Using EGU’s new presentation upload recipe: How to make sure your cake doesn’t fall flat while Sharing Geoscience Online

For many people, following a recipe is like watching an airline safety presentation — they barely pay attention. Which is exactly why meals rarely turn out the way we expect them to! Fortunately, we, the members of EGU’s communications team, are fans of the Great British Bake-Off (aka the Great British Baking Show), so we’ve learned how to turn out showstopping work under nerve-wracking time pressure.

In this (first and only) instalment of the Great Geosciences Baking Show, we’d like to introduce you to EGU’s magic recipe. Rather than focusing on airy sponge cake or flaky puff pastry, however, our recipe lists the ingredients and easily digestible steps you’ll need to follow to successfully prep and upload your #shareEGU20 presentational materials.

For your signature challenge, the object is to demonstrate your science skills while still expressing your creativity by designing one pdf, ppt/pptx, pps/ppsx, png or mp4 file (max 50 MB) and decorating it with one CC BY 4.0 logo visible in the file. (If instead your materials require a different license, please clearly indicate this in your file, e.g., © Authors. All rights reserved.)

Next comes the technical challenge: uploading this file to the EGU2020 website. This deceptively simple task is fraught with potential stumbling blocks, like forgetting your Copernicus ID and password. Once you make it past this hurdle, nothing less than sheer perfection is required – you must complete all the remaining steps, and you must do them in the proper order: access the upload form, press the upload button, and then click on the browse button to select your signature creation from the appropriate data drive.

In the end, everyone following this recipe must make one final decision: whether to click on upload & allow discussion, which allows colleagues who have logged in to comment on your materials, or to upload without discussion.

Once you’ve completed these first two challenges, your materials will be available for viewing in the #shareEGU20 online programme. At long last, you’re ready for the showstopper – the scheduled session time during which you can discuss your materials via a live text chat with other abstract authors.

We all know that the real winners of every good baking show are the friends we made along the way, so don’t forget to comment on other showstopping science and get involved with the live text chat during the week of 4-8 May. On your marks, get set, BAKE!