As you know, the "Studio Showcase" will be held Thursday afternoon starting at 5:00.
I will be sending out announcements of the Showcase to the department, college and university via several listservs very soon.

GENERAL PROCEDURES: These procedures are exactly the same as those followed at the dress rehearsal on two weeks ago. We will have little signs printed for each project, suitable for taping to the top of the computer to make it easier for folks to scan about the room as they roam around. We will also have printed programs to distribute.

The Showcase will officially begin Thursday at 5:00 pm. EVERYONE NEEDS TO CHECK OUT THEIR STUFF EARLY ENOUGH TO ENSURE THAT YOU ARE COMPLETELY READY TO GO AT 5:00 P.M.SHARP. I do not want anyone appearing to be in "frantic mode" when the clock strikes 5:00 -- I want our first impression as people walk through the door to be a good one, that is, nice and relaxed. (In other words, think "upper duck"!) If your stuff is not working properly at 5:00, then you need to have a plan B waiting in the wings. (Note: Even though some of you will demonstrate your materials during other sessions starting at 5:50 or 6:20, EVERYONE needs to be ready to go at 5:00 because of the limited transition time between the 3 demonstration sessions.)

USE THE SAME COMPUTER THAT YOU USED DURING THE DRESS REHEARSAL (unless you clear it with me first).

As you know, during each of the three demonstration sessions, each participant is expected to have their project set up on one of the computers in the 616 lab and have it ready for viewing plus be there to answer questions. Visitors will be able to circulate among all the projects at will.

If you see any errors, please let me know.

7:00 Debriefing, course evaluations, other business (e.g. sign-in keys)
7:30 Adjourn

ADVICE TO ALL DEMONSTRATORS:

*USE THE SAME COMPUTER AS THAT USED AT THE DRESS REHEARSAL.

*Try out your materials BEFORE the dress rehearsal so that you are SET UP AND READY TO GO at your allotted time. You need to plan on running your materials as 'stand-alone' or executable files, that is, they should run without access to the development tools (e.g. Authorware, Director, Flash, Photoshop, etc.).

REMINDER THAT NOT ALL COMPUTERS HAVE THE SAME SOFTWARE:
*Since you cannot depend on being on a particular computer, you need to have your files ready to show in 'Stand-alone" form. (If you think you will need a certain application, be sure it is installed on the computer. If not, you will need to install a trial version of the application, if it is available.)

We seem to have more Windows users than Mac users, so plan accordingly. I recommend everyone consider how to present their materials on either platform, Authorware users included (see next note).

SPECIAL ADVICE TO AUTHORWARE USERS:
*Since you cannot depend on being on a particular computer, package your file/s and use these packaged files for your showcase demonstration. (In other words, do NOT depend on having the Authorware application available to run unpackaged files.)

*Don't forget to make a copy of the "xtras" folder and put this in the same location as your runtime application (consult with me if you still do not understand the significance of this). Without this 'xtras' folder, most of your graphics, sounds, and movies will not play.

*Have your materials packaged for use on Macintosh computers also, just in case all of the PCs are taken. Directions on how to do this are located in Getting Interactive with Authorware, Appendix D, p. 389.

I hope you are looking forward to the Showcase (yes, I'm serious!). I know you have worked incredibly hard in this semester, so I hope you want to have your professional colleagues look at your stuff. Of course, be open to any criticisms they have and do NOT get defensive if anyone has a lot of feedback to give you. This is not the time to look for 'warm fuzzies'. However, my experience in doing this sort of showcase over the last three years is that folks walk away very impressed. Believe me, your hard work, care, and concern WILL show through!

Mike