Method and system for distributed scripting of presentations

Abstract

A method for preparing a presentation connects a plurality of geographically dispersed contributors to a controller through a network to collaborate to prepare the presentation, allows the contributors to propose contributions to the presentation residing on storage devices under the control of the contributors, makes the proposed contributions available for viewing and comment by all contributors, allows the controller to select one or more of the proposed contributions, and provides the controller access through the network to the storage devices to retrieve the selected contributions for inclusion into the presentation.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for preparing a presentation, comprising: 
 connecting a plurality of geographically dispersed contributors to a controller through a network to collaborate to prepare the presentation;    allowing the contributors to propose contributions to the presentation, the proposed contributions residing on storage devices under the control of the contributors;    making the proposed contributions available for viewing and comment by the contributors;    allowing the controller to select one or more of the proposed contributions; and    providing the controller access through the network to the storage devices to retrieve the selected contributions for inclusion into the presentation.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein providing access to the storage devices further comprises: 
 transferring a selected contribution through the network to the controller for inclusion in the presentation.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein transferring a selected contribution comprises: 
 transferring a selected contribution from a contributor to the controller through the network for inclusion in the presentation.    
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein transferring a selected contribution comprises: 
 transferring a selected contribution through the network from a storage device to the controller for inclusion in the presentation.    
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the storage devices are selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein connecting the contributors to the controller further comprises: 
 connecting the contributors to the controller to provide instructions to the controller for preparing the presentation.    
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein connecting the contributors to the controller to provide instructions to the controller comprises: 
 connecting the contributors to the controller to provide instructions to the controller to prepare a presentation script identifying the selected contributions to be included in the presentation.    
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the script includes a path for retrieving a selected contribution through the network from a storage device.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the storage devices are selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein providing access to the storage devices comprises: 
 providing a path for retrieving a contribution through the network from a storage device.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the storage devices are selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the network is selected from the group of networks comprising the Internet, intranets, and local area networks.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the contributions are selected from the group of contributions comprising graphics, text, video, and audio.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the contributors are persons communicating with the controller through terminals connected to the network.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the controller is a person communicating with the contributors through a terminal connected to the network.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the presentation is prepared on the controller terminal.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 displaying the presentation.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein displaying the presentation comprises: 
 retrieving a selected contribution from the respective storage device immediately prior to displaying the selected contribution.    
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein displaying the presentation further comprises: 
 providing access through the network to view the presentation.    
     
     
         20 . A method for preparing a presentation, comprising: 
 connecting a plurality of geographically dispersed contributors to a controller through a network to collaborate to prepare the presentation;    allowing the contributors to propose contributions to the presentation, the proposed contributions residing on storage devices under the control of the contributors;    making the proposed contributions available for viewing and comment by all contributors;    allowing the controller to select one or more of the proposed contributions;    providing the controller access through the network to the storage devices to retrieve the selected contributions for inclusion into the presentation; and displaying the presentation.    
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein displaying the presentation comprises: 
 retrieving a selected contribution from the respective storage device immediately prior to displaying the selected contribution.    
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein displaying the presentation further comprises: 
 providing access through the network to view the presentation.    
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein providing access to the storage devices further comprises: 
 transferring a selected contribution through the network to the controller for inclusion in the presentation.    
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein transferring a selected contribution comprises: 
 transferring a selected contribution from a contributor to the controller through the network for inclusion in the presentation.    
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein transferring a selected contribution comprises: 
 transferring a selected contribution through the network from a storage device to the controller for inclusion in the presentation.    
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the storage devices are selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein connecting the contributors to the controller further comprises: 
 connecting the contributors to the controller to provide instructions to the controller for preparing the presentation.    
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein connecting the contributors to the controller to provide instructions to the controller comprises: 
 connecting the contributors to the controller to provide instructions to the controller to prepare a presentation script identifying the selected contributions to be included in the presentation.    
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the script includes a path for retrieving a selected contribution through the network from a storage device.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the storage devices are selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.  
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein providing access to the storage devices comprises: 
 providing a path for retrieving a contribution through the network from a storage device.    
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein the storage devices are selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.  
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein the network is selected from the group of networks comprising the Internet, intranets, and local area networks.  
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the contributions are selected from the group of contributions comprising graphics, text, video, and audio.  
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the contributors are persons communicating with the controller through terminals connected to the network.  
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 44 , wherein the controller is a person communicating with the contributors through a terminal connected to the network.  
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein the presentation is prepared on the controller terminal.  
     
