I’m just back from an exhilarating OpenCoffee Club Dublin! On top of the always-fun, face-to-face meetup, today’s event was streamed live to the web using Ustream.tv. This follows last week’s pioneering live broadcast from OpenCoffee Club Limerick. While we chatted around the table, virtual attendees (up to 19 at one stage) posed questions to the group through the chat facility and sent in their own thoughts too.
I’m under no illusion that this was premium-quality entertainment (I for was was very conscious of my drivel being broadcast ’round the world) but it was something very special and unique that demands to be tried again. I’d love to hear how both real and virtual attendees think this could be improved next time. Here are my thoughts:
- we need a larger (projected?) screen for the real attendees,
- a mic in the centre of the table would improve sound quality and levels,
- a tighter format to the discussions (start the interaction immediately; the initial over-the-shoulder-cam setup can’t have been that interesting) and
- I’d also love to see a live link-up of sorts with another OpenCoffee Club.
Thanks to all that dropped-by or tuned in.
Update: Analysis from James Corbett and Damien Mulley.
18 Comments
This is what broadband was invented for and what we should have been able to do ten years ago.
I found it surprising how fluid (for our first go) it went after we actually started the whole Q&A part.
Looking forward to the next one.
Eamon.
Overall it was excellent lads. Yes it got off to a dodgy start but found its form after a half hour or so. In fact Niall Larkin made the best point IMHO when he said over on the Jaiku channel that the session organically found focus as a panel discussion among those physically present while taking questions from the remote viewers.
I’m after blogging my own thoughts about it now. I meant to post a few bullet points but couldn’t stop once I started ;-)
Well done, and eagerly looking forward to the next one. And yes, let’s discuss how we might do a live link up between different OCCs
I think a back channel on Jaiku’s #irishopenchannel ties together the various nodes in Ireland and getting a Limerick-Dublin connection linked is as simple as aligning the meeting times.
I had fun watching this and taking part in the discussion via the chat box. Well done to all involved.
What I think:
1) Just filming the general discussion session isn’t that interesting
2) It really shone when your were passing around the camera introducing people and when it became a Q&A session
3) Following on from 1) and 2) I think that the broadcast is most interesting when it has a particular focus. e.g. Q&A, panel discussion, introductions.
4) I think some people were more comfortable with the camera there than others. I think broadcasting probably affects how involved people get in the discussion. If I had been there I think I would have been guarded about what I would say because it is being broadcast. I would be wary of broadcasting everything as this can affect the conversation that takes place.
I would suggest for future broadcasts not broadcasting the entire thing. Maybe break it in half where you have the informal chat and then in the second half broadcast some more focused discussion.
The half and half idea sounds very good to me.
This was my first OCC and by the time I arrived (quite late.. around 11:30 I think) the stream was already well underway, so for all I knew this was totally the norm and I didn’t feel anymore apprehensive as a result of it. Although I guess I did have the benefit of sitting well off camera for the entire thing, bar my short ‘introduction’ bit :)
You found the pic (says he now remembering I blogged it earlier). Some great points raised by James in his comments but a great morning all round. While I found myself jumping in and out of the video between tasks this morning once the Q&A started up and the link was made back to the chat window I couldn’t remove myself from uStream.
Bernie had suggested to me recently about attended LOCC (and making a few hours of a drive for it) but with access to the likes of LOCC and DOCC now possible with streaming video / chat / jaiku channels I feel I’ll be dropping in a lot more often (and saving a small fortune in diesel).
Great job today Eoghan and to all at DOCC.
Ken we won’t be accepting that as an excuse not to attend in person - even if we have to cancel all Ustreams until you show up somewhere! ;-)
Damn it :(
Thought I was getting away there…. I’ll bring the USA assorted biscuits so for the coffee :)
I thought it was great Eoghan and I dipped in once or twice for a few minutes.
My 2 cent:
Some ppl are more relaxed with the camera than others. I’m not one of those folks but if I knew that a slot wouldn’t be videod then I would be a lot more comftrable with that. IE - give ppl a choice.
Also, have you considered delegating one person to facilitate the incoming online questions? It might make the conversation flow a bit better if there were less interruptions (for want of a better word).
Otherwise - it was a great was to see the OCC in action so well done.
Wow, sounds interesting! Well done to you and the other guys involved.
What was revolutionary last week is that this kind of thing could be done and today showed it doesn’t mean it should be done. The content last week wasn’t bad and the interactivity was good but general coffee meetups are as boring as every other huddle around overpriced caffeine. Today we got coverage of people having coffee. *yawn* Not game changing at all. The revolution wasn’t the content, it was the delivery mechanism and the interactivity which did not need state infrastructure or the satellite system of a rich Australian with American citizenship. Evangelists need to evagelise that aspect, not awful content.
Hi Damien,
Who’s evangelising the content? Did I miss something? I actually agree with you in most of what you just said, but I don’t understand why this offended you.
I’m excited by the medium too. The conversation that happened through it was no more interesting than at any other OpenCoffee event. Ustream.tv allows remote group communication and interaction; that’s what had nearly 20 people involved online today. We weren’t performing or trying to entertain, we were letting those that couldn’t be there join-in. And I know many people found that valuable. If you didn’t, you could leave; and I’m sure you did. I don’t mean to sound bitchy here mate, but no-one’s making or even asking you to take part.
There’s a compelling instantism and latent voyeurism that’s excited with OpenCoffee streams and if that attracts an interested spectator enough to engage that observer into asking a question, we have a good reason to offer a UStream.
But personally, I like watching snooker on plasma more than I like watching jerkycam sessions of anything and I never watch snooker. That doesn’t mean I won’t help improve the treatment. In my mind, improvements lie in distilling the sessions into takeaways good enough to captivate researchers for mainstream presenters. We’re a long way from getting that act together but it’s going to happen.
And in English now Bernie?
Eoghan, is this like your exclusionary comments message where if you don’t like the feedback, you will not allow it? You asked for feedback, I gave mine which was don’t bother next time. You have likened the “broadcast” today to that of the “revolutionary” broadcast from Limerick last week. It certainly was not, not even close. You said your broadcast was “something very special and unique that demands to be tried again” and again I say it was nothing of the sort in my view.
Kind of failed on that one then.
In English:
Some people like looking at edgy video when they don’t think they can be seen or heard and that’s part of the attraction of the UStream channel. From market research, I know there’s a growing market in pinhole camera footage sold as downloadable iPorn for the Jesus Phone. The crystal-clear mobile phone screen, held in sweaty palms, elevates the moment.
And when people like what they see, they often ask for more. So the jerky video works–if people stay on the stream and start asking questions. You could say the Limerick video worked because the Dublin video team followed the lead and tried it too.
But personally, I like watching cached video better because it’s post-produced and normally only the best minutes are saved for later viewing. If all the OpenCoffees were reduced to three or four minute clips, perhaps everyone would think that would be better.
“From market research…”
Is that what you call it, Bernie? :-)
I think this is a really interesting debate which was bound to crop-up with the emergence of these streaming services. I’m going to bring it up at the next OpenCoffee Club, which you’ll find live on Ustream.tv. ;-)
Got a link to that Market Research Bernie?
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