Guidelines and Resources:
Concurrent Sessions
Conference Environment
The number one thing to keep in mind is that Lilly is a very friendly conference. It is a supportive community of teacher-scholars who share your passion for teaching and learning. Lilly participants look forward to hearing what you have to say and to participating actively in your session. They will be willing to provide constructive feedback that you can use in your teaching and scholarship. So have fun with your session.
Seating Arrangements
All concurrent session rooms are set up in theatre style seating. It is difficult to know how many people will attend each session, so the number of seats in each room needs to be as large as possible.
Timing
Because keeping so many back-to-back sessions on schedule is challenging, please plan your presentation to fit into the time allowed (40 or 60 minutes). Practice to be sure your timing is accurate. If, as often happens, participants wish to continue discussing your topic with you at the end of the time allotted, invite them outside and find a convenient place to talk so that the next session can begin on time.
Audience and Presentation Tips
Your primary audience members are college and university faculty from throughout the United States and internationally. Although they will respect you as the authority on the issue you are presenting, they will also appreciate very much the opportunity to share and participate. Thus, design your session to include participants through some type of dialogue or activity. If you use PowerPoint or other media (see Technology, below), keep the slide text to a minimum and use the time to elaborate on the slide. Only in very rare circumstances should you read your slides to participants, for instance, a powerful quotation that is key to your discussion.
Arrive at your room at least 5 minutes before you are scheduled to begin to allow yourself time to check the equipment and get your materials in order.
Plan to leave the last 5-10 minutes of your session for questions. You may wish to brainstorm possible questions that might arise during the question-and-answer period and practice answers to those questions. Have a watch or clock so you are sure to stop yourself in time to answer questions. Paraphrase all questions asked to ensure they were heard correctly by both you and other audience members. Answer questions clearly and concisely and avoid rambling. Remember to speak to the entire audience, not just the person who asked the question.
Do not be afraid to let the group know if you don’t know the answer to a question. It might work to ask if anyone in the group has a good answer to the question, or simply note it is a great question and you will need to look into that issue.
Technology
Your room will have the A/V equipment you requested when you submitted your proposal (including LCD [data] projector, screen, easel, flip chart, VCR/DVD player, or overhead projector). Presenters must supply their own laptops and any special connectors. If you are unsure of what equipment you have requested or need to make changes, notify the Conference A/V facilitator as soon as possible at wentzegw@muohio.edu.
Attendance
Session attendance is difficult to predict and may range from 5 to 50. Plan to bring at least 35 copies of handouts. Take leftover handouts to the registration desk, where we will have a place for individuals who missed your session to pick them up.
If you have any questions regarding this session format, please let us know as soon as possible (wentzegw@muohio.edu).