How much would you charge

[wheatGrass]

How much would you charge to create a powerpoint for a keynote address at a small conference?

The paper is about 25 minutes, and it is image/media heavy. I'm very familiar with the material, but I had to find all the images/think of appropriate images for some concepts.

Thanks!

Edited March 5, 2012 by wheatGrass

[abc123xtc]

Maybe $1/slide? I don't have any experience in this. I'm just throwing a number out there.

[Eigen]

Eh? Who are you making this for?

I can't tell if you're the one giving the keynote presentation (in which case you would most likely be offered an honorarium) or if you're making this for an advisor (in which case, charging seems over the top).

Some more clarification would be helpful. I've never charged for making a presentation, so I'm not really sure the motivation behind it.

[wheatGrass]

Sorry. I'm not writing the paper or actually presenting it. I'm just taking the paper and finding lots of great images and choosing the best snippets of text, and putting it all together with notes on when to press 'next'.

My previous (masters) advisor (who is giving the presentation) has hired me to do it. I get paid by the hour, but I have been very undisciplined with getting images, going a way off track in my search... I don't want to over-charge because I could have probably done it in considerably less time than it's taking me. I'm just wondering what would be appropriate. Like you, I've never been in this situation before, either.

I don't think charging by the slide is the key, since the best presentations have fewer, better slides. (IMO).

Edited March 5, 2012 by wheatGrass

[Eigen]

I'd say a 25 minute presentation, making mostly new figures, would be a solid 6-9 hours of work (a full day). I'd charge accordingly.

[talific]

Why not just figure out how many hours you spent on it and then figure out how many of those hours were unnecessary (spent off-track or whatever)? That way you have an estimate of how much time it *really* took you of actual work.

[wheatGrass]

Why not just figure out how many hours you spent on it and then figure out how many of those hours were unnecessary (spent off-track or whatever)? That way you have an estimate of how much time it *really* took you of actual work.

That would be ideal. But I am so undisciplined about keeping track of time. I need to get better at it, definitely. But at this point, I don't really know how much was unecessary wandering. I have a general idea... I'm also interested in knowing if the time I estimate it has taken me is reasonable.

[talific]

Well, I think Eigen's suggestion was also good. Unless that seems like way more than what you think you worked.

[Andsowego]

This sounds like the job of an RA, and most RA's get paid $20-$25/hour (depending on the institution).

Edited March 5, 2012 by Andsowego

[wheatGrass]

This sounds like the job of an RA, and most RA's get paid $20-$25/hour (depending on the institution).

Yes, that's right. I guess I should have asked, "How many hours should it take me to do this?" I am terrible at billing hours appropriately. With a task like this I tend to get dragged down into tangential google searches which sometimes yeilds really interesting stuff, and sometimes a lot of wasted time.

[Andsowego]

Yes, that's right. I guess I should have asked, "How many hours should it take me to do this?" I am terrible at billing hours appropriately. With a task like this I tend to get dragged down into tangential google searches which sometimes yeilds really interesting stuff, and sometimes a lot of wasted time.

How many slides in total?

[Behavioral]

I used to work in wedding photography/album design.

My going rates for something like this would be $100/hour and was around (if not a little pricier) than the standard.

My guesses are people who specialize in presentations would charge similarly if not more. If you get someone who isn't an expert in this (e.g., an RA) you'll pay less, but the results will likely pale in comparison to one professionally designed.

[Eigen]

I'm gathering from the OP that the hourly pay isn't so much the question as what a decent total is- since the prof offered to pay by hour, and they aren't sure how many hours they spent working on it.

[wheatGrass]

If you get someone who isn't an expert in this (e.g., an RA) you'll pay less, but the results will likely pale in comparison to one professionally designed.

For sure. But one advantage of having an RA-type of employee do the work is that they are familiar with the concepts and can just hand over the paper with some amount of confidence that the powerpoint will make sense/contain relevant examples and images that exemplify the core concepts. And I'd like to think she asked me to do it because she thinks (from previous experience) that I make nice presentations!

[wheatGrass]

I billed 7.5 hours plus 1/2 an hour of set up on the day of the presentation, at a standard (well, on the low side) RA rate.