XP Day GrokTalks

• Presenter: Bernard Vander Beken
• Type: meta-session, interactive presentation
• Duration: 60 minutes
• Audience: all attendees, depending on talks.

Abstract

A Grok Talk is a 10 minute micro-presentation. This session brings 5 Grok Talks on different subjects from different speakers.

A Grok Talk allows more time than the typical Lightning Talks format, although it still requires a highy compressed presentation.

Benefits of attending

As a speaker:

• Easier than organizing a 60 minute session.
• Speaker is audience for other sessions.

• Various topics in one timeslot.
• Less time for boring slideware, since speakers need to focus on getting their session to the audience in 10 minutes.

What will the organiser learn

• Are Grok Talks the Next Best Thing?
• Learn about topics that will not get any attention otherwise, either because speakers do not dare to do a full session or because the topic is too small.
• Get to know more people('s point of view).

Session Outline

• This session consists of multiple 'Grok Talks'.
• The GrokTalks are mini-sessions (10 minutes each) given by different speakers.
• These speakers could sign up until the XP Day itself or sometime before that.

Timetable

• Very quick intro by organizer.
• Given a talk duration of 10 minutes: allow 5 talks (+ slack and lightning announcement of next talk).
• Very quick goodbye by organizer.

Submit a lightning talk

After reading the small print below, send your talk title and a ca. four-sentence abstract to Bernard Vander Beken at bvb@iname.com. Feel free to say something about yourself as well.

You will be notified whether your talk is accepted.

The small print:

• Rehearse your talk.
• Lightning talk speakers must be registered XP Day participants.
• The talk is in English.
• The talk must not exceed 10 minutes. Since this will be timed rigorously, we highly recommend you to rehearse your talk.
• To speed up speaker switching, speakers cannot use their own laptop. Instead, speakers must send a presentation in PDF or PowerPoint format after being notified of acceptance. A single PC will be provided for all these presentations.
• Due to time and setup constraints, no actual demos can be given. If needed, you may consider using screenshots instead.

History

Based on the concept of the Lightning Talks session, which was replaced with Chicken Talks in 2004.

Organized Lightning Talks at Microsoft's Developer & IT Pro Days 2005.

The name GrokTalk was invented by Scott Hanselman to refer to 10 minute micro-presentations during Microsoft's TechEd Conference in 2005. More info and recorded talks: http://www.groktalk.net