Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions Announced for TechEd 2008

The 39 Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) sessions for Microsoft TechEd Developers conference in Orlando, FL June 3-6, 2008 have been selected and are now available for viewing on the TechEd 2008 web site (filter on Session Type=Birds of a Feather). Check out the great list of sessions and add them to your Session Builder.

Wednesday June 4th BOF Night!

In addition to the daily BOF sessions there will once again be a special BOF Night on Wednesday 6/4/2008 starting at 6:30 p.m. in the North Hall with lots of great BOF session as well as food and beverages. Don't forget the new JIT BOF sessions as well! Come join us for a great evening of developer-to-developer moderator-led discussions.

New JIT BOF Sessions

As mentioned in last month's newsletter there will be an exciting new type of BOF session based upon the Open Spaces concept called Just-In-Time BOFs during Wednesday evening's BOF Night. Stop by the INETA booth in the community area on Tuesday and Wednesday to propose a session topic and vote on proposed topics. Then stop by the special JIT BOF rooms Wednesday evening.

Session Host Volunteers Still Needed

There is still an opportunity to sign up to host three sessions and get the following special BOF Volunteer Package including a Day Pass for Wed 6/4, t-shirt, extra INETA speaker, luncheon reception on Wed 6/4, and the BOF Reception on Wed evening. As a session host you oversee the logistics of a session including introducing the moderator, making any announcements, and ensure the session runs smoothly. Contact us at noram.bofhelp@ineta.org to volunteer and make the BOF sessions a success!

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Know of something funny that is tech related? Please tell us about it at LighterSide@INETA.org

Saddle up for a winning presentation
by Marsha Freedman, M.S.

Imagine being at the track and you've just bet one hundred dollars on the favorite. The gate opens and all the horses take off running, except one -- yours! Think about how you feel during those first few seconds. Wouldn't you be disappointed? Wouldn't your expectations about the race drastically change?

A horse in a race getting off to a weak start is a metaphor for what happens in some presentations. The speaker may begin by fumbling with notes, adjusting clothing, looking around nervously or even worse, greeting the audience while looking down.

The all-important first impression takes place within the first three seconds, so an awkward opening leads to the assumption that the speaker is unprepared and unprofessional. In order to assure that you're in the best possible position to make a favorable first impression upon your audience, follow the "Six S's to a Successful Start."

First S: Set up your notes silently.

Resist the temptation to talk; it's time to get yourself organized, so you're not fumbling for anything during actual presentation. If you're using index cards, make sure they're numbered.

Second S: Step back from the lectern or table.

Move about a foot back. This makes you appear more confident and gives you room to use your hands in gestures. Leaning on a lectern or tapping it nervously will not win anyone over.

Third S: Scan the room and smile.

You're sending a powerful, nonverbal message that what you have to say is important; you won't start until everyone is listening. If you're following another speaker, audience members may be chatting with one another or moving about, so scanning the audience and smiling will signal them to settle down. The brief time that it takes to do this affords you the opportunity to get acclimated to being in front of the group.

Fourth S: Seek two friendly faces.

Even in a hostile environment, there are always a few nice folks sending you positive energy. They're the ones smiling and leaning forward with the glint in their eyes. Once you begin speaking, make eye contact with each one for 10-15 seconds. Typically, the first 30 seconds are the toughest to get through, especially if you're nervous. So by the time you've completed making eye contact with your two friendly faces, you've made it through the 30-second mark.

Fifth S: Say something positive to yourself.

Say something such as "I'm going to do a great job!" or "This audience will be much better off after they've heard what I have to say!" Never think, "I can't wait to get this over with!" or "I'm dreading this." As Dwight Eisenhower once said, "No pessimist ever won a battle."

Sixth S: Start speaking with enthusiasm.

You should grab the audience's attention right away with your strong vocal projection and level of expressiveness. Pull them in like magnets; make them want to hear more! An effective way to begin a presentation is to use one of the following: quotation, question (one word response), startling statistic, story, date in history or something creative.

Review the Six S's:

Set up your notes silently. Step back from the lectern or table. Scan the room and smile. Seek two friendly faces. Say something positive to yourself. Start speaking with enthusiasm.

Remember, if you get off to a strong start right out of the gate, there's a greater chance that the audience will listen to you throughout your presentation. This is important in any presentation, but especially so if you're seeking agreement on a proposal or asking for a sale. Successfully start with the six S's and you're a winner every time!

About the author:

Marsha Freedman, M.S. is a trainer, coach, professional speaker and university communication instructor. She is the producer of the "Powerful Presentations" CD program and the author of a workbook on presentation anxiety. Contact her at mfreedman@xprself.com. Her web sites are xprself.com. and Basic Learning Systems, where you can improve your writing and communication skills with workbooks and other learning products. Sign up for free weekly tips at tips@basic-learning.com

In my time serving as an INETA User Group Liaison and now on the Speakers Bureau Team I have received numerous emails from people who have recently started user groups or are trying to revitalize an existing group.  One of the top questions is about finding speakers. 

INETA provides user groups with a couple of speakers each year, but finding speakers can be tough on a monthly basis. The great thing is most of the time you actually don't need to look any further than your own members.  Here are a few tips I have found to be pretty successful...


Reduce the amount of time people have to speak.
Instead of having one guy talk for an hour (very intimidating to new speakers) pick a theme for the month and have 4 or 5 guys talk for 10-15 minutes on the topic.  Think about it, most people can easily talk about a topic of interest for this long without even really trying.

Not every meeting needs a presentation! Just a topic.
Consider offering a round-table discussion format for one of your meetings... skipping the speaker altogether. Get people discussing a specific topic, and occasionally jumping up to draw something out on the whiteboard while the discussion continues.

Figure out your slowest month and plan an alternate activity.
In some places, the summer months can really kill the attendance of user groups. In other places, it's around the holidays. Pick the month that typically has the worst attendance and skip the meeting that month. Instead, offer something else fun to do. Perhaps a pub night or a Geek Dinner at a local restaurant. Maybe even a cookout. (Try to involve your local Microsoft DE in this event... they have budgets for this sort of thing.)

Try to plan as far in advance as possible.
This probably falls under common sense, but the longer you plan stuff out, the more people will hear about your event and show up. If you can schedule at least 2-3 months in advance, you can typically count on pretty decent attendance (and better yet, people who are more likely to be interested in the specific topic.)  Of course, always have a backup plan ready in case something falls through.


Following these tips can help you easily fill the time between INETA speakers. If you have some other tips, I'd love to hear about them.

Chris Williams
Director of User Group Recruitment
chris.williams@ineta.org
Twin Cities XNA User Group
INETA - The Face of .NET

TechBash
When: May 10, 2008
Where: Pennsylvania, USA

Since its inception in 2005, TECHbash has evolved into the premier technology conference in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Join an estimated 300 Developers, IT Professionals, CIO's and Industry Experts from Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and host-state, Pennsylvania. This one day event brings together a broad spectrum of Technology Professionals to network, knowledge share and discuss existing technology solutions to business challenges, as well as preview prerelease products on the bleeding edge. If you are going to be in the Pennsylvania area next week, this is an event that you won't want to miss. Visit the TechBash Website to learn more.

Hello again from the busy, busy (well maybe not as busy as you) marketing team.  You might have noticed a theme going on with us at INETA with the "volunteers" thing.  Well, it's true, a grass roots organization like INETA runs by members who are actually user group leaders dealing with the day in day out tasks of managing our lives AND our user groups will always need all the help it can get.  But it does not have to be someone that belongs directly to a committee or sitting at one of our tables in Tech Ed.