Dear AIB 2002 PANELIST;
Your name is on my list of panelists that will be participating in the 44th annual meetings of the Academy of International Business, to be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Jun 28-July 1, 2002. My purpose in sending you this email is to provide some suggestions for how to ensure the success of your session. Many of you will be very experienced at presenting conference papers, for others this will be a first time experience. In either case, I hope you find these suggestions helpful.
If you have comments (criticisms, additions) please email me at leden@tamu.edu <mailto:leden@tamu.edu>. A revised version of these notes will be put on the AIB2002 website shortly, so I'd appreciate any suggestions for change, comments, etc.
1. GET ACQUAINTED WITH YOUR FELLOW PANEL MEMBERS
Please check the details of your session by going to the AIB 2002 website and clicking on:
<https://www.aibworld.net/events/2002/advanceprog.pdf>.
A slightly older program, which includes Abstracts for all the papers, can be found at:
<https://www.aibworld.net/events/2002/proceedings.pdf>.
Please download the information for your session (you can COPY and PASTE the text into MS WORD) and pull together all the email addresses for everyone in the session.
Once you have assembled everyone's email address, please email EVERYONE in your session. If you intend to make a formal presentation, please send them an electronic copy of your presentation. Everyone, not just the chair, should have a copy of all the presentations ahead of time. If you do not intend to make formal remarks, please let the other panelists know that. In this way, everyone will have a complete set of any formal presentations before the meetings start. Please read them ahead of time, at the very latest, on the airplane flight to San Juan. This way, each person can attempt in their presentation to link their remarks to the other presentations, making for a more cohesive and stimulating session.
2. EFFECTIVELY MANAGE YOUR PRESENTATION TIME
Almost all sessions are one and one-half hours (90 minutes) long. To figure out how much time you should have for your presentation, divide the number of presenters plus 2 (1 for the time used by the discussant and chair and 1 for the time for Q&A; Harvey Arbelaez gave me this suggestion) into the total number of minutes. For example, if there are three presentations, 90/5 = 18 minutes each. In this case, plan for 15 minutes, so you have a bit of “wiggle room” in case you go a bit longer. If there are four presentations, 90/6 = 25 minutes each; plan for 12 minutes. Therefore, the rule of thumb for a 90-minute session is:
? Three papers: 15 minutes each paper
? Four papers: 12 minutes each paper
? Five papers: 10 minutes each paper
If you do not have a discussant for your session, assume that the chair is playing this role and keep the same formula, unless the chair instructs you otherwise.
Would you please keep to this timetable as closely as possible? It is highly unfair to the other speakers if one speaker takes up more than his/her allotted time and therefore squeeze the time allotted for everyone else. The first speaker has the greatest responsibility in this regard because he/she controls the time for all the other presenters. Bring a stop watch or small clock and use it.
3. MAKE A QUALITY PRESENTATION
If you do plan to make a short audio-visual presentation, using an overhead projector or PowerPoint projector (see below), these instructions may be helpful. To figure out how many individual overheads you can reasonably present within your time slot, divide the number of minutes you have by two (that is, if you have 15 minutes, prepare no more than 7 or 8 overheads). (This suggestion is from Harvey Arbelaez.] Your overheads should be printed in a minimum of 18-20 point font (preferably ARIAL as it is easier to read from a distance) in order for your text to be seen from the audience. Do use color if you have access to a color printer. If you are using overheads, you might find it helpful to bring a few blank ones and an overhead marker with you to the conference, in case you want to make changes before the session.
The Academy of Management, at its 1999 conference, had a workshop on improving the effectiveness of AOM sessions. I attach below the specific suggestions they made in terms of WHAT TO present and WHAT NOT to present, in terms of the content of your presentation, which you may find useful.
4. THE AUDIO-VISUAL EQUIPMENT
There will be an Overhead Projector in each room. We also have access to a PowerPoint projector but you need to book it. If you want to use it during your session, please email your session chair and tell him/her NOW. Do not wait until the day of the session as it will not be available unless you request it early. The equipment is expensive so we will need to move it from room to room; please do not request the equipment unless you will use it.
Also, it is probably safer to bring “old technology” (overhead transparencies) than to rely on the PowerPoint projector.
5. OTHER SUGGESTIONS RE YOUR PRESENTATION
When I have chaired a session, I have found it helpful to ask the participants in my session to meet 10 minutes BEFORE the session starts so that everyone can be introduced, the equipment can be checked, handouts can be distributed, and so on. Please come early to your own session. At the very least, your arrival relieves the chair of the anxiety of worrying whether you are there or not. It also means the session can start on time.
It also helps to give your session chair (and discussant, if there is one) your room number in the hotel, or a telephone number where you can be reached should an emergency occur. If that unwelcome emergency does occur and you cannot make the session, please let your session chair and discussant know ASAP. Please also inform the AIB Registration Desk at the conference so the information can be passed along to me and to Arleen Hernandez, the Local Arrangements Chair. An email to aib2002@tamu.edu would also be very welcome.
