MathsJam 2024 - Weekend of November 2nd/3rd
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The main https://MathsJam.com site contains up-to-date information
The MathsJam Gathering is a great place to share puzzles, games, toys, or
anything you've found interesting. We're not looking for Earth-shattering
maths, nor new discoveries, nor anything exceptionally deep or meaningful.
We're looking for things that you think are neat, cool, weird, surprising,
or that simply intrigue you.
There are important things you need to know as a speaker.
Summary
- Show us something you like;
- A laptop will be provided, running
- Powerpoint
- Keynote
- PDF display
- Web browser
- There will be a visualiser
- Provide your presentation in advance
- Email it to slides@mathsjam.com
- Name your presentation in the format 'YOUR NAME - TALK TITLE'
- There will be a stick mike and a clip-on mike
- Projector is 16:9
- There will be a clicker;
- There will be a monitor to see your own slides;
- You really will have only five minutes;
- Don't have too much on each slide;
- Don't have too many slides;
- Make your slides VISIBLE:
- Legible on your laptop at 5 metres away;
- High colour contrast;
- Images must be LARGE;
- Graphs are tricky:
- Consider filling in the area under the line;
- Rehearse your timing!
- You don't have to fill the five minutes;
- shorter talks are positively encouraged;
- Assistance with language is available.
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The Audience
The MathsJam audience is very general, with a wide range of experience and
interests, but MathsJam is primarily a recreational maths gathering. While
some of our audience are involved in maths education in some way, they are
probably thinking of this as a weekend off, so will not be looking to hear
about ways to teach maths or education projects, but will be interested in
cool puzzles and interesting things.
Past talks have included everything from people sharing a mathematical phone
game they enjoy, to the ways they made their wedding more mathematical, as
well as puzzles, weird mathematical concepts and observations of real-world
things containing interesting maths.
The main premise is:
- Show us something you think is interesting, or cool,
or weird, or odd, and think of your five minutes as
an invitation for people to come and chat with you.
Logistics
A laptop will be made available for presenting, and we will have the capacity
to show Powerpoint, Keynote, PDF and online slides, as well as display websites
in a browser.
- This allows us to avoid the unnecessary swapping of connectors, etc. and will facilitate the online streaming of talks
- There will also be a visualiser for speakers to use, as in previous years.
Please name your presentation with your name and talk title, in the format "YOUR NAME - TALK TITLE.ppt/pdf".
Please email your presentation to slides@mathsjam.com (or if this is not possible, email slides@mathsjam.com to warn us).
You will have a choice of handheld 'stick' microphone, or clip-on microphone.
- A member of the tech team will attempt to wire you for sound
- This will happen during the talk before yours
- When you finish your presentation, please present yourself for microphone removal
- Do not just walk back to your seat taking the equipment with you!
Some other technical info:
- The aspect ratio of the projector is 16:9
- There will be a clicker provided, and a monitor to see your own slides.
Content
This is important:
You really will have only five minutes
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Consider very carefully how many slides you have.
- It depends critically on how much is on each, and how much you say.
- It takes time for the audience to read a slide, longer if you're also saying things.
- If you have more than 2 or 3 per minute, think hard.
- Some people are even more draconian, saying you should think hard if you have as many as 5 slides.
- The main point is this: Five minutes isn't very long - think carefully, and don't include too much.
You slides will have to be visible at the back of a large(ish) room:
- Yes, there are repeater screens, but they are not huge;
- Use a font size such that you can read your text on your laptop from 5 metres away, and high colour contrast.
- Images should be as large and high-resolution as possible
- Graphs can be difficult to make out - thin lines can be hard to see:
- Consider filling in the area under the line, to make the shape obvious from a distance.
Please, please, rehearse your timing!
- You don't have to fill the time available;
- shorter talks are positively encouraged.
There are some thoughts on providing
Language Assistance
for anyone who is a little worried about their ability in
English. Click that link to find out more.
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