Admiral at the Lake*

Where: (Uptown)

929 W Foster Ave, Chicago, IL 60640. Budget 80-90 minutes drive time from Hyde Park on Lakeshore Drive. Also accessible via 147 bus. Immediately off of Lakeshore Drive. Easy trip for KICP folk who live on North Side.

When:

Talks are Wednesdays at 7:30 PM. Tasty dinner for speaker and organizer at 6 PM (on the house) with local organizer Toni Smith (former corporate/non- profit headhunter). Arrive at 5:45 PM to test AV equipment. Budget 90 minutes for the talk to allow time for questions. Could be staffed by speaker alone.

Contact:

Toni Smith, smithtoni28@gmail.com, home phone is 773-506- 7343; cell is 312-505-7939. Retired corporate/non-profit headhunter, member of professional group with Angela Olinto, volunteer at Oriental Institute. Extremely organized.

If you drop balls, she will make sure to pick them up.

What to bring:

VGA dongle for presenter’s computer, USB remote control.

AV:

Everything provided. Toni Smith will get help if anything malfunctions. Laptop will be in back of room, far away from presenter/screen, so make sure to bring a presenter remote. Connect to the VGA cable that runs to the floor, and press one of the VGA buttons on the IPAD on the wall in the presenter closet to lower the screen and connect laptop to projector. Make sure to charge laptop well in advance. Grab one of 4 wireless microphones and press the mute button until it comes on. Make sure to try everything out before dinner.

Audience:

Retired Chicago illuminati. Well to do community – effort here results from their extreme enthusiasm. Polite, engaged, ask great questions. Very demanding and will complain voluminously in their reviews if anything is not perfect. A good first presentation for new presenters as dinner is a very effective incentive, and the food is very good here. Turnout of 60-70 people is not uncommon.

Setup:

  1. Park in building garage (if asked, say you are visiting Toni Smith).
  2. In main building lobby, introduce yourself to the security guard and tell them you are there to visit Toni Smith.
  3. Walk with Toni to auditorium.
  4. Check projection system (there is an IPAD in a presenter closet. Click VGA on wall or auxiliary VGA – screen will lower. Plug presenter laptop into VGA cable coming from Wall).
  5. Grab a microphone (try all 4 if necessary), press and hold mute to activate it. Sound system should be ready for you ahead of time (Toni will hunt down the relevant parties if not).
  6. Eat a tasty dinner.
  7. Place surveys on each chair.
  8. Make sure AV system still works.

Host:

  1. Make sure the AV works
  2. Let Toni introduce the speaker
  3. Sit in back, take pictures of audience and presenter from multiple angles.

Cleanup:

  1. Collect surveys.
  2. Chat with audience members