In addition to the monthly General Meeting, ten EGS Special Interest Groups hold regular meetings. Many of these feature presentations by members or invited guests who use PowerPoint or other programs to enhance their presentations or to clarify the information they share. It’s not uncommon when the lights go back on to hear at least one member ask “can I have a copy of your presentation?” Even in our internet connected world, the logistics involved has usually made it difficult to respond positively.
Enter the EGS Presentation Depository
SkyDrive¹ (a component of Microsoft Windows© LiveTM) seemed to offer a convenient and inexpensive solution. A folder titled EGSPresentations has been set up on SkyDrive. There, presentations and other related files (like handouts, lists of web addresses or links, pictures, scans, etc.) may be stored and then downloaded by interested visitors.
How it works
After a presentation, the Program Chair (at the General Meeting) or the SIG leader will request a digital copy of the presentation (or other material.) If the presenter is willing to provide a copy², the PC or SIG leader will upload it to the appropriate folder in the Depository. Once there, it will be available for download by anyone who visits the Depository.
Because not every member will have PowerPoint, Excel, Word, a file entitled Free Viewer Programs for Excel, PowerPoint and Word is stored in the Depository (see figure.) Download and open this file (it will open in Adobe Acrobat reader which most PCs have installed) for links to Microsoft download pages for these free programs. Additionally, many presentations will be converted to the PDF format to provide wider and easier access to presentation material.
To make access to the Depository a little easier, it’s rather long URL (web address) has been converted to the two shortened versions (tiny urls) below…
Both will take you to the same location which will look similar to the screenshot above. Click on the folder containing the file of interest and when it opens, hover your cursor over the file icon, then select “Download” from the menu that appears. After downloading the file, you may view it on your PC.
¹ SkyDrive is essentially an online external drive where digital information can be stored. Microsoft offers a generous 20GB of free storage, but maximum file size is limited to 50MB, which is more than adequate for most presentations.
² Some presenters, for copyright reasons, may not wish to provide copies of their material.
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