DevOps Enterprise Summit
Speaker Portal
2021

Table of Contents (click links below)
Due Dates
Setting up Your Home Studio
Recording Your Presentation
Promoting Your Talk
Day of Participation
Session Footage Examples

Conference Registration
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DUE DATES

September 1 Headshots, bio, work title and company due
September 10 Slide deck drafts due for review (submit to Dropbox here)
September 17 Breakout Footage (25 mins) & Title Slide (download) due
September 13-17 Keynote Footage Recording Sessions will be scheduled to take place during this time. IT Revolution will reach out to schedule 1.5 hour tech check and recording sessions for each keynote speaker. You will be contacted directly if your talk has been selected as a keynote.

Conference homepage, where the agenda will the published when available (click here).

For help, contact Ann Perry, [email protected].

SETTING UP  YOUR HOME STUDIO

AUDIO

Present using an external microphone. A professional presenter microphone such as a Blue Yeti Nano is preferred. For optimal sound, position your mic 6-12” from your mouth. This will really make a difference in the richness and clarity of your voice. Think about Radio DJs or podcast shows where people have their mouth right up against the mic.

Quick hack: stack your mic stand on books to get it closer to you.Headphones, earbuds or lav mics are acceptable but may not provide optimal sound. Also, be careful of these microphones scraping across your clothing — use tape if necessary.

We do not recommend using your laptop microphone.

Potential equipment. Yeti Blue Nano Microphone (Amazon)

VIDEO

Stand approximately 3 feet from your camera while giving your presentation. Standing up allows you to project your voice better and breathe more expansively.

Raise your camera to eye-level using a tripod for an external camera or sturdy books, boxes or elevated table for a computer camera.

Potential equipment. Logitech C290 Hd Pro Webcam.

LIGHTING

Use natural light to fill the space

Light your face from the front at a 45 degree angle above your eye-line. Do not use back lighting and avoid overhead lighting. Do not sit with your back to a window.

Enlist help. Getting someone's feedback while setting up your lighting will help you achieve the best outcome.
not good...
better
great!
Potential equipment. Elgato Key Light (Amazon)
PRESENTER NOTES

Use two screens. Your slide presentation will be recorded via screen share on your machine so if you have presenter notes separate from your slides, it is helpful to have a second screen (computer, monitor or tablet) for your presenter notes.

Primary screen:
Screen Share Presentation

Second screen:
Presenter view & your audience

Place your second screen at eye-level (at the same level as your camera) to avoid looking down and as close as possible to the right or left of your camera.

Potential equipment. Pro DJ Laptop / Projector Stand (Amazon)

Note the eye-contact problem in the photo, Gene is looking at his presenter notes screen, which is below his camera.

YOUR SET

Select a visually pleasing background for your talk. It’s best to have something in the background of your shot. We recommend a room or bookshelves with plants, minimal decor and industry-related/professional books, this will create depth in your image.

  • Avoid sitting against a flat, blank wall.
  • Do not use a window as a backdrop.
  • Do not use a green screen as a backdrop.
YOUR PRESENTATION SLIDES

Slide design: in-person vs virtual. Slides for in-person presentations are typically projected on a very large screen and due to the size of the screen, small type and intricate design could be used. Please keep in mind, you are now designing for a virtual conference setting and your slides are being viewed on a screen 15-20x smaller than on used in an in-person setting. Large font, simple design and use of static and motion graphics is encouraged.

Size: 16x9 ratio

WHAT SHOULD SPEAKERS WEAR?

We encourage business casual attire. Skip the jacket and go for a button down shirt and jeans.

Avoid wearing complex patterns as they may come across distorted in your footage. Dark colors work well on camera.

RECORDING YOUR PRESENTATION

Keynote Presentations

In the coming weeks, we will reach out to schedule a 90-minute recording session with you between September 13-17,  2021. To prepare for that recording session, please set up your home “studio” using the recommendations we have outlined above.

A few days before your scheduled recording session, we will send you a link to your online recording studio. Please test that link prior to your scheduled recording session to ensure you can access it with no problems.

