Speaker Ready Solutions

Presentation Management & Speaker Ready Room Solutions

Convene With Confidence

IrvTech’s proven conference Presentation Management & Speaker Ready Room (PM/SRR) solutions offer multiple benefits for any conference, large or small. With our approach, we strive to inspire your confidence, reduce your stress, and elevate the presentation experience for all involved. 

Designed for event producers (EP) and AV sales and technical production management teams, this best practices document speaks to how IrvTech delivers PM/SRR projects successfully, time and time again. 

IrvTech Solution Overview

Our primary goals are to facilitate the flow of quality-assured content from your speakers to their session rooms, limit speakers from going direct-to-room (often the cause of sessions running late due to unanticipated presentation file technical issues), and support making session operations as fluid as possible for all stakeholders.

To realize our objective, an IrvTech Presentation Management (PM) solution employs a combination of:

• Effective messaging of directions and requirements delivered to, and read by, speakers.

• An online site for pre-conference submission of presentations.

• A staffed onsite Speaker Ready Room (SRR).

• A networked PM content distribution system.

• The venue network.

Keep It Consistent

At IrvTech, we embody consistency, quality, and confident delivery. We recommend that all presentation grade laptops used in the SRR and plenary/breakout rooms be identical in every way, including make, model, current Windows image, and updated presentation software. This ensures that what a speaker sees in the SRR is exactly what the audience will see in session and also allows for more effective back-end support. 

IrvTech can work with your matched production laptops or we can provide a complete package of trusted laptops with current software. We also recommend that at least two spare units be kept on-hand for safety.

Options For Under The Hood

When it comes to content management and distribution software, our proven solution options suit a range of event sizes, requirements, and budgets. Content can be served to both Windows and Mac laptops.

• For conferences with 400 or more presentations, a managed PM platform capable of handling large presenter databases offers streamlined operations. 

• For conferences with 400 or fewer presentations, IrvTech’s suite of proprietary and customized tools and a cost-effective workflow deliver beyond expectations every time.  

An exploration of your requirements will help us with determining the best option for your event but regardless of the chosen solution, the pre-production requirements remain mostly the same for all scenarios.

Set The Stage

Early engagement of the IrvTech PM/SRR Project Manager with your organization, ideally during the budgeting process, ensures that the project scope is properly defined, with all deliverables, timelines, resource requirements, and costs captured for accurate budgeting, as well as identification of stakeholders, major milestones, potential risks, and any other items of note. 

Communicate For Success

During pre-production, we typically use the following communication channels to complete the tasks required to set us up for a successful run of show.

• AV Technical Director and AV Account Manager with PM/SRR Project Manager.

  • Together, we will collaborate, share information, and provide mutual support.

• EP with PM/SRR Project Manager.

  • We ask for timely delivery of the session schedule with comprehensive speaker info in spreadsheet format, for which we have a helpful template.

• PM/SRR Project Manager with Venue IT.

  • We will ensure correct network configuration and arrange for delivery of IP addressing and network info prior to arrival onsite.

• EP with Registration Management/Staff.

  • We ask that speakers are flagged in the registration database and that desk staff know to direct them to the SRR.

• EP with Speakers.

  • Your messaging to speakers plays a pivotal role and we will assist you wherever possible with communicating presentation file requirements, upload instructions, deadlines, and directions for checking in at the SRR prior to presenting.

Collect Advance Submissions

IrvTech’s customizable pre-conference upload form takes the management of files out of your hands, creates a convenience for your speakers, and streamlines the flow onsite.  We provide you with a link to the form or, for a seamless approach, embed code for integration into a page within your conference site, allowing speakers to upload directly to our system without leaving your property. Each submission triggers an alert to our team, making it easy for us to check and track files as they are submitted. The form is typically made available 3-4 weeks prior to the conference. 

If you choose to manage file uploads within your organization, we ask that all submitted files get transferred to us at least 48 hours prior to onsite setup.

When Speakers Arrive

When speakers register onsite, the registration desk staff should see them as flagged in their system and direct them to the SRR. Some event producers have speakers pick up their registration packages in the SRR, a successful method that guarantees their attendance.

Calm In The SRR

Many speakers arrive feeling nervous about presenting, while others worry about whether or not their video-rich presentations will play as intended. A compulsory visit to the SRR ensures that any surprises are found before presenting, rather than during, be it for presentations uploaded online or brought onsite on a laptop or USB memory stick. 

White-glove support provided by empathetic and production-savvy Digital Service Techs helps to impart a sense of confidence and calm. Stations that include networked laptops identical in every way to those used in plenary and breakout rooms, as well as a 2nd monitor that mimics the projection screen, allow speakers to verify all elements of their presentations, edit as required, and see them as they will be displayed in session. Any issues with formatting, font, video, and Mac to PC artifacts get remedied with ease. 

Once a presentation is checked and quality is assured, the file is loaded onto our local PM content server and sent immediately to the appropriate session room laptop via the venue network. IrvTech’s Server Operator ensures system stability and 100% uptime for the duration of the event, monitors all presentation laptops remotely in case the need for elevated assistance arises, and also assists with fixing presentation file issues.

Ease In The Session Rooms

Laptops can be placed on the tech table or on the lectern, as per your operational requirements for the plenary and breakout session rooms. To be best prepared, the laptop should be connected to the room audio system. Let us know if the rooms will be equipped with remote slide advancers, speaker timers, or any other special equipment so it can be communicated to speakers when they visit the SRR.

Depending on the PM solution used, the interface for opening files on the networked laptops could be a session-specific Windows file directory with easily identifiable file names, or a platform-specific user interface. In-room or floater techs are situated close by to offer support and ensure an easy flow for speakers. 

To The Last Slide And Beyond

We are passionate about learning and the sharing of knowledge. IrvTech’s proven, adaptable, and constantly refined workflows have ensured success for dozens of presentation management project engagements, with consistently excellent client, speaker, and tech feedback. 

With every event that we support, we learn and grow, enriched by the content and those who present it. We view the challenges that may arise through an appropriate lens and maintain our stride in a sometimes intense but very rewarding environment. 

To learn more about how an IrvTech Presentation Management & Speaker Ready Room solution will add value to your next conference event, please contact Andrew Irving at srr-pm@irvtech.com or use our contact form.