     
         47 . A system for preparing a presentation, comprising: 
 a controller terminal for connecting through a network to a plurality of geographically dispersed contributor terminals to allow contributors to collaborate to prepare the presentation, the terminal operable to allow the contributors to propose contributions to the presentation that reside on storage devices under the control of the contributors, the terminal further operable to make the proposed contributions available through the network for viewing and comment by contributors, to allow a controller to select one or more of the proposed contributions for inclusion into the presentation, and to provide the controller access through the network to the storage devices to retrieve the selected contributions for inclusion into the presentation; and    a controller storage device connected to the controller terminal for storing the presentation and one or more of the selected contributions.    
     
     
         48 . The system of  claim 47 , wherein the controller terminal operable to provide the controller access through the network to the storage devices comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to transfer a selected contribution through the network to the controller storage device for inclusion in the presentation.    
     
     
         49 . The system of  claim 48 , wherein the controller terminal operable to provide the controller access through the network to the storage devices comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to transfer a selected contribution through the network from a contributor to the controller storage device for inclusion in the presentation.    
     
     
         50 . The system of  claim 48 , wherein the controller terminal operable to provide the controller access through the network to the storage devices comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to transfer a selected contribution through the network from a storage device to the controller storage device for inclusion in the presentation.    
     
     
         51 . The system of  claim 50 , wherein the controller terminal operable to transfer a selected contribution from a storage device comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to transfer a selected contribution through the network from a storage device selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.    
     
     
         52 . The system of  claim 48 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to connect the contributors to the controller to provide instructions to the controller for preparing the presentation.    
     
     
         53 . The system of  claim 52 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to connect the contributors to the controller to provide instructions to the controller to prepare a presentation script identifying the selected contributions to be included in the presentation.    
     
     
         54 . The system of  claim 53 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to prepare a presentation script including a path for retrieving a selected contribution through the network from a storage device.    
     
     
         55 . The system of  claim 54 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to transfer a selected contribution through the network from a storage device selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.    
     
     
         56 . The system of  claim 48 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to receive a network path from a contributor for retrieving a contribution through the network from a storage device under the control of the contributor.    
     
     
         57 . The system of  claim 56 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to transfer a selected contribution through the network from a storage device selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.    
     
     
         58 . The system of  claim 56 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to transfer a selected contribution through a network selected from the group of networks comprising the Internet, intranets, and local area networks.    
     
     
         59 . The system of  claim 47 , wherein the contributions are selected from the group of contributions comprising graphics, text, video, and audio.  
     
     
         60 . The system of  claim 47 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to prepare the presentation on the controller terminal.    
     
     
         61 . The system of  claim 47 , wherein the controller terminal further comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to display the presentation.    
     
     
         62 . The system of  claim 63 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to retrieve a selected contribution from the respective storage device immediately prior to displaying the selected contribution.    
     
     
         63 . The system of  claim 62 , wherein the controller terminal further comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to provide access through the network to view the presentation.    
     
     
         64 . A system for preparing a presentation, comprising: 
 a controller terminal for connecting through a network to a plurality of geographically dispersed contributor terminals to allow contributors to collaborate to prepare the presentation, the terminal operable to allow the contributors to propose contributions to the presentation that reside on storage devices under the control of the contributors, the terminal further operable to make the proposed contributions available through the network for viewing and comment by contributors, to allow a controller to select one or more of the proposed contributions for inclusion into the presentation, to provide the controller access through the network to the storage devices to retrieve the selected contributions for inclusion into the presentation, and to display the presentation; and    a controller storage device connected to the controller terminal for storing the presentation and one or more of the selected contributions.    
     
     
         65 . The system of  claim 64 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to retrieve a selected contribution from the respective storage device immediately prior to displaying the selected contribution.    
     
     
         66 . The system of  claim 65 , wherein the controller terminal further comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to provide access through the network to view the presentation.    
     
     
         67 . The system of  claim 65 , wherein the controller terminal operable to provide the controller access through the network to the storage devices comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to transfer a selected contribution through the network to the controller storage device for inclusion in the presentation.    
     
     
         68 . The system of  claim 67 , wherein the controller terminal operable to provide the controller access through the network to the storage devices comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to transfer a selected contribution through the network from a contributor to the controller storage device for inclusion in the presentation.    
     
     
         69 . The system of  claim 67 , wherein the controller terminal operable to provide the controller access through the network to the storage devices comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to transfer a selected contribution through the network from a storage device to the controller storage device for inclusion in the presentation.    
     
     
         70 . The system of  claim 69 , wherein the controller terminal operable to transfer a selected contribution from a storage device comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to transfer a selected contribution through the network from a storage device selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.    
     
     
         71 . The system of  claim 69 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to connect the contributors to the controller to provide instructions to the controller for preparing the presentation.    
     
     
         72 . The system of  claim 71 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to connect the contributors to the controller to provide instructions to the controller to prepare a presentation script identifying the selected contributions to be included in the presentation.    
     