If you are having trouble setting up your home studio or accessing the studio link, please reach out to Ann Perry for assistance.

Breakout Presentations

Now that you have the perfect home studio setup, here is some guidance for recording your presentation on your own via ZOOM. Using the ZOOM platform is not required for recording on your own however, it is the platform we recommend as the most user friendly if you don't already have a recording application you are familiar with.

ZOOM SETTINGS

Audio:
Microphone: From the drop down, select the microphone you will be recording on.

Video:
Enable HD
16:9 (Widescreen)

Recording:
Optimize for 3rd party video editor
Record a separate audio file for each participant
Record video during screen sharing

COMPUTER SETTINGS

Screen Share select Optimize Screen Share for Video Clip
On Mac you may need to enable permissions for ZOOM to record your screen

Click Record and select “Record on this Computer”
Note: Recording locally on your computer is preferred in order to avoid recording over a wireless network. Local recording will require that you have enough disk space on your computer for the output file. You will find your recording in your ZOOM folder on your computer.

Close all unnecessary applications, disable notification sounds and check for software updates to ensure your recording is not interrupted.

RECORD

Helpful Hints

  • Present to an audience either live with you at home or hidden on the ZOOM call. This will help you to connect with the audience.
  • Run a test record prior to recording the entire session to ensure all audio and video elements are performing to your liking.
  • Use a countdown timer to time your talk and do not exceed your allotted 30-minutes. If you are inserting a video, be sure to account for the length of the video.
  • Choose one “driver” to advance your slides for a multi-presenters talk.

Hit RECORD, wait 5-seconds and begin your talk.

  • Recommended format to start: Start your presentation by greeting your audience with your headshot in full screen for at least 10 seconds then transition to “share screen” as when it is time to present your slides. This will allow your audience to connect with you as a speaker before you dive into your connect
  • You have 25 minutes for your session.
SUBMITTING YOUR PRESENTATION

Title Slide: We have provided a title slide template in the link below. Please fill out the template as directed with your session title, your name, title and company. Submit your title slide separate from your session footage, DO NOT include a title slide in your presentation, we will add your title slide to the start of your presentation in post production.

Download Title Slide

Please upload your talk to Dropbox by September 17 (click here)

File Name: Speaker Last name First Name_Talk Date_Talk Time_Version #
Ex. Brown-Steven_10-13_1130_Version-1

If you would like to include a video clip in your presentation, please upload your video footage in a separate file to Dropbox with your talk.

  • Within the file name, provide us with the timestamp at which we should add your video to the presentation footage. Eg Speaker Brown Steven _Video Clip Insert at 3:30
  • Within your footage, set up your video verbally, pause for 5 seconds (this is where we will insert your clip), then resume your content following the video clip as if it had just played.
NOT USING ZOOM?

If you are not using ZOOM, here are some basic output specs to keep in mind when creating and submitting your final video file.

  • Record as MP4
  • Minimum of 720p: 1280x720 resolution

Alternative recording platform recommendations:

  • MacOS: Screenflow
  • Windows: Camera App (can record video & Audio) or XBox Game Bar (used to record game play)

PROMOTING YOUR TALK

Here is a link to our conference logo and other images that you can use when promoting your talk. You can share session details or, perhaps, what you’re most looking forward to during the conference. Our conference hashtag is #DOES21.

We will be promoting the conference heavily on Twitter and will tag you if we directly reference your participation. Be sure to follow us and retweet @ITRevDOES on Twitter.

DAY OF PARTICIPATION

LIVE Q&A

Please be available to participate in live Q&A with attendees in the conference Slack Workspace, during the airing of your talk. We will have several channels dedicated to speaker Q&A and a member of our team will tag and steer you to the right area.

NETWORKING

If you are helping to facilitate either of our networking opportunities - “Birds of a Feather” or “Lean Coffee” - you will receive separate instructions on how these are organized.

SESSION FOOTAGE EXAMPLES

KEYNOTE
BREAKOUT
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