Presenter Resource Center

Dear CASSCA Presenter: We are anxious to welcome you to ION’s Cognizant Autonomous Systems for Safety Critical Applications Conference:  PNT for Unmanned Systems Conference, September 16-17.  Below please find some more detailed instructions on presenting at this conference.

What to Do When you Arrive at the Conference

1. Check-in at the ION GNSS+ Registration Desk in the Hyatt Regency lobby to obtain a conference badge. 

2. Test your presentation on the ION computer located near the registration desk.  Presentation files display in various ways on different computers.  ION provides a “test” computer so you can check fonts, graphics and multimedia content. 

3. Submit electronic presentation file and Release Form to ION if you want to make electronic copies of your presentation available to those who attended the CASSCA conference. The presentation file and a completed CASSCA Release Form can be sent to Miriam Lewis at meetings@ion.org by email, or provided in person at the Author Desk in the Registration area.
4. Copy your presentation to the desktop of the computer in your session room 15 minutes before your session begins. Sending your file to ION in advance will not accomplish this for you. You must arrive with your presentation on CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or USB, and copy your presentation to the desktop of the session room computer before your session begins.

Reminder: If you have not already provided your biography and photograph to either Dr. Zak Kassas or Dr. Rob Leishman for your speaker introduction, please do so right away.

Presentation Schedule

You can review the full conference program online.

Please plan to arrive at your session room (Hibiscus A or Hibiscus B, located on the lower level of the Hyatt Regency Miami) 10-15 minutes prior to the start of your session, and copy your presentation file directly to the desktop of the presentation computer provided. Additionally, please check-in with the Program Chair and your Session Chair. We also suggest you sit in the front row to facilitate your quick transition to the podium.

Presentation Timing

The online program includes a precise starting time for each presentation. These start times will be strictly adhered to.  This enables conference attendees to efficiently move between tracks.  You will be allotted 25 minutes total for your oral presentation.  To assist us in this objective, a timed lighting device will be operating during your presentation.  The timer is designed with a red, yellow and green light.  It will operate in your session room as follows:

• The Green light will go on at the beginning of the scheduled presentation time and will remain on for 20 minutes. 
• The Yellow light will then turn on, signifying that you have 5 minutes left. 
• The Red light will then signify that your 25 minutes are up; you must immediately return the floor to the Program Chair.

Please do not go past the allotted time; the audio-visual technician will have been instructed to turn off your microphone once you have gone 30 seconds over your allotted time, or 30 seconds after the red light flashes.

Audio-Visual Aids

Consider the following guidelines when preparing your presentation:

• Your presentation should be in 16:9 (wide screen) format. You can still use 4:3; however, there will be unused screen space.
• Text should be in 24 and 36-point type.
• Do not overload your visuals.  It is better to use additional visuals to develop a point rather than cluttering up one image or presentation. 
• Most speakers find that one visual per minute of presentation time (excluding title slides) works well. 
• Do not assume the audience is an expert in the subject of your presentation.  There will be a few experts, but the majority will be there to learn.
• Consider rehearsing your presentation in front of a group of co-workers, including some who are not already familiar with your work.

AV Equipment Provided

ION will provide the following audio-visual equipment in each session:

• Projector
• PC/Windows computer PowerPoint 2016 and Acrobat PDF compatible software
• Wireless Lapel Microphone
• Laser Pointer and Presentation Remote
• Hand-Held Microphone (for audience questions)

A Windows computer (connected to a projector) will be in your session room.  The computer will accept CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or USB memory sticks.  Use of other media formats may not be supported by the computer and is at your risk.  Presentations must be created in PowerPoint 2016 or Acrobat PDF compatible software (all files must be PC/Windows compatible).  Copy your presentation to the computer’s desktop before your session begins.

If your presentation incorporates unique fonts or unusual symbols, be sure to embed the fonts in your PowerPoint or Acrobat file.  To embed fonts in PowerPoint 2016: File > Options > Save > Select the checkbox "Embed fonts in the file" under the heading "Preserve fidelity when sharing this presentation". Failure to do so may cause the fonts to display incorrectly at the meeting.

Using Your Own Laptop

You may connect your own laptop directly to the ION provided LCD projector.  You should plan on providing YOUR OWN COMPUTER if any of the following apply to your presentation:

• Presentation is not in PowerPoint 2016 or Acrobat compatible format.
• Your presentation includes multimedia content (video clips, MPEGs, DVD, etc.).
• You will be demonstrating proprietary software or an application.

If you opt to use your own laptop instead of the provided PC, you may connect to the ION projector.

Be sure to bring any necessary cables or adapters required to connect your laptop to a standard VGA projector (i.e., Mac computers require a DVI-VGA adapter).

Testing Your Presentation at the Conference

A projector and computer will be available in the registration area beginning Monday morning, and will be available throughout the conference during registration hours.  We encourage you to check your electronic media (or laptop, if you plan to use your own computer) one day prior to your presentation.

It is strongly recommended that you bring two electronic copies of your presentation (on multiple media types, different file types, etc.).  While staff will attempt to assist you if you experience any technical difficulties, please note that equipment does fail, and it is often not possible to instantaneously correct the problem.  Due to the time constraint of the technical program, if equipment fails for any reason, your presentation time will not be rescheduled or extended.  To avoid the loss of any presentation time you need to be prepared with a backup.

If you have any additional equipment needs please contact Rick Buongiovanni (e-mail: rbuongi@ion.org) no later than September 5.  It will not be possible to accommodate special equipment requests made the day of your presentation. 

Questions/Concerns

ION Author Liaison:             Miriam Lewis: E: meetings@ion.org

Audio Visual/IT:                    Rick Buongiovanni: E: rbuongi@ion.org

Conference Registration:     Megan Andrews: E: registration@ion.org

CASSCA Program Chairs:   Dr. Zak Kassas, E: zkassas@uci.edu

                                             Dr. Robert Leishman: E: Robert.Leishman@afit.edu