Murphy's Laws vs Six Presentations In A Row

Murphy's Technology Law: The attention span of a computer is only as long as it electrical cord.

In case you don't know, Murphy's Laws still apply. Here's what happened during six consecutive presentations.

Presentation 1
Tables in a rectangle but no table in the ideal spot for the projector. So I moved a table to the "sweet spot" near the middle of the room. There were no plugs near the "sweet spot". My extra extension cord came in handy --- so did showing up early.

Presentation 2
A training room without a screen? It happened. Luckily there was a wall, albeit beige and angled. The result was a large but faded image.

Presentation 3
A beautiful new room with a large plasma screen! Vibrant colours but distorted images because my presentation was not formatted for wide screen. There was no audio jack, meaning no sound for the pre-show slide show but the overall result was fine. The sharp vibrant colours more than compensated.

Aside: PowerPoint 2007 let's you create widescreen presentations (16:9 or 16:10). Even if your projector does not support those resolutions, your presentation will still look refreshing. It's like showing a widescreen movie on a standard 4:3 tv --- inobtrusive black bands at the top and bottom. Widescreen means less room for your content --- an opportunity to simplify and create a more compelling message.

Presentation 4
The ceiling-mounted projector didn't work. So I used mine. This time, I brought my own 120 watt harman-kardon sound system but didn't get a chance to use it for the pre-show. By the time the equipment was all working, it was time for the main event (i.e., me).

Presentation 5
Is pink the new red? The ceiling-mounted projector distorted my carefully-chosen colours. I used my projector and sound system.

Presentation 6
Everything went fine. Murphy must have taken a well-deserved break. Thank goodness!