Date:         Thu, 8 Apr 2004 14:26:39 -0400
Reply-To:     Peter Flom <flom@NDRI.ORG>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Peter Flom <flom@NDRI.ORG>
Subject:      Re: rant SUGI PowerPoint template
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

Use of any design background (as opposed to a single color) seems to go
against principles of graphic design per Tufte, Cleveland etc.  Perhaps
Tufte would call this 'slidejunk', although he thinks all of Powerpoint
is junk.  I know that when I've seen presentations with backgrounds, I
have found it distracting.

I think Howard makes a very good point when he talks about familiarity
with a program.  Remember your first week or month using SAS? Ouch. I
don't think Powerpoint is a great program, but I don't think it's so
bad.

Peter

>>> Howard Schreier <Howard_Schreier@ITA.DOC.GOV> 4/8/2004 2:13:41 PM
>>>
I think the template leaves much to be desired, but I think little of
the
blame should fall on Microsoft.

I often find the going a little rough when I deal with a piece of
software
which I only use occasionally. If I used PowerPoint every day, I'd
probably
know the features as well as the workarounds for the deficiencies; if
I
only used SAS a few times a year (like to prepare some stats for my
presentation at the PUGI conference), I'm sure I'd be aggravated
because of
the quirks of SAS.

Some other points ...

It's my understanding that use of the template is voluntary. I made my
own,
though I incorporated much from the official one. My biggest concern
was
making use of more of the space on each slide, and making the text
bigger.

Somebody made a comment about not getting any background when inserting
a
new slide. I did not experience that. The background is quite light,
however. I recommend against using the geometric title-slide
background
image for other slides. It is too dark and will reduce contrast.

I don't think it matters too much that the template has PPT rather than
POT
as the filename extension. Either can be used. I think the real problem
is
that whoever prepared the template does not quite understand how
templates
are supposed to work. Rather, I think people are expected to
copy/rename
the template, then build by cloning the slides provided. In that case,
the
masters are not really being used. Evidence: the conference logo is not
on
the slide master; rather, it is on each of the individual slides.

Yes, the title and text boxes are fixed in size, and content can be
truncated. That's the nature of the medium. I know I don't want scroll
bars
on my slides.

If HTML (or some other file type) is better for some content, use it.
Then
place links in the PowerPoint to facilitate jumping during the talk.
One
could end up just using PowerPoint as sort of a map of the
presentation.

Still having problems with PowerPoint?: Consult the most excellent
archives:

http://groups.google.com/groups?group=microsoft.public.powerpoint