Recording Northern Voice 2009


 

Recording Northern Voice 2009

 

Update: Now That It's Over...

 

The conference is over, so now it's time to get the recordings out there.  Would everyone who recorded sessions please update the Recording Sign-Up Sheet so we know what is available and can start the production process.  If you see a name already there, add yours anyway. It can be very helpful to have extra recordings to compensate for quality problems or to give additional angles.  Thanks!

 

The General Idea

 

We are asking for volunteers to audio/video record Northern Voice and prepare the recordings for publishing on the Internet. The goal is to make as much content as possible available for those who couldn't attend the conference and for those who were there but wanted to see sessions they didn't get to. We know that some people have great cancorders and mics, but suprisingly good recordings can be made with cell phones, still cameras, and handheld gadgets like the Flip Video. So if you've got anything like that (who doesn't?) you can be part of it. It is more important the recordings are made and are made available than that they be of Hollywood quality. And even if you don't record you can still help by editing afterward and preparing for Internet distribution.

 

Sign-Up Sheet

 

To help ensure the best coverage, we are asking people to sign up and indicate what sessions they will help out with.  This is optional, but it might help.  The sign-up sheet is here.  Both audio and video recording are needed, as well as post-production. An area of the wiki will be set aside for this. Recording volunteers can specify which sessions they would like to cover, and indicate what equipment they can provide: audio, video, microphones, and anything else.

 

It is fine, and helpful even, if there is more than one person covering a session. This will give redundant recordings in case of failure and will allow for multiple angles in the edited result. A well-covered session would have one person recording the presenter, one paying attention to the audience, and one to the slides. But even if there's just one person keeping a camera on the action, that's cool too.

 

Recording Priorities

 

Some sessions are scheduled, which allows for more preparation and better recording quality. Others are more ad hoc and we'll just do the best we can. In decreasing order of priority, the sessions getting the most attention will be:

  1. Keynotes (on both Friday and Saturday)
  2. Saturday sessions
  3. Bootcamp (scheduled)
  4. Moosecamp (unscheduled)

 

Recording Considerations: Equipment

 

Use whatever you've got. For example:

 

 

Sharing for Post-Production

 

The recordings need to get to the people doing the editing. Sometimes that will be the same person as made the recording, sometimes not. If people can arrange to physically transfer the material to each other, great. If not, then uploading to a service like Blip.tv can work well because they allow downloads of the original material.

 

Sharing With the World

 

The finished recordings will be made ready for Internet distribution through YouTube, Blip.tv, Vimeo, etc. I volunteer to use my blog to announce the availability of the recordings as they become ready.  The intention is to provide the recordings under a Creative Commons license so that they may be freely distributed (with attribution).

 

Ground Rules

 

It is possible that some people don't want to be recorded. Speakers in the scheduled sessions will be asked ahead of time for permission to record. In the more ad hoc sessions, please ask the room if anyone has any concerns about being recorded. If anyone doesn't like the idea, respect that and just don't record that session.

 

Feedback

 

This is an evolving concept!  All feedback is welcome.  Add comments to this page or contact me at bruce.sharpe (at) singularsoftware.com.