Hello Peter,

My first piece of advice would be to contact your section chair with your questions. As a NESUG section chair, I'll attempt to pinch-hit for your SC.

- Michael "Mad Doggy" Davis

At 03:42 PM 9/5/2005 -0400, Peter Flom <flom@NDRI.ORG> wrote: >I will be presenting at the upcoming NESUG.....50 minutes long, and my >first NESUG presentation, although I've given a similar talk at NYASUG, >my topic seems boring and elemetnary compared to others. > >.It's also been a long time (10 years???) since I went to a NESUG or >SUGI > >Still a bit nervous. Excuse me if I babble (Hopefully, I will babble >here and not when I present ! :-)))

Besides utilizing the patience of friends, mirrors, and NESUG practice room, when you feel yourself going into babble mode, just pause for a few seconds. Nothing bad will happen.

>So, who else here is going? > >Do people generally give handouts, and if so, any guesses as to how many >for the Analysis section?

My advice is to look at your paper and figure out if having some sort of handout is going to make it easier to follow along. Folks will have the ability to print out your paper from the CD-ROM and from the NESUG website after the conference. Based upon all of the information available to me, if you decide to provide some sort of handout, 50 copies in your section would be plenty.

>How formally do people dress when they speak?

Whatever makes you feel comfortable. The conference dress is business casual. Nice slacks and a shirt with a collar works for most guys.

>Any pointers from people who have done this a lot?

No one has every died from a bad presentation (either speaking or listening) or suffered irreparable career harm so focus on your audience and enjoying the experience. Judging from your SAS-L posts, you are going to be fine.

>How stat-savvy is the audience in the Analysis section?

Probably less knowledgeable than David Cassell ;-)

BTW, if you get "stumped" during your presentation, someone in the audience invariably bails you out if you have the presence of mind to let them.

>etc. > >Peter > > > > > > >Peter L. Flom, PhD >Assistant Director, Statistics and Data Analysis Core >Center for Drug Use and HIV Research >National Development and Research Institutes >71 W. 23rd St >www.peterflom.com >New York, NY 10010 >(212) 845-4485 (voice) >(917) 438-0894 (fax)

Michael L. Davis Ambler PA E-Mail: michael@bassettconsulting.com