Guide For Presenters

Thank you for serving as a presenter at a Photo Section meeting. To help you prepare for our meeting, we have prepared this page to provide you with information and tips for having an effective and interesting presentation.

How does the club prepare for my presentation?

  • The Photo Club promotes our meetings through multiple channels.
    • Website:  we will create a post for our meeting on the Photo Club website.
    • Email:  we have an extensive email list that we send occasional communications.  We sent a meeting announcement approximately 10 days before the meeting and a reminder email approximately 4 days before the meeting.
  • In order to prepare, we request you provide us with a short biography, brief description of your presentation, and 3-4 low-resolution example images used for promotion. Please provide these material no later than 3 weeks before your presentation so that we can schedule our promotional activities.

Location & Time

  • We’re using San Diego’s Public Libraries for our meetings and our “homebase” is the Serra Mesa Kearny Mesa branch on 9005 Aero Drive. Our meetings are usually on Saturdays, from 2pm to 4pm. (if there’s a scheduling conflict we may have to shift the meeting to Sunday.)
  • As a presenter, please arrive ~1:30pm to prepare for the meeting to start at 2pm sharp. During that time, we will test your presentation, and troubleshoot any issues. You will also have the opportunity to meet with participants before the meeting starts.

How is the meeting organized?

  • The meeting is called to order at 2 PM by our President. He or she will begin with a quick opening, some announcements, and then introduce you as the speaker.
  • After your presentation, we usually have a Q & A.  Feel free to take audience questions as appropriate.  The President will end the Q & A if it goes over our planned time.
  • After the Q & A, we will have an intermission.  This usually lasts 10 – 15 minutes.  Participants may approach you with additional comments or discussion.  The President and other meeting staff will help you pack up your materials.
  • After the Intermission, we will do our monthly sponsor raffle and proceed to our MemberShare.  MemberShare usually lasts about 30 minutes.  You can stay and enjoy the images or you can quietly head home if you wish.

How long should my presentation be?

  • We recommend that you plan your presentation to last approximately 45 minutes.
  • If you are not sure on the exact timing of your presentation, we would recommend you focus on approximately 50 images in your presentation.
  • After the presentation, allow a few minutes for questions and answers from the audience. Once questions get too specific, it’s often best to end the Q&A to stay on schedule, and ask members to talk to you directly during the meeting intermission. 🙂

Hardware & Software

  • If you bring your own computer, you can use whatever presentation program you like.
  • If you don’t want to bring your own computer, you can bring your presentation on a USB drive – our club has a current MacBook Pro laptop (13.3″, 8GB memory) with KeyNote and LibreOffice installed (we do NOT have PowerPoint).
  • We have wireless pointers that work on both Windows and MacOS to advance your slides.  They include a laser pointer.  All you will need is a free USB port on your laptop.
  • Our projector resolution is 1920 x 1080 (“Full HD”). You can customize your presentation to that resolution, or your presentation will be resampled to fit.  This resolution is roughly a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio. The projector has 4000 ANSI lumens and we dim the lights and darken the room for your presentation.
  • The projector has VGA and HDMI inputs and we have cables for it. For the newest MacBook laptops that don’t have an HDMI out, we have a USB-C to HDMI adapter.
  • We have a portable speaker with both a conventional wireless microphone, and a hands-free clip-on microphone.

What should I expect of the audience?

  • Our audience ranges from photography beginners to life-long experts.  Our members specialize in virtually every photographic genre.  Our most popular fields are landscapes, wildlife, and travel.
  • Our audience is knowledgeable, but our beginner members are often nervous about asking questions.  Please avoid using too much jargon and acronyms.  Don’t assume the entire audience knows this information.  Be generous in explaining photography terms and acronyms.
  • Ideally, include some photographic knowledge in your presentation! What camera/lens combination worked best for you, which camera settings…

Am I allowed to sell services, prints, books, and other materials at the meeting?

  • Unfortunately, the San Diego Public Library system does not allow sales when using their rooms.
  • Please point out that you have services, prints, book etc. on offer, and that those who are interested contact you directly.

Do you accept donations?

  • Yes we do. We hold a raffle for our members after the intermission. If you wish to donate anything to the raffle, it’s always welcome.

I have additional questions.  Who do I ask?