Keynote Speaker: Rider

Yes, he will travel about everywhere where he can get safely, with a Belgian passport.

If more than a 5 hour drive from Brussels, he prefers to fly. Economy is fine. He is not that kind of Madonna. But a seat with legroom is appreciated; he is not built like a jockey either.

To avoid travel stress and an overgrown ulcer, he prefers to be at the venue the evening before, if it is outside Belgium. This means accommodation the night before the event. If the event is early morning, this is non-negotiable.

Ground transportation between the airport/station and the venue or hotel is on you. A car, a shuttle, a taxi voucher. Danny is not picky, but he is not going to figure out the local bus network with a laptop bag and a suitcase. If in Belgium, an indication of the nearest safe carpark is appreciated.

Make sure the hotel you book for him has Wi-Fi, hot water, is non-smoking and has darn clean sheets. A room that does not face the loading dock or the nightclub next door is a bonus.

Check-in should be possible the evening before the event. Check-out the morning after, unless otherwise agreed. Please leave the conference credit card on file ; Danny should not be fronting hotel costs.

He uses his own computer: a Microsoft Surface Studio 2, running PowerPoint. His slides are so magic it will not run on any computer but his. Do not ask him to transfer his presentation to your machine if it can be avoided. Do not ask him to send his slides in advance. Do not ask him to use Google Slides, Keynote, Prezi, or your company’s standard-issue ThinkPad. It will not work. It will end in tears. Probably his.

He brings his own USB-C adapter with VGA and HDMI outputs, so a standard VGA or HDMI cable will do just fine. Please have both available;  venues have a habit of having the one you do not need. If you have Clickshare… you know the video/audiolag is terrible, right?

Please foresee AC power within 2.5 meters of the computer. If that is a challenge, an extension cord will do. A good one. Not the one from the janitor’s closet that trips the breaker when you plug in a kettle.

He brings his own clicker. He controls his presentation with it.

Danny likes a confidence monitor;  it can be his laptop screen, a separate screen on or near the stage that shows him the PowerPoint Presenter View: the current slide, the next slide, (he does not have  speaker notes.) This is not a luxury. This is how he delivers 500+ slides without skipping a beat.

His laptop can be at the tech desk or backstage, but he then needs a monitor on stage that mirrors the Presenter View output of his laptop , preferably not just the audience slide. The standard “duplicate the projector feed onto a floor monitor” trick will not cut it. He needs to see what is coming next.

If your AV team is not sure how to route PowerPoint Presenter View to a separate monitor over an extended cable run: a simple HDMI extender from the laptop’s second video output to a floor wedge or confidence monitor on stage does the job. Danny is happy to walk through this during the tech check.

The monitor should be readable from his typical speaking position, not tucked behind a lectern he will never stand behind. A 40-inch screen at 3 to 4 meters works. A 24-inch screen at 8 meters does not.

His presentations all have embedded video and sound, so an audio connection between his PC and the PA system is required. A standard 3.5mm PC jack with a cable that is long enough will do. “Long enough” means it actually reaches. Please test this before he arrives.

If your setup uses a DI box or audio extractor from HDMI — that works too, as long as someone has verified it does not introduce a 2-second delay that makes his videos look like a badly dubbed kung fu movie.

For groups bigger than 40 people, Danny needs a microphone. As he tends to wander all over the stage and through the room, he prefers a wireless microphone. More specifically: a clip-on lavalier microphone or a headset mic. Not a handheld preferably he needs both hands for gestures, dramatic effect, and occasionally holding on to furniture.

Please have fresh batteries in the transmitter. Or a fully charged unit. The moment a mic dies mid-sentence is the moment the audience remembers forever;  and not in a good way.

If you use a setup where the speaker is filmed and projected, make sure you have his slides on the main screen at all times. Switching back and forth between the speaker and his slides on the same screen is not acceptable. Danny will literally run through hundreds of picture slides. If you cut away to a camera shot of him while slide 147 is making his point, the point is lost. And so is he.

The solution is simple: slides on the main screen(s), camera feed on a secondary or IMAG screen. Two outputs. Not one toggled by a nervous AV operator.

The devil is in the details. Danny insists on a small tech check on audio, video, confidence monitor, and mic before it begins. Fifteen minutes is ideal. Five minutes minimum. This is not diva behavior; it is the difference between a smooth start and an awkward three minutes of “can you hear me now” in front of your CEO.

The tech check should include:

• Video output confirmed on the main screen
• Presenter View confirmed on the confidence monitor (current slide + next slide visible)
• Audio from the laptop playing through the PA
• Microphone tested from multiple positions in the room
• Clicker tested from the back of the stage

If your AV crew can be there for this, brilliant. If not, Danny will need the name and phone number of someone who can fix things when the projector decides it does not like USB-C today.

Danny’s slides are (1) not available for download, (2) will not be sent in advance, and (3) will not be distributed as a handout beforehand. Yes, you can have them.

(1) is because his slides are deeply visual and make zero sense without him talking over them. A 400-slide deck of full-bleed images without context is not a handout,  it is a very confusing PDF.

(2) is because no, really, he does not send slides in advance. Not to the AV team if it can be avoided, not to the event organizer, not to the marketing department. The presentation runs on his machine. That is the whole point.

If you need something to share with attendees after the event, Danny is happy to provide a summary, a one-pager, or a set of key takeaways. Talk to him about it. He is reasonable. Just not about the slides.

He insists on having an oxygenated asteroid-mined drink. Just kidding. He requires at least half a liter of water though, preferably sparkling. Room temperature, not the kind that has been sitting in the sun since the morning session.

A light snack backstage is appreciated if his slot is right before or after lunch. Nothing fancy. A sandwich, some fruit, a cookie. He is not going to send back the M&Ms because the brown ones are still in there.

Life happens. Flights get cancelled, pandemics return, and sometimes the universe has other plans. If Danny cannot make it due to circumstances beyond his control, he will let you know as soon as humanly possible and work with you on a solution — including rescheduling or a virtual alternative.

He expects the same courtesy. If the event is cancelled, please let him know before he is at the airport.