Re: Outlawing PowerPoint (Was: a suggestion....)

[Scott Brim <swb at newbridge.com>]

Tony Hain wrote:

> I don't recall who it was that
> pointed out that the ability to mark up the slides during the meeting
> actually lead to better interaction and more work getting done.

In editing meetings we get a lot more done with laptops on projectors than with
pens on slides.  In arguments over system design we do better with lots of
colored pens & slides.  Trying to make general rules for all sessions isn't
good.  (Aside: print your diagrams on plastic mirror-image, and put them face
down on the projector, so you mark up the back side -- easy to start fresh.)

"Theodore Y. Ts'o" wrote:

> In this particular presentation which Pete Resnick was referring to, the
> presenter took a good 20-25 minutes to describe something which I
> summarized in two sentences and 15 seconds after the long, intermintable
> presentation was done.

In that case PowerPoint wasn't the problem.  Whatever WG it was, I'd say the
chair messed up in not reaching the right agreement with the speaker in the
first place.

In other words, I support what several people have said -- a chair should be
given lots of autonomy and responsibility in doing what it takes to get the
meeting to reach its goals.  It all comes down to making sure the chair knows
what s/he is doing running the meeting .  If the chair needs help in dealing
with all that autonomy, then we depend on our ADs.

...Scott