Your Guide to Planning

David wants his presentations to go as smoothly as possible.

A little advance planning will make a big difference when the day arrives.

FIRST…

As soon as a date has been set for David’s visit, please send the following information by email:

u school name and address; office telephone number and a number that will be answered by a person (not voice mail) on the morning of David’s visit; approximate number of students David will be speaking to.

u contact person’s name; office, home and mobile telephone numbers; if possible, an alternate contact name with phone number(s)

About one month before David’s visit, please send the following information:

u a tentative schedule of David’s time at your school, for his review and comments (see SCHEDULING, below)

u (if you are arranging David’s lodgings) name, address and phone number of his hotel, and confirmation #. If he will be staying in a private home, the name, address and phone # of his hosts.

u If David will be driving to your site, please provide:

Driving directions as determined by a human, not strictly from the internet. Please double-check your directions for accuracy and appropriate routing; consider traffic, construction, etc. Note the actual road signs David will see, approximate distances between turns and a few useful landmarks (but not too many). If possible, please drive the local portion of the route yourself, imagining that you have never done it before and noting what the driver will (or will not) see. Please bear in mind that internet and GPS directions do not always tell drivers what the signs say.
Helpful arrival information: Where can David unload his equipment? Where should he park? If possible, please save him a parking place.
Alternate telephone number: if David has a problem en route to the school, he needs to call a number that is sure to be answered by a person (not voice mail)! School office phones often go to voice mail at that time of day. This can be critically important if David has trouble finding your school!

SCHEDULING

As soon as possible – well in advance of David’s visit – please send him a tentative schedule of his presentations and the information listed below.

David is flexible in what he does, and how he does it. Please note that when David sees students only once, he will present the “Featured Assembly” described in his brochure and on his website. It will be modified significantly to be appropriate for the age range of the group. You do not need to select a program. If a group returns to see him a second time, he will give one of his follow-up workshops. The workshop can be selected by you or left to David’s discretion.

To help with scheduling David’s time at your school, please use these guidelines: primary grades, 45-60 min.; intermediate grades, 60-75 min.; middle school, 60 min. Kindergarten presentations can be less than 45 min. These are optimal times but sessions can be shorter if necessary. Sometimes, instead of seeing intermediate/middle school grades for one long presentation, David sees them in two presentations of about 45 minutes each.

Please allow at least 10 minutes between presentations.

PRESENTATION SPACE

A library/media center is preferable to a gym or multi-purpose room, but David realizes that the school library may not be available or suitable as a presentation space. Gyms can be difficult for projecting the images essential to David’s programs, especially if the lighting cannot easily be controlled (some gym lights have a delay when turned on, and this can be problematic). Some gyms have very poor acoustics with many echoes. In a few cases, it has been impossible for David to present in gyms but usually problems can be worked out with advance planning. Please let David know if he will be speaking in a gym and try to determine if there will be problems with lighting and/or sound.

Rooms should not be darkened entirely, but skylights and windows without shades can admit bright light that falls directly on (or near) the screen. In these cases, they can be covered in advance with black paper or thick tarps. (Black plastic does not usually block light effectively.)

Where possible, having elementary school children sit on the floor usually works best. Chairs are fine, but they spread out the children further, putting some of them very far from the speaker in a large audience. In multi-purpose rooms, please avoid seating children on the benches next to tables – part of the audience will be very far from the speaker and a wide open space in the middle of the room is difficult for a speaker.

Please assemble and test the equipment before David’s arrival, and arrange for someone familiar with the sound system, lights, etc., to be on hand during the set-up. This is particularly critical during half-day afternoon visits because set-up time may be quite limited. See the information sheet called “Equipment Descriptions” for a list of needed items.

ARRIVAL

David will arrive about 45 minutes early to set up. If possible, please have someone meet him in the parking lot or at the door to assist with unloading and set-up. He will appreciate a reserved parking place near the door. During set-up time, he prefers access to the assembly space without children present but he realizes it isn’t always possible. He does need about 10 minutes when the room is quiet in order to test the sound.

INTRODUCTIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
An introduction by someone from the school is welcome but best kept brief. David introduces himself in the opening minutes of his presentation.

During assemblies, please minimize (or, preferably, eliminate) announcements over the P.A. system in the presentation space. These can be very disruptive to the rhythm and dramatic aspects of the presentation.

TRANSPORTATION

If you will be transporting David to or from the presentation site(s), please be aware of the following:

u He will need to transport his equipment and props. He may ship his props (in a box 18 X 18 X 30 inches) to the first school he is visiting in an area and then take it by car to the other schools. Please be sure there is room for the box and his luggage in any car transporting him. (The box fits easily on the back seat of most four-door sedans, even compacts, but two-door sedans can be awkward.)

u If you are meeting David at the airport in a car, please allow room for his luggage in your trunk and back seat. He carries quite a bit of luggage, but it should fit in any ordinary sedan with an empty trunk and at least half of the back seat free. There is no need to use an extra large vehicle, but extra small ones can be problematic!

ABOUT THAT BOX. . .

If David is arriving by air and yours is the first (or only) school he will visit in your area, he may ship a large box of props to your school. The box includes popcorn and other items. When the box arrives, please store it in a dry place away from curious and hungry children (and animals)! You do not need to open the box. No one will be eating David’s popcorn, but the mathematical popcorn demonstration may give the audience an appetite for….popcorn! You may wish to plan a snack accordingly – but after the presentation, please, not before!

Shhhh!! Don’t tell!!

Whether or not you provide a snack, please remember that David’s popcorn is a secret!

It is used strictly as a math prop, and it is not handled or eaten by anyone.

BOOK SIGNING

David is happy to personalize and autograph books, as time allows. An adult helper is essential. He can always find time to sign a few copies, but if you plan to sell many books, please schedule time for signing. Allow about 20 seconds per book if books are to be personalized, provided an adult helper has previously set up the books with the order forms. (See “Book Sales and Autographing”.) In a half-day there is usually time to sign only a few books (library and classroom copies, for example) but if David is providing the books, he will arrange a time to sign them before or after he comes to the school. In all cases, it is best to tell children that they may not receive their signed books until the next school day.

AUTOGRAPHS

David can sign books at the school, but there is not time to give an autograph to every child who approaches with a piece of paper. Please do not let children bring papers for autographs into the assembly! Their papers may become a distraction during the assembly.

PAYMENT

Unless alternative arrangements are in place, David’s honorarium and reimbursement for travel expenses, if any, are due on the day of his visit or on the final day of a multi-day visit to your district. You will receive an invoice in advance. Please make checks payable to David M. Schwartz, LLC. If you need any paperwork signed in advance, please send forms to David now.

FINALLY. . .

If your audience includes special-needs children whose behavior is likely to be disruptive or distracting, please discuss this with David before he begins speaking. He wants to know how you would like him to handle an uncomfortable situation, if one were to arise.

David M. Schwartz

info@davidschwartz.com www.davidschwartz.com