I had no idea we caused so much pain.  If
you have fine minutes to spare and want to spend them laughing at the expense
of Bill and I, watch Francie and Steve rip the piss out of us on what will
most definitely be one of my warm up videos at a Lotusphere session.

Bob
has already mentioned that Symphony
Karaoke will be on in Kimonos at 7.30pm on Tuesday 20, January 20th.  The
abstract for this bit of fun is..

"New! Symphony Karaoke @ Kimono’s


Making it’s Lotusphere debut, Symphony
Karaoke is a blatant parody of the dreaded "business culture".
Join us as brave volunteers  "present" a random deck of
slides, struggling to link one slide to the next, taking what was once
tedious corporate monologue and transforming it into five minutes of raucous
fun and hilarity. We Lotusphere attendees love to have fun at our own (and
other’s!) expense, and this is the place to do it. Along with Speedgeeking
and JamFest, we’re betting that this will become yet another popular Lotusphere
tradition!"

Earlier this year at Admincamp, Greg
Engels hosted Presentation Karaoke.  Its a simple concept really,
and at the time, was hilarious.

We have 50 or so random presentations.
 They can be *anything*.  The chances of them being IT related
are low!

Volunteers put their name forward, and
we pick at random, they then get on stage, and present for 5 minutes on
a random presentation, which they have never seen before.  I had to
present on genetic research!

 The objective is "how much
can you even try to sound like you know what you are on about", or
"how much can you entertain while in some way keeping along with the
presentation".

The winner will be decided by applause..
or maybe Greg, Bob and I will pick it.

The sessions will be random, or, if
we know you and do/don’t like you, watch out.

Gregory will bring you through the rules….
He is a big guy – best off not arguing.

This will be a bit of fun.  Expect
booing/cheering/abuse as deemed necessary!  I may volunteer some people
aswell, incase they are shy ;)

If you are interested in being part
of it (we will be looking for people to kick it off), comment here, or
drop me a note.  Feel free to turn up on the night and drop your name
in a hat.  Gregory has posted
on this aswell.

Do you want to speak at Lotusphere?

Have you never spoken at Lotusphere
before (or not in the last three years)?

Do you want your speaking skills reviewed
and judged?

Do you want to have fun in the process?

As Ed
eluded to recently, Lotusphere
IDOL is on again for LS2009.  The format stays as it was last year,
but for those that do not know what Lotusphere IDOL is about, read on….

Every year, the Lotusphere content managers
are on the hunt for new, "young blood", with good technical and
presentation skills.  Sometimes, the problem is being noticed by track
managers.  This is not as easy as you would think, and being accepted
for a session by the content team at Lotusphere is difficult to achieve.
 The competition is fierce,   Helping on the SNT track this year
really opened my eyes to the volume of submissions.

Last year was the first Lotusphere IDOL….
the fruition of a "talent hunting" idea that was discussed for
months.  So, what’s it about?

The format is very simple, and I simply
cannot beat the description put online by Rocky
Oliver last year.  So, in
true plagiarism style, here are the rules…

Lotusphere Idol FAQ

How exactly will this work?

There will be three steps to earn your
spot as the Lotusphere Idol winner.

STEP 1: Anyone who is interested
in competing in Lotusphere Idol will email a small abstract – 3-5 sentences
- to our special email address (submissions@lotusphereidol.com).
Besides your abstract, include: your submission "area" – is a
"Developer" submission or an "Administrator" submission;
and contact information – both your normal contact info and any contact
info you can provide for you while you are at Lotusphere. The judges will
choose 2-3 Administration contestants and 2-3 Development contestants.

But before you submit, there are some
requirements. First, you must NOT have spoken at Lotusphere in the last
3 years, if ever. This is for those people who have never had the opportunity
to speak at Lotusphere, or who haven’t in a long time. Second, you MUST
commit to creating a full, 60-minute presentation in about 24-36 hours
(or best, have it already done) – more on that in a bit.

STEP 2: The chosen contestants
will present a 5 minute "audition" of their session during our
"LOTUSPHERE IDOL LIVE" session . It will be a fun-filled session
with great auditions, laughs, and more. The judges will make their decision,
and then the winner will be announced LIVE at the end of the session!!

STEP 3: The winner will then
have a little over a day to prepare their session – with the support and
help of the Lotusphere judges. Then the Lotusphere Idol winner will present
their session  where they will wow the crowds with their knowledge
and speaking skills, and bask in the glory of the Lotusphere stage!

Will the Lotusphere winner get any
help?

Yes! Some of the judges will offer to
help the winner in crafting their presentation. Additionally the Lotusphere
staff is reserving a one-on-one slot with our speaker coach, Bill Chuck,
on Wednesday morning – so you’ll not only get assistance in preparing your
presentation, you’ll also get help in being the best speaker possible -
think of it as a "Lotusphere Makover"!

Who will be the judges?

We’re still determining who will be
on the stage, but additional "judges" will be in the audience
as well. These "audience" judges will be comprised of the content
team track managers; therefore the entire judging panel will be the track
managers and the people onstage. The stage judges will be announced very
soon – stay tuned! And our Master-of-Ceremonies will be none other than
Ed Brill – this should be fun!  Keep in mind some of the judges may
be a bit *harsh*… its all in good fun.  Also keep in mind they are
actually picking the winner based on your session, so they will be paying
attention.

Anything else?

The winner of Lotusphere Idol will also
be asked to submit a session for next year’s Lotusphere – no guarantees
it will be selected, but we’re always looking for new talent and finding
a new speaker like this is a very good way to get noticed.

So, that’s it. Get your submissions
in early, and we’ll pick the contestants by the end of December.

If you have any other questions about
this, please mail me (pmooney@pmooney.net)