Unfortunately, despite our initial success, we’re back to postponing things.

Basically, Original Joe’s is having some trouble getting the equipment needed to run multimedia shows installed and renting the gear each week is pricey. Trevor at OJ’s has contacted the fine folks at the Haven Social Club about having them put us up, at least until OJ’s can get the necessary gear.

At the moment, we’re waiting to hear back from the Haven people. They’re considering the idea and will get back to us. As soon as we hear back from them, I’ll post an update here and on the Facebook group.

Battledecks isn’t dead, but we’re definitely experiencing some growing pains.

We’ve got everything in place now, though, so November 2nd is a sure thing. Posters have been printed, so we’ve got to follow through with this date.

November 2nd, 2010 at Original Joe’s Varsity. Show starts at 8pm, but those wishing to sign up and present should arrive at 7:45 to get their names on the list. If there are more than 10 people signed up, names will be chosen by random draw.

The guy in this video does a really good job of keeping a straight face (for the most part) and acting as if he is giving a serious presentation (even taking on the role of some sort of “marketing guru” in his introduction). He manages to do this despite the fact that the slides in this particular presentation seem to have been chosen completely at random, rather than being a part of a coherent series.

On a technical note: is Battledecks one word or two? I’ve seen it spelled as both Battledecks and Battle Decks. Personally, I like the look of it as a single word, but two words probably makes more sense. Thoughts?

And, let’s be honest, “some people” is actually code for pretty much everyone. Myself included.

So, there’s now a Facebook event for the first Edmonton Battledecks event. While it’s not necessary for you to RSVP, it would be nice, because I’d love to have an estimate of how many people will be attending.

I’ve been working away creating some decks whenever I have a spare moment.

I’m excited. Are you excited?

There are a number of reasons for this:

• People assume that karaoke involves singing.
• People, especially Apple fans, hate PowerPoint.
• There might be legal issues using the term PowerPoint on posters and other advertising materials.

Apparently, SXSW runs a version of PowerPoint Karaoke and they call it Battledecks. Trevor tested the name on a few people and all of them preferred it.

I agree that it’s a better name for all of the reasons above. Plus, while Battledecks will require a bit of explanation, it won’t first require explaining what it isn’t before you can explain what it actually is. That’s definitely a big plus.

So, YEGPPK is now BATTLEDECKS. We should probably develop a new Twitter hashtag, too. Maybe #yegbd? Let me know what you think.

Things get started at 8pm, but if you want to put your name in the hat for the opportunity to perform, please arrive by 7:45pm so that we can have all the names in the hat before we get underway.

If you’re interested in being a part of the show, but are too shy to actually be a presenter, you can help by making a PowerPoint presentation of 10-15 slides. It can be on any topic—serious or funny—and you will get credit for making the presentation when it is used (unless you want to remain anonymous).

Email your presentations (or even just single slides) to: adam.snider+ppk@gmail.com.

Who: You!
What: Battledecks
Where: Original Joe’s Varsity, upper level (8404 109 Street)
When: October 5, 2010; 8pm – 10pm (signup at 7:45pm)
Why: For fun and entertainment!

This will give us enough time to do some promotional work, as well as for Trevor to put some finishing touches on the new “social club” space on the second floor of Original Joe’s Varsity. The second floor is soon to be re-branded as Original Joe’s Social Club (or something along those lines), and Edmonton PowerPoint Karaoke gets to be a part of the entertainment in this new venue.

The plan is for Edmonton PowerPoint Karaoke (or #yegppk, as I’ve taken to calling it on Twitter) to take over the upper level every other Tuesday, beginning on the first Tuesday in October.

Once the space is complete, it will have all of the A/V equipment required to put this thing on. There will be no need to try and rent or buy equipment, as Original Joe’s will be able to provide everything for us.

Tuesdays are also cheap wing night, so you get food and a show!

If you’re interested in performing/presenting on the first night, please let me know. The official sign-up will occur on the night of the event, but I’d like to gauge interest ahead of time, if at all possible.

As I mentioned earlier, Trevor had offered to let us use OJ’s Varsity within 30 minutes of announcing that I was hoping to start hosting Edmonton PowerPoint Karaoke nights. Since then, we’ve been trying to figure out a good time to meet and hash out some of the details.

I’m still hoping that we can host the first night in September, but August is quickly coming to a close, so we may have to wait until October. But, I’ll see what Trevor thinks. If OJ’s can supply most of the gear we’ll need (a projector and a P.A. system, essentially), then we should be set and can probably start advertising immediately once we’ve decided on a date.

Follow the blog to keep updated!

For those of you who want to see an example of PowerPoint Karaoke before you decide whether or not you want to sign up to perform, here you go! This is a great example of a participant trying to take the thing seriously, but also throwing in a fair number of jokes. The beer probably doesn’t hurt, either.

I suspect that, at least during the inaugural event, presentations at Edmonton’s PowerPoint Karaoke won’t be quite this long. While this guy was able to hold out for almost 10 minutes, I think that 3-5 minutes is a more reasonable time, especially for the first run.

There seems to be an issue with embedding the YouTube video, so if it doesn’t show up for you, here’s a link.