Time allotment for papers; presentation tips. Each concurrent session paper is given 30 minutes: the opening 5 minutes to allow the session chair to introduce the presenter and for the presenter to prepare his/her A-V (if any), 20 minutes for presentation, and 5 minutes for Q&A. There are usually four papers per two-hour session.

Audio-visual equipment. Each concurrent and plenary meeting room (but NOT rooms for Side Meetings) will be equipped with the following A-V equipment: one 35-mm slide projector, one overhead projector, a laser pointer, a house mike patched into the hotel sound system (except for smaller rooms), an LCD (PowerPoint) projector, and a screen (dimension: either 8x8 or 10x10). If you have need for any additional equipment (e.g., a second slide projector, high-intensity overheads, etc.) you must supply it at your own cost; contact the Spatial Odyssey 2003 Committee and we can put you in touch with the A-V contractor.

• Slides and overheads. Allow a minimum of 20 seconds for each slide or overhead to be up on the screen. Please DO NOT use 140-slide carousels--they are highly prone to jamming. Make sure your slides are extra-sharp with good edge-to-edge resolution. They should not be crammed with detail. Each slide or overhead should try to make a single point--no more. The watchword is: if you want to really communicate with your audience, focus on two or three key concepts and drive them home forcefully. That's all you'll have time for.
• PowerPoint presentations. The following considerations apply:
• You must supply your own laptop, software, and any needed connecting cables to plug in to the LCD.
• Because the configurations of equipment vary so much, there is absolutely no guarantee that your presentation will work with the particular LCD projector assigned to your meeting room. Experience at several conferences over the past year has shown that this can be a real problem. Because of this, it is imperative that you test out your presentation with the LCD you will be using BEFORE YOUR SESSION BEGINS, such as during the break or free time immediately preceding. Because different LCDs may get moved between rooms, the time to do your dry run is immediately before your session so you are ensured of working with the exact same LCD. We will try to have people around to help troubleshoot any difficulties that emerge during this dry run, but sessions themselves cannot be delayed in order to fix problems that arise therein. Therefore...
• ... you MUST COME PREPARED WITH A BACK-UP VERSION OF YOUR VISUALS, formatted either as overheads or slides. Please remember that session chairs cannot delay the schedule if an LCD fails or proves incompatible during a session.
• In planning your presentation, follow the tips given above for slides and overheads.
• We regret that no LCD can be provided in the speaker's prep room.

Room set-up. The meeting rooms generally are set up theater-style and seat up to 100 persons.

Punctuality. It is very important that we keep sessions running on time. People want to jump between sessions, but all it takes is one overlong presentation to throw the whole schedule off. In our instructions to session chairs, we emphasize the importance of keeping things on schedule, but when all is said and done, the only way to ensure punctuality is through a cooperative effort. Please respect your audience and your fellow presenters! Keep in mind that session chairs are instructed to cut off overlong presentations. PLEASE RUN THROUGH YOUR PRESENTATION BEFOREHAND AND TIME IT!

Poster presentations are best-suited for highly graphical communications or for giving status reports/overviews of unfinished projects, planning processes, and other work-in-progress.

Technical details: Each poster presentation will be allotted a vertical space 44 inches high x 44 inches wide (i.e., half of one side of a standard exhibit panel, thus allowing four presentations per panel--two on each side). This 44' x 44' space is the MAXIMUM SPACE you will have. Remember, you are sharing your side of the panel with another presenter. Lay out and measure your materials beforehand to make sure they fit. We highly recommend that you allot space for a title bar (spelling out your title using 4-inch high letters) running across the top of your space. The panel itself is designed to accept push pins, straight pins, or sticky-backed Velcro tape. Whichever method you opt for, bring plenty of it to attach your materials to the exhibit panel. Tape of any kind cannot be used on the panels. Each panel will have a 2x8 table placed directly in front of it, and each presenter gets half of that (i.e., 24x48-inch space) to use for any handouts or display copies. You are responsible for bringing all materials needed to display your poster. Please indicate if you wish to provide your own panel, and give the exact dimensions of its "footprint." Set-up begins at 6:00pm Monday, December 1. All posters should be in place by 9:00pm that evening. If your travel schedule does not permit setting up on Monday evening, plan to do so first thing on Tuesday. Take-down begins at noon on Thursday, December 4. All posters must be removed by 4:00pm that day so that the vendor can remove its panels and tables. The posters will be available for continuous viewing during this period.

There will be a diagram of the poster layout session at the conference so presenters can find their assigned locations.

Computer demonstrations (e.g., databases, GIS, Web sites, etc.) are welcome, but you must provide all necessary hardware (including extension cords and duct tape to secure cords to floor) and take responsibility for securing that hardware during periods when you are not present. The Spatial Odyssey 2003 Committee and the hotel can assume no responsibility for your equipment. Computer demos will be given the exact same set-up as the poster presentations (details above), and we strongly urge you to prepare a title bar for your demo as above. If you are proposing a Web demo, there will be a surcharge (it's not cheap) for renting a modem line to connect to the Internet; you must request these from the Spatial Odyssey 2003 Committee in advance and make arrangements to prepay the surcharge by credit card or check.

Floor-standing and table-top informational displays are also welcome; submit an abstract just as any poster presenter would do. Please indicate that the presentation is either a floor-standing or table-top display; if floor-standing, give the exact dimensions of its "footprint". Table-top informational displays will be allotted a horizontal space of approximately 24x44 inches (i.e., half a 2x8-foot table).

Commercial exhibitors: in general, the Spatial Odyssey 2003 Committee will consider exhibits only from kinds of companies whose products directly contribute to the mission of the conference; please contact the Exhibitor Chair for information and prices.

Finally, please note that presenters in the poster session may prepare a paper describing their presentation for possible inclusion in the conference proceedings.