Chairperson
A chairman乫s role is an important one. He is in-charge of the day乫s proceedings, to set the tone of the conference, and to keep everything on time by linking presentation concepts and making interactive sessions flow. The chairperson kicks of the day with the opening remarks, briefly introduces each speaker, and engages the floor with impromptu question and answer sessions after each speaker. Chairman duties are for the entire day and is fielded by a respected, well-recognized member of the industry.

Keynotes
Keynote speakers present the key session at the conference and receive the highest billing in all event marketing. Their role is to fire up the conference with a high-level speech that challenges the audience and provides thought-leadership that keeps people talking long after he leaves the stage. Keynotes are the big draw in a conference and are the most sought after speakers due to their influence, knowledge, presentation skills and illusiveness!

Session speakers
Opinion leaders make up our individual speaking sessions. Each are required to prepare a 30 minute presentation, with several slides just for illustration. Terrapinn strongly discourages the use of powerpoint as overuse is the harbinger of a dead conference! They will be introduced by the chairman and then allowed to speak, uninterrupted, for the allocated time slot, allowing for 5-10 minutes of questions from the audience at the end (which the chairman will facilitate).

Panelists
Panel speakers are not required to submit presentation slides or whitepapers for their session. They will be introduced by the panel moderator who will field questions and direct the conversation on a predetermined topic. They will then be involved in a debate/interactive discussion with the moderator, the other panel members and the audience. Some panels are set up to discuss specific issues. Expert panels can also be put together to tackle questions from the audience in a free-flowing format.

Moderator
The moderator is the heart of the panel discussion. A good moderator coaxes the best answers out of panelists by asking the right questions. They control the conversation, making sure everyone gets a balanced opportunity to speak and stay on topic. The best moderators keep things professional but casual in a 乬chat show host乭 style. They also need to encourage audience participation, fielding questions from the floor, whilst keeping the whole panel to the allocated time.

Sponsor speakers
Sponsor speakers are either session speakers or panelists. Sponsor speakers should be engaging and provide cutting-edge ideas using recent case studies to illustrate a concept as agreed with the conference producer. Sponsor speakers have access to the audience乫s full attention over the allocated time. We rarely field speakers with sales responsibilities. Terrapinn enforces strictly the no sales pitch policy to protect the interests of delegates and also to protect both the sponsor乫s reputation and that of the conference.