My paper was accepted for presentation at the INCOSE Symposium in Rome this summer – very exciting, although I’m going to have very little time for exploring.
In fact, the paper was accepted for presentation as a poster, so I need to rearrange it and get it ready as a single sheet poster, which I then stand next to and talk about. Like a mini-ad-hoc presentation, on my feet, with people coming and going. I’ve not done this before, and it sounds pretty interesting. I will be able to draw on my years of experience doing theatre and improv (except I was not that great at improv, so I was the compere instead).
The paper is also being held in reserve in case someone else can’t present, so I need to get that set up as well. Double the work for possibly half the result. Oh well.
The paper itself is about the custom database I developed to manage the requirements with respect to the Code of Federal Regulations for the California High-Speed Train Project. This is a big project, with lots of interest from all quarters, which means that as well as my own paper, I’ll be fielding questions about the whole project. I’d better swot up on some key details.
It has to stand out, though. I was talking to a colleague aboiut how to make the poster more interesting, and we came up with some possible improvements to a static poster.
- Add pop-up book features such as
- Rotating wheel with little window showing – different requirements scenarios?
- Opening flaps revealing – result of data query?
- Pull tabs to show – data flow?
- Add visual effects to make it stand out
- Prismatic animation like when a picture of Jesus blinks when you walk past
- That thing where you move a film back and forth and the stripes make the horse gallop
- Kaleidoscpe to imply project complexity
- Introduce texture to increase interest
- Sandpaper
- Plush fur
- Crinkly material
- Introduce sound to grab attention
- Squeakers in certain parts of the poster
- Sound chips with various reward/punishment sounds
- Klaxon warning sound in “Problem” quadrant
- Applause sound in “Conclusion” quadrant
- Scratch ‘n’ sniff