Speaker Resources
Welcome! Thank you for accepting our invitation to speak at Data Center World 2024!
The following speaker toolkit has been developed to assist you in the preparation and success of your educational session at this conference. Please take the time to read through the site and add the noted deadlines and due dates to your personal and admin calendars. If, at any time, you are not able to meet any of these deadlines, please contact us as soon as possible. We look forward to working with you and meeting you in Washington, D.C.!
Deadline Checklist
TASK | DUE DATE |
FINAL POWERPOINT SLIDES DUE | March 15, 2024 |
Presentation Details
Your session PowerPoint slides should be a guide for attendees to follow while in your session as well as a post conference reference. Slide decks should follow the guidelines below and can in no way be a promotion for any one company, service, or product. All slides will be reviewed to ensure our vendor-neutral, educational guidelines are met.
- The provided PowerPoint template must be used. Please follow the guidelines stated in the template.
a) Use Data Center World provided template and embedded color palette
b) Avoid paragraphs
c) Limit each slide to 8 bullet points or fewer
d) Limit graphics to 1-3 per slide
e) Avoid font sizes smaller than 18pt
f) Keep backgrounds simple
g) Avoid all caps
h) Avoid company logos
I) Remember to spell check - Your company name and logo can only appear on the first and last slide.
- The number of slides must support the full amount of the allotted minutes for your session, with the exception of time for Q&A, if you choose to have Q&A.
- If you choose to use handouts, you may submit them to Kathleen Harinski.
a) We do not print handouts for sessions. All session handouts will be uploaded to the conference app for attendees to access at their discretion. You may bring and disperse your own printed materials. Materials must first be emailed to Kathleen Harinski for approval.
For questions about your presentation content, please contact Kathleen Harinski.
How to Submit Your Slides
Please use the following link to submit your presentation for Data Center World or Data Center BUILD: https://etsav.app.box.com/f/676eb8153b554fa4b1d55cbbc598dcd7
You will be prompted to enter the following details, which can be located within our online schedule:
- Email address
- Name
- Session title
- Short description of what you're submitting
AV Details
All educational session rooms will be equipped with standard AV equipment: screen, projection system, connections for laptop, podium with mic. Panel session rooms will have additional seating and mics.
WiFi will be provided in the session room, however it isn’t always reliable.
If your presentation includes a video, please embed it to your powerpoint slide, rather than including a link to click on. This is because we do not want to rely on the web browser when playing videos.If you plan to embed a video to play during your presentation, please share the video separately with Kathleen Harinski. Our AV providers will be prepared to play the video.
Session Access, Guidelines, & Rules
Session Access:
- Every session room will have a door monitor who will be checking and scanning badges. This process is for the Attendance Certification that Data Center World provides to all attendees. This allows attendees to view what sessions they attended.
Guidelines & Rules:
Speaker may arrive to the room ten minutes prior to the session start time and will have five minutes post-session to clear the room, including any collateral left behind.
Due to the limited amount of time between sessions, changes to the standard set will not be permitted.
No staff or signage (other than LED signage provided by Data Center World) are allowed outside the room.
Sponsors may not attach signage or collateral to the walls or doors of the room.
The attendee list and/or room scan list are not provided to education session speakers. Sponsored Sessions (Tech Talks & Solution Spotlights) are the only exceptions.
- Speakers may not scan badges with their own lead device in educational sessions, nor may they require attendees to give them a business card to attend the session.
- Distribution of materials is not permitted in your session unless you have submitted those materials for review and approval prior to the conference. For materials needing to be printed onsite, there is a full-service Fedex Office Business Center located within the Convention Center, conveniently located near the main entrance, close to the information desk. Hours of operation are 8:00 AM through 6:00 PM Monday through Saturday
- Materials with company logos, company/product specific details are not allowed to be distributed from educational sessions. They may not be left in the session or around the conference meeting/exhibition space.
- Company-specific materials are only allowed to be distributed from a Sponsored (Tech Talks & Solution Spotlights) Sessions or from a booth inside the Exhibit Hall.
- Speakers are not permitted to conduct any raffles or giveaways for the purpose of collecting attendee information. If you have an idea about a giveaway or a fun activity that you would like to do in your session, please contact Kathleen Harinski for review and approval.
- This conference is business casual attire.
Marketing Your Session
This is your time to shine! Share some humble bragging with your network. Let your friends and colleagues know that you’ve been invited to speak at this prestigious event!
Custom Graphics
Our marketing team creates graphics for our speakers to share on their social channels. Your personal graphics with posting suggestions will be emailed to you separately.
PR & Media
You may be contacted by our editorial staff for an interview or original content:
- Jordan Sutlive - Content Manager, AFCOM
- James Walker - Senior Editor, DataCenterKnowledge & IT Pro Today
Other Promotional Ideas
- Blog: Do you have a blog? Does your company have a blog you can contribute to? Write a short summary of your session and link to the Data Center World website. Need some inspiration? Try this blog topic generator to give you some ideas. Please let Jen Steele know if you’ve published a blog, so we can promote it on our social channels as well. With sufficient review, your original content or syndicated content (with proper permissions) may be eligible to be posted on datacenterknowledge.com.
- Editorial content: Do you have any recently published articles? Send it to Jen Steele and we’ll include it in our speaker promotions.
- Email: Send a personal email to your contacts, inviting them to Data Center World to attend your session.
- Events: Whether internal to your company or another industry event, this is a great chance to promote your session. Include a slide in your PowerPoint with a plug for your session at Data Center World.
- Email signature: Promote your session by adding a short message to your automated email signature.
Social Media
Please use hashtag #DataCenterWorld and tag @AFCOM and @DataCenterWorld. If we are tagged, we will retweet to our 10,000+ followers! Please make sure you follow our social channels so you can also share our posts.
Network with the Best in the Industry
The data center community loves to network and have a good time, and the 2024 Data Center World Conference Party will be no exception.
Save the date and time for this year’s event:
Wednesday, April 17, 2024, from 7 pm to 10 pm
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Stay tuned for more details on this year’s party!
Travel/Hotel Accomodations & Discount Codes
Beware of Hotel Pirates
Hotel pirates and poachers are an ever-present issue plaguing conferences today. Companies reach out to attendees with misleading and false messages claiming to be affiliated with our conference, offering deeply discounted rooms. They ARE NOT connected to Data Center World. To help Data Center World combat these issues, please send any non-official hotel emails, phone solicitation details, or hotel piracy concerns or questions to Tara Gibb.
ADA (Americans with Disabilities) Assistance
If you require special assistance, auxiliary aids, interpreters, or other reasonable accommodations while at Data Center World, please send your requests to Kathleen Harinski, and we will do our absolute best to accommodate them.