Checklist for Computing at Conferences

Simply notify SLAC SCS computing support by sending e-mail to conference-comp@slac.stanford.edu if you have an upcoming conference which may have computing needs, , and we will contact you to discuss what is needed.

It is important that conference-comp gets time to plan your needs with you and mobilize any resources necessary, so please do not hold off contacting us if you do not yet know the details. The checklist below is just a reference. If you have doubts as to whether your conference needs any computing resources, please just notify conference-comp anyways.

In order for you to plan and implement this properly at conferences, we need the sponsors of the conference to work with SCS and other computing staff at SLAC. We need to plan and work with you on a sensible setup, so that for a temporary and mobile conference setup, you can obtain the desired functionality without having to replicate the complex SLAC infrastructure that you have come to expect at your SLAC office.

Please go over this checklist and send e-mail to conference-comp list so that someone can contact you to discuss this. A secondary purpose of the checklist is to alert you of the complexities and guide you to think through the implementation in a timely manner. SCS and computing staff from other SLAC departments can provide consulting to plan the resources needed to meet your needs. To make your conference computing as easy as possible, you are urged to involve the computing staff in the planning from the beginning. The sponsors are responsible to find and fund the resources needed.

We would appreciate if past and future conference organizers will contribute to this web page to concentrate our experiences. Please send e-mail to conference-comp.

SLAC On-site Meeting Setup
Setup of Presentation Computers	How many computers do you need? Will the operating system and software need installing, and by whom? Do you need to know the local computers accounts (for Windows/Linux)?	Info on SLAC Conference Rooms setup, other needs contact conference-comp		Weeks before the conference
Laptops


Full Conference Setup
Do you need?	Description	SLAC Person to Contact	Cost	When to do this
Outsource to professional vendors	Professional vendors who provide conference registration, conference networking, conference computer setup may be the most efficient way. Few people realize the amount of complex work involved in setting up computing services for a big conference, and SLAC internal resources are limited and not optimized for this.
Initial planning between the SCS contact and the conference computing contact	Do this first. This will allow you and the computing staff to identify the computing people responsible and the resources needed understand what you expect for computing at the conference what infrastructure to set up at the conference in coordination with other computing staff at SLAC	Contact conference-comp first, in order to involve SCS and other computing staff.	N/A	As soon as you know of the conference, months in advance
Media Projector	Do you need talks projected from laptops or files on a floppy disk? Have you checked the cabling hookups for the projector? Do you have spare projector bulbs? Have you reserved the projector? For important conferences, you may need a backup projector.	SLAC Library has loaner projectors.		Reserve or check the projector as soon as you know of the conference
Conference Phone	Do you need a conference phone?	SCS Help Desk has loaner conference phones.		Reserve the phone as soon as you know of the conference
Networking	On-site: How many people will be bringing laptops? How many laptop users will need internet access? For those not bringing laptops, is e-mail, telnet and web browsing needed? Is writing files to the local C drive or to the floppy drive needed to produce reports? Is printing needed? Is access to SLAC Windows file servers needed? Is access to 'slaconly' web pages needed?	Info on SLAC Conference Rooms setup, other needs contact conference-comp		A month before the conference
Networking	Off-site: Which is the vendor that the conference site uses? Recommended is DHCP for workstations, fixed IP addresses for printers supplied by vendor. How many people need access? Is e-mail, telnet and web browsing needed? Is writing files to the local C drive needed? Is access to SLAC Windows file servers needed? Is access to 'slaconly' web pages needed?	Contact conference-comp	Ask the vendor	Few months before the conference
Setup of public computers	How many computers do you need? Will the operating system and software need installing, and by whom? Do you need to know the local computers accounts (for Windows/Linux)?	Info on SLAC Conference Rooms setup, other needs contact conference-comp		Few months before the conference
Setup public computers by re-using existing PC hardware	How many computers do you need? (If a few computers are needed, an easy option is to borrow the SCS HelpDesk loaner laptops.) Will the operating system and software need re-installing, and by whom? Do you need to know the local computers accounts (for Windows/Linux)?	?
Types of functions PC's will be used for (different software, etc.)	What is the software you expect (here is the standard suite for conference Windows computers)? Will some PC's have different software? Are there any version incompatibilities (e.g., Microsoft Access 97 vs Access 2000)?	contact conference-comp
Number of operating systems (OS)	Optimal answer is one. Each additional operating system increases complexities substantially.	contact conference-comp
File interchange	For computers networked to the internet, files can be exchanged as e-mail attachments. Or FTP can be used on a common server. For non-networked computers, make sure there is either floppy drive or other removable media. PC's and Macs can exchange files via PC-formatted Zip cartridges (both will need Zip drives) or PC-formatted floppy disks. Are there any dependencies for files within the SLAC network?	contact conference-comp
Printing	What models of printers? Are printer drivers loaded onto each workstation? Do you need parallel port printer cables? Are printers on fixed IP addresses, and do these printer addresses need to be loaded onto each workstations?	contact conference-comp
Laptops	Do they expect to be networked? Do they expect to print (recommended to use parallel port printer cable)? If expected to print, do you have printer drivers for all operating systems expected?	Info on SLAC Conference Rooms setup, other needs contact conference-comp
Accessing SLAC resources	At the conference do you need to access SLAC resources behind the SLAC firewall (such as SLAC Windows files to modify papers and talks)? Recommended is Citrix Windows Terminal Server client.	?
Moving PC equipment	Who will be responsible for moving, setup and cleanup?	?
Computer support at the conference	Who will be there full time at the conference as computer support to troubleshoot network, installs, file formats, printing, projector, etc. Has this person been given the local administrator or local root accounts for the workstations to have full privilege to configure? Has this person been given CD's of all operating systems, service packs, software and printer drivers, printer and network cables to troubleshoot at conference site?	?		This person should be identified early and involved in from the planning stage.
Database	Who is the owner or programmer for the database? Is database on the server? Does database have web interfaces? Does database have any passwords? Does database file have permissions based on SLAC accounts (not valid outside SLAC network)?	McDunn (TechPubs) and conference-comp
Electronic payment	What are the servers needed? What version of web browser and secure connection are needed?	contact conference-comp
Publications	What format (MS Word, TeX)? Will the software be provided on the computers?	TechPubs
MediaStream	Is mediastream needed? Is live streaming needed?	contact conference-comp
Testing the conference setup	What tests will be done? Will the tests be done in time to make changes? Will tests involve verifying that network taps are active, projector, workstations, accounts to be used, software, printing, file transfer, file sharing, database (do tests need to include SLAC network, and disconnected from SLAC network)? Who is responsible for the testing and verification for sign-off?	?

Conferences and Meetings: Checklist for Computing

Do you need?

Description

SLAC Person to Contact

Cost

When to do this

Conferences and Meetings:
Checklist for Computing