentation at this time. When you are finished reviewing your presentation and verify it is ready, the AV personnel will queue your presentation.

The file will then be transferred to the computer network at the meeting. When the presentation is to be given, the file will be loaded on the computer in the oral session room. Once the presentation has started, the speaker will control the program using a computer mouse.

Laptop Support

In order to support presenters who want to review and modify their presentations while at the FCS&E, there will be support for file transfers. If you plan to do this, bring a back up of the presentation on alternate media, including CD-ROM, Zip drive, or portable memory, in case there is a problem transferring the file from the laptop. The AV support personnel will attempt to transfer the file from a laptop to the network. This may include installing a Zip drive or CD writer to the laptop, or configuring a network card. If you have a network card, bring it with you. Plan extra time in order to be certain the files can be transferred. Please make sure you have all power, video, and networking adapters.

Zip Disks and CDs are returned to the speaker.

Floppy drives on the computers are disabled so no presentations can be copied.

Cameras and video equipment are not permitted in the Speaker Ready Room.

Personal laptops cannot be used in meeting rooms while giving your oral presentation. You must load your visuals from the Speaker Ready Room.

Speaker Ready Room personnel are not responsible for your devices, i.e., memory cards, disks, laptops, etc.

Give Your Presentation

Be considerate of other speakers and the audience by staying within your allotted time. The time allotted for your presentation includes 5 minutes for discussion and changeover to the next speaker.
Session Chairs will hold you to the allotted time. This is essential to ensure adequate time for questions and discussion as well as adherence to schedule.
Please discuss the material as reported in the abstract
Prepare your presentation in advance so that your ideas are logically organized and your points clear.
Take time to rehearse your presentation. If your presentation runs longer than the allotted time, eliminate the least essential material and rehearse again.
Give an opening statement to acquaint the audience with the nature and purpose of the study. Speak slowly and clearly. Word choice should be simple: use active words and short sentences.
Use the public address system, and speak into the microphone and toward the audience.
If using the microphone clipped to your lapel, it is difficult for the audience to hear if you turn your head away from the microphone. If you need to see what is on the screen, have copies at the podium.