The Next Rocket Scientist: YOU

For over half a century, NASA has inspired people across the world to look to the heavens and wonder what secrets are hidden within the cosmos. Solving those mysteries has long been the domain of lab-coat wearing scientists in government agencies and universities. However, with the advent of the internet, social web, and open source data, it has become possible for anyone to make scientific discoveries about our universe. Find out how you can actively contribute to space exploration and how the collective power of the internet is enabling the future of scientific research.

5 Responses to “The Next Rocket Scientist: YOU”

  1. jonverve  on March 12th, 2011

    Great work using sliderocket to help tie those of us not at sxsw into the presentation. :)

  2. mrdoornbos  on March 13th, 2011

    Awesome. Just awesome.

  3. skytland  on March 14th, 2011

    Thanks for the positive comments everyone and also thanks to @sliderocket for the great review of my #sxswi presentation! This is cross posted from this link: http://bit.ly/gjDDfd

    A NASA presentation and SlideRocket are a natural fit. While at SXSW we were fortunate to catch Nicholas Skytland deliver an inspiring presentation using SlideRocket titled, “The Next Rocket Scientist: You“. We’re not the only ones who were impressed as it was quickly picked-up on the Twitter stream.

    What Makes This Presentation Great?

    Storyline

    Space exploration has of course long been the domain of the rocket scientist, but Skytland highlights that some of the best ideas have came from outside NASA. He quickly moves to personalize the message to tempt inventors to participate and win one of the many challenges NASA has created. In short, his story reaches directly out to his target audience with a specific call to action.

    Unique Imagery

    From the first slide this presentation is visually pleasing. Effective techniques include use of bright “crayon” text on top of historical black and whites. And of course you can’t lose with breathtaking images of space.

    Distinctive Yet Consistent Text and Titles

    Creating a layout that effectively uses titles and text can trip you up. These folks were paying attention. They chose a handful of distinct title and text styles and peppered them throughout the presentation. The result is the audience is presented with a new look on each slide, but still there is a consistency throughout. And smartly, Skytland limits the number of words on each slide to keep the audience focused on the key takeaway for a great presentation.

    Voiceover

    NASA recorded the presentation ahead of time using SlideRocket’s voiceover feature. Compared to static slides, this is so much more engaging for those viewing after the fact. And having this ready ahead of time was a smart move to better share a great presentation.

    Website Posting

    Almost immediately the presentation was posted to the openNASA website. With the simple SlideRocket embed code this probably took just a few minutes. The result – Skytland was able to share his presentation immediately after his presentation at SXSW on Twitter, Facebook and anywhere else.

    See any great presentations lately? Let us know here and we’ll highlight them.

  4. dennisbonilla  on March 14th, 2011

    Excellent presentation. It has great pacing, clear and concise information, and plenty of links to the tools to enable action. Thanks for making it available to everyone.