6. NOTES ON SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO
We will be in San Juan during the summertime so it is bound to be hot. Here are the temperatures for June-July: Average High: 88°F, Average Low: 71 °F, Mean: 80 °F, Aeverage Rainfall: 6.7-7 inches, Record High: 95 °F (1995), Record Low: 55 °F (1994). While the hotel is, of course, air conditioned and there will be a breeze off the ocean, you may find it more comfortable to leave your dark wool suits at home and adopt the Caribbean dress code. I, as Program Chair, am going to take the initiative and recommend that everyone follow Barbara Bush's admonitions when she invites people to a semi-casual dinner: "please, no ties, no pantyhose"; that is, leave your formal, dark suits and ties at home! Bring "semi-casual Friday clothes"; that is, chinos, short-sleeved shirts or polo shirts, a light sports jacket for the evening (men may want bring a tie if you have a fancy dinner engagement in old San Juan).
Also, bring a bathing suit. The hotel has several swimming pools and you will want to take advantage of them. You may enjoy seeing photos of the Caribe Hilton, which I took during our Board meeting in mid-March. They are on the OFOTO website at:
<http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=14641726303&n=1858203664> .
To view the pictures, copy and paste this address into your internet browser. When you get to the home page of OFOTO, for the log-in, put: "aib2002@tamu.edu" and the password as "caribe". Don't buy any of the photos! You can right-click on any of them and save them to your desktop if you want copies.
The University of Puerto Rico has a website on the conference at: http://aib2002.uprrp.edu/. The website includes photos, maps, practical travel information, and lists of things to do. See:
http://aib2002.uprrp.edu/Website/thingstodo_main.htm.
Some time ago, I also assembled a list of websites with information on Puerto Rico, that you might find it useful to peruse before your trip. They are up on the AIB 2002 website at: http://www.aibworld.net/events/2002/prinfo.htm.
UPR has arranged, through a local travel company, for some side-trips during and after the conference. You can find information on these in the draft Final Program, which is up on the web at:
http://www.aibworld.net/events/2002/tourinfo.pdf.
You can schedule tours outside of these times by emailing ahead of time to npadilla@destinationpuertorico.com. If you, for example, decide to go to see El Yunque (the rainforest), remember to bring closed toe shoes suitable for getting wet, sunscreen and a hat (particularly if you are not used to the tropical sun).
I look forward to seeing you all in San Juan!
With all best wishes,
Lorraine Eden
AIB Vice President and 2002 Program Chair
423B Wehner, TAMU 4221
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-4221 USA
Phone: 979/862-4053 Fax: 979/845-9641
Email: aib2002@tamu.edu
Website: http://aibworld.net/events/2002/index.htm
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The Role of the Presenter *
* Abstracted with permission from “Making AOM Sessions Exciting!” by Jing Zhou (Texas A&M) and Russ Coff (Emory). The report was based on an AOM workshop, August 8, 1999, Chicago, IL, where the panel members were the two co-authors of the report, Sally Blount-Lyon (Chicago), Michael H. Lubatkin (Connecticut), Karl Weick (Michigan) and Edward J. Zajac (Northwestern).
Presenter: The presenter's job is to sell the paper and convince the audience that it is worth reading. This requires emphasis of the contribution rather than a summary of all sections of the paper.
Many AOM presentations are unsuccessful in that the audience is not motivated to read the full paper. The following are some ideas for how authors can get the audience engaged and excited about the paper. Most practices in the “DON'T” column are standard procedure and the suggestions may seem radical. However, the object should be a presentation that covers less but makes a compelling argument that the paper should be read.
PURPOSE OF PRESENTATION
DO NOT: Present summaries of all sections of the paper
DO: Present enough to tell the audience that the paper is worth a read - tell a good story. Focus on the contribution. Minimize discussion of sections that don't stress what is new & different.
PRESENTATION FORMAT & TIMING
DO NOT: Save the punch line as a sort of surprise ending Plan for 20 minutes in case there is extra time. Use small fonts or too many overheads
DO: Consider starting with the conclusion and then explain why you reached it (e.g. methods/results). Provide a 1-page handout describing your contribution & key points. Plan for 10 minutes - it is easier to elaborate than to cut things out. Use fonts larger than 28 pt & no more than 10 overheads.
AUDIENCE INTERACTION:
DO NOT: Give a monologue describing your research
DO: Create expectations that you expect active audience participation. Survey/work the audience before the session starts. Look people in the eye and talk to them (not at them). Identify places for audience input and ask questions. Consider using brief exercises or scenarios that draw on the audience's personal experiences/knowledge. Offer an interactive data analysis (“mess with the data”) by inviting the audience to make assumptions & suggest relationships to test.
INTRODUCTION:
DO NOT: Focus on why you decided to do the study. Be too conceptual
DO: Do focus on what is interesting and new about what you have learned Do try to start off with a real-world analogy/story
THEORY:
DO NOT: Present a broad literature review (cites, etc.) Explain every arrow in a complex figure
DO: State the problem, why it is interesting, and what you will add. Explain what is new in this model over past contributions.
METHODS:
DO NOT: Describe the sample measures, and validation of instruments
DO: Provide an overview of why the measures are linked to the theoretical construct. Establish face validity and assure that more rigorous methods were applied.
RESULTS:
DO NOT: Present any tables with numbers.
DO: Present what was significant (+ and - signs). Explain what the data tell you - not tests. People can read the paper to get details.
CONCLUSION:
DO NOT: Review each result and summarize what was significant.
DO: Answer broadly what we have learned and what needs to be done now. Urge the audience to read the paper for details.
These guidelines are not intended to be rigid - some papers contribute through literature reviews or methods, etc. The main point is to sell rather than summarize. Again, the objective is to get the audience to read the paper - not to present so much detail that one has no reason to read it.
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