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head.
    When the lights had dimmed and my colleagues had settled around the boardroom table in the minister’s office, I stood with the remote control in my hand. I casually explained that I had just “thrown together a few slides” and hit the button to summon the first to the screen. The shuttle first slid into orbit on the edge of the slide. Then as the theme music from
2001: A Space Odyssey
, blared from my tiny and tinny laptop speakers, the Canadarm extended, reached into the shuttle’s cargo bay, pulled out the logo for the Canadian Space Agency, and slowly positioned it below the footer line in the bottom right-hand corner of the slide, before the arm retracted to its original position. It was awesome. It was brilliant.
    In terms of informing my audience, it was a disaster of epic proportions. It wouldn’t have been so bad had I not programmed all five slides to do the same thing. After that opening, I doubt the audience even noticed that each bullet point “launched” from the bottom left-hand side like a text rocket, complete with blast-off sound effects, before settling into its rightful position in the middle of the slide.
    Those enduring that first presentation so long ago were polite and said nothing about my special effects, except for that one senior civil servant who took pity on me. His first words after our colleagues had rushed from the boardroom were “Houston, we have a problem.” He proceeded to teach me a little about the principles of graphic design and slide composition. He concluded with advice on the restrained and strategic use of animation so that it actually enhanced the delivery of information, rather than distracted, confused, or even frightened the audience. After we’d gotten to know each other a little better, he thoughtfully suggested I donate my original Canadarm PowerPoint presentation to the CIA to assist with the interrogation of reticent prisoners. I saw the light and never again abused the power in PowerPoint.
    I kept my contest slides simple, with few words, but solid visuals. I used shots of a shuttle launch, the interior of the International Space Station, a demographic cross-section of Canadians, a few mock headlines that I hoped we might see (e.g., “Citizen Astronaut Contest launched, Canadians get on board!”), as well as a photo of a recent news conference held in the same venue in which I was proposing we announce the contest, the Ontario Science Centre. Steadfastly static bullet points filled in the blanks so that all of the major elements of the program were duly explained. I liked it. Then again, at one time I’d liked my Canadarm presentation, too.
    We all reconvened in the boardroom Thursday morning. I hadn’t had a chance to share my presentation with either Dianeor Amanda beforehand, but they didn’t seem too perturbed. I figured they considered my idea a long shot, likely to be cut early on anyway. A laptop was set up and plugged into the projector. Then we waited the compulsory ten minutes it took to fiddle with the laptop settings so the entire slide was visible on the screen. After several bad experiences with computers and projectors, I had revised the tech industry’s soothing promise from “plug and play” to “plug and plague.” It never seemed to work the first time.
    Amanda walked us through a more traditional-looking slide deck with the standard communications program headings, including Background, Goals, Strategic Considerations, Strategy, Target Audiences, Key Messages, Tactics, Measurement, Timelines, Team, and Budget. My mind was drifting after the third slide. Sometimes a bit of “custom animation” would be welcome to keep you awake. As expected from the last meeting, this was strictly a media relations play with lots of solid and creative thinking to drive coverage. Beyond the ideas advanced in the earlier session, the creation of a travelling Canada in Space Museum exhibit that could tour the country was proposed. I liked the