     
         73 . The system of  claim 72 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to prepare a presentation script including a path for retrieving a selected contribution through the network from a storage device.    
     
     
         74 . The system of  claim 73 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to transfer a selected contribution through the network from a storage device selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.    
     
     
         75 . The system of  claim 67 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to receive a network path from a contributor for retrieving a contribution through the network from a storage device under the control of the contributor.    
     
     
         76 . The system of  claim 75 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to transfer a selected contribution through the network from a storage device selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.    
     
     
         77 . The system of  claim 75 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to transfer a selected contribution through a network selected from the group of networks comprising the Internet, intranets, and local area networks.    
     
     
         78 . The system of  claim 65 , wherein the contributions are selected from the group of contributions comprising graphics, text, video, and audio.  
     
     
         79 . The system of  claim 65 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to prepare the presentation on the controller terminal.    
     
     
         80 . A method for making a presentation, comprising: 
 connecting a plurality of geographically dispersed contributors to a controller through a network to make contributions to the presentation, the contributions residing on storage devices under the control of the contributors;    providing the controller access through the network to the storage devices to retrieve the contributions for inclusion into the presentation;    transferring one or more contributions from the storage devices to the controller immediately prior to display; and    displaying the transferred contributions as part of the presentation.    
     
     
         81 . The method of  claim 80 , wherein displaying the presentation further comprises: 
 providing access through the network to view the presentation.    
     
     
         82 . The method of  claim 80 , wherein the storage devices are selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.  
     
     
         83 . The method of  claim 80 , wherein connecting the contributors to the controller further comprises: 
 connecting the contributors to the controller to provide instructions to the controller for preparing the presentation.    
     
     
         84 . The method of  claim 83 , wherein connecting the contributors to the controller to provide instructions to the controller comprises: 
 connecting the contributors to the controller to provide instructions to the controller to prepare a presentation script identifying the selected contributions to be included in the presentation.    
     
     
         85 . The method of  claim 84 , wherein the script includes a path for retrieving a selected contribution through the network from a storage device.  
     
     
         86 . The method of  claim 85 , wherein the storage devices are selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.  
     
     
         87 . The method of  claim 80 , wherein providing access to the storage devices comprises: 
 providing a path for retrieving a contribution through the network from a storage device.    
     
     
         88 . The method of  claim 87 , wherein the storage devices are selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.  
     
     
         89 . The method of  claim 88 , wherein the network is selected from the group of networks comprising the Internet, intranets, and local area networks.  
     
     
         90 . The method of  claim 80 , wherein the contributions are selected from the group of contributions comprising graphics, text, video, and audio.  
     
     
         91 . The method of  claim 80 , wherein the contributors are persons communicating with the controller through terminals connected to the network.  
     
     
         92 . The method of  claim 91 , wherein the controller is a person communicating with the contributors through a terminal connected to the network.  
     
     
         93 . A system for making a presentation, comprising: 
 a controller terminal for connecting through a network to a plurality of geographically dispersed contributor terminals to allow contributors to make contributions to the presentation that reside on storage devices under the control of the contributors, the terminal further operable to provide the controller access through the network to the storage devices to retrieve one or more contributions for inclusion into the presentation immediately prior to display and to display the retrieved contributions as part of the presentation; and    a controller storage device connected to the controller terminal for storing the presentation and one or more of the contributions.    
     
     
         94 . The system of  claim 93 , wherein the controller terminal further comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to provide access through the network to view the presentation.    
     
     
         95 . The system of  claim 93 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to provide access to storage devices selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.    
     
     
         96 . The system of  claim 93 , wherein the controller terminal further comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to connect the contributors to the controller to provide instructions to the controller for preparing the presentation.    
     
     
         97 . The system of  claim 96 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to connect the contributors to the controller to provide instructions to the controller to prepare a presentation script identifying the selected contributions to be included in the presentation.    
     
     
         98 . The system of  claim 97 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to prepare a presentation script including a path for retrieving a selected contribution through the network from a storage device.    
     
     
         99 . The system of  claim 98 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to provide access to storage devices selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.    
     
     
         100 . The system of  claim 93 , wherein the controller terminal operable to provide access to storage devices comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to provide a path for retrieving a contribution through the network from a storage device.    
     
     
         101 . The system of claim  100 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to provide access to storage devices selected from the group of storage devices comprising hard drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives, and magneto-optical drives.    
     
     
         102 . The system of claim  101 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to connect through a network selected from the group of networks comprising the Internet, intranets, and local area networks.    
     
     
         103 . The system of  claim 93 , wherein the controller terminal comprises: 
 a controller terminal operable to retrieve and display contributions selected from the group of contributions comprising graphics, text, video, and audio.