Thank you for agreeing to be a speaker for our First Friday series. We depend upon those with expertise in their technical field to serve as speakers and help inform our membership on new technologies and tech services, applications of technologies and services, future trends, effects of that field on businesses and organizations and institutions, and more.
This document is a guide to help you with the practical details of the First Friday Series. It outlines some general parameters for our talks, so you may more easily and better prepare and also succeed with our audience, typically ranging between 40-90 attendees depending upon speaker, topic, and other factors.
Venue/ Video-Audio Equipment
The First Friday breakfasts are held at the Terrace Room at the Hyannis Golf Course at 1840 Iyannough Rd (Route 132), Hyannis, south off Route 6 (Exit 6). The facility is located on the left, with entry at the first traffic light beyond the Route 6 exit ramps, heading toward the Cape Cod Mall. You may park anywhere near the building.
The event room is on the left as you enter and is set up with round tables for attendees and a rectangular table at the front for our speaker; a podium is available if needed. We can provide a Mac laptop (running PowerPoint or Keynote) and a projector for showing videos, PDFs, PowerPoint slides, and other media. If you need added equipment or have any questions, please let us know in advance. If you are using our computer, you will need to have your presentation on a flash drive. You may also bring your own computer and link up with the projector. Based on the size of the room, we recommend font sizes on your presentation be at least 28 points for readability.
Schedule
The event is scheduled to run from 7:30 am to 9 am with time before available to set-up and time after to continue any one-on-one sessions with interested attendees. Here is a general outline of the schedule:
7:00 am Recommended Speaker Arrival Time
7:30 am Coffee and Networking; Hot buffet breakfast available
8:00 am Cape Cod Technology Council Announcements
8:10 am Program and Speaker Introduction
8:15 am 45-minutes available for presentation, questions and answers
9:00 am Adjournment
9–9:30 am Post-meeting networking
Questions and answers with attendees in one-on-one or small group continue
Program
We will discuss with you the topic within your expertise which would provide the greatest area of interest to our general membership. We suggest you then focus on presenting that topic as best you can, consistent with the time allowed. The time-frame doesn’t permit an opportunity for every detail to be covered but is adequate enough for you to speak more than superficially or generally on the topic.
Our members want sessions to be educational, informative, up-to-date, topical, and relevant in the realm of technology. Members do NOT want a sales pitch or “commercial”; they have paid to attend and are giving up time away from businesses and organizations or government and want to be enlightened on your topic.
For example, one might talk about how cloud services can radically change how you reach customers and clients with flexible marketing materials, videos, and interactive information sessions controlled by the visitor. We would not want someone instead selling XYZ Company’s Cloud Service Product which can be used for that purpose. You are welcome to have brochures, business cards and other handouts at the front table as well.
Generally, it is best to speak for 20-30 minutes, then allow the balance of 15-25 minutes for questions. You can welcome questions along the way if you prefer. Our staff will signal when the time for conclusion nears and, if amidst questions, will call for one more question. They will then welcome others to stay on to talk one-on-one with you, if you can remain until 9:30 a.m.
Promotion
We typically promote your talk in advance on the CCTC website, via our social media channels, in the regional press, and by email to our extensive list. We therefore need written background information on you, your career, your accomplishments, and your business – and on any others if joining you in the presentation. A written description of your talk is needed as well. A photo is also helpful for our website. Please understand we may edit your materials to best meet the requirements of the media.
Video
The Cape Cod Media Center often attends and videos our presentations for later online viewing through their or the CCTC’s website. If you have any concerns about being videotaped and having your presentation online, please let us know in advance of the scheduled presentation so we may mutually work out a suitable solution that resolves your concerns but still optimizes the audience for your presentation.
Materials
We also like to post, after the talk, any materials you present, such as PowerPoint slides, on our website with access for our membership. For this reason, a digital copy of such materials is appreciated the day of the presentation or, better still, in advance. We will assume that the Technology Council has permission to post your materials unless you instruct us otherwise in writing.
We hope this is helpful, and we thank you again for your willingness to advance our tech knowledge.
Tell us about you and your presentation – follow this a link to our Speaker Intake Portal.