Who are you and what do you do?

I am Cindy Caughey (Coy) and I am a horseback-riding, violin-playing, football-loving Presentation Design Consultant. One of the few who find solace and creative synergy within the confines of PowerPoint.

What services/products do you offer?

Simply put, I design visual aids for presenting. Presenting is an art form, not an electronic file. Whatever you choose as a visual aid is just there to support your case, that’s where I step in. Together, we discover who your audience is, determine what drives them, and design the PowerPoint file accordingly.

Most of my current clients are Fortune 500 companies in the NY Metro area and have ranged from Financial giants to small B-to-B ad agencies.

Of course, a lot of my requests are to just make a file look “pretty” which means I add bevels to a lot of shapes and I’ve gotta say, I can really bevel the hell out of a file if that’s what you really want.

Who/where is your audience?

Wherever there is an audience cringing in front of a speaker… whenever a presenter asks “does this screen make me look fat?”… and whomever opens up PowerPoint for the first time and says “Dear God what IS this program.” It is these people who are my target audience.

What is the website?

There is actually no web site *cough*. Anyone want to trade services?

Well-Funded or Bootstrapped?

Bootstrapped. I had a dollar and a dream (and by dollar I mean a credit card to buy my first lap top). I work by myself, quite honestly, because I haven’t found any other presentation specialists that I feel comfortable working with enough to develop a partnership, although I do use a handful of graphic designers for support when a client needs design work that is above my skill level.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?  10 years?

Onstage, accepting my Oscar.

PowerPoint has gotten a tremendously bad rap through the years for being a crutch for insecure speakers as well as being the gateway software that responsible for hate crimes against people with eyes. It’s really an unfortunate role that PowerPoint has been forced to play because it can really do some amazing work if people would look past it’s sullied reputation.

Seriously though, Al Gore’s Oscar-winning movie An Inconvenient Truth is really just a glorified presentation using PowerPoint as one of the visual aids. Not only did the movie open the eyes of the public about Global Warming but it also sparked a rebirth of the presentation design community. It has many of us setting our goals higher and expecting more from our work. It’s partly what has reenergized my desire to be better at what I do. Hopefully in 5 years I’ll be recognized as one of the PowerPoint elite, and if that means I have to up my quota of arugula in my diet, then so be it.

Where were you born - where do you live now?

I was born in Rochester, NY. I was raised in a very rural farm community until I was 17 and then moved to the NY metro area. Currently, I live in Centerville, MA not too far from Four Seas Ice Cream. Sadly, I’m more of a Sundae School kind of girl which is sort of like being a Colts fan in Patriots country.

PC or Mac?

Ah, a complicated and almost loaded question especially around my friends. I work on a PC. PowerPoint can be finicky, especially in regards to shared fonts and charts, and so I have learned over the years that it causes far fewer headaches for you and your clients to be on the same OS. Of course, this doesn’t stop me from *wanting* a Mac for their cool factor and then, of course, there’s going to come the day where someone asks me to design a file for them using KeyNote.

Where did you go to school?

I went to small state college in New Jersey where I studied 19th Century American Literature and Greek philosophy. Mom and dad couldn’t be more thrilled of how far those studies have taken me in my current line of work. Of course neither one of them quite understands what a Presentation Designer does and often get confused with some of my overseas experience (where in my Junior year I filmed a collegiate documentary in London) so they both take a little creative license and tells people I’m a fashion designer who studied in Paris. I’m not going to correct them though,  the faux rep really ups my cool quotient.

What Social Networks are you on?

LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Greatest invention ever?

Microwavable socks. Now if only I had a microwave that worked I’d be golden.

Person you believe has contributed most to the world of technology?

Anyone working on computers is probably going to say Steve Jobs or Bill Gates because none of us would have a job without them, and they’d be right. But you know, I believe it was really the person who created the wheel who really kicked the whole thing into high gear. Where would we be without them? Think about it.

Where have you traveled in your life?

I’ve driven half way across the US and as lovely as the South is, I have to confess I’m much more of a Northern girl. Something about the change in seasons and the fact that northern insects are of an appropriate size keeps my heart firmly planted in the North East Coast.

I’ve also visited England, Germany, France, and Canada with plans on visiting Mexico this year. Although, I have to confess I’ll probably never travel via EuroRail ever again.

Why set up shop on Cape Cod?

So I can call my old friends who are working in offices lit with fluorescent lighting and tell them what a great time I’m having sunning myself on the beach, and, oh I’m sorry… is that your other line ringing? Yes, I’ll hold.

I adore Cape Cod. As much as I loved living in the NY Metro area, I always felt more at home when I vacationed on Cape Cod and since all of my work can be done by telecommuting, the decision to move here wasn’t all that difficult to make.

5 Websites you go to every day?

Twitter
Twitter
Twitter
Twitter
Slide.ology.com

Seems I might need an intervention here.

What’s on your iPod right now?

A whole lot of Indie Pop. I’ll try to give you a smattering of recent favorites: Au Revoir Simone, Dr. Dog, Gileah & the Ghost Train, The Innocence Mission, Katie Herzig, The Magnetic Fields, Mates of State, Sondre Lerche, The Pipettes, and Vampire Weekend.

Of course there’s a slew of Oldies, some Classic Rock, a lot music from the 70s & 80s, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my profound love of Barry Manilow.

What is on your desktop/screensaver right now?

My desktop is sporting the work of Doug Savage of Savage Chickens and my screensaver is a rotating carousel of pictures I’ve taken of my three cats and my dog courtesy of Picasa.

You are on a deserted island - do you bring a laptop or book?

Do you know what kind of chaos a question like this brings to a Virgo? Not only is a conflict between my love of literature and my current Twitter addiction but my analytical Virgo brain needs more details… am I stranded on the island or willingly chilling out for a week or two? Will I ever see people again? Does the island have electricity and WiFi? Does a complete anthology count as a book?

Excuse me, I have to go pace and mutter now.

Phone call or text message?

Why do I suddenly feel like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally? It depends. Business needs to be a phone call. I have to admit that I’m a fan of text messaging but there are some friends I prefer to call because texting or IM are completely devoid of vocal inflection, and even still, there are some friends that I prefer seeing face to face because their sarcasm is so convincing I still can’t tell unless I see their face. It appears that I have a lot of sarcastic friends.

Feel free to tell us anything else….?

I like pizza.

Thank you for your time, Saucygrrl!