At Northern Voice this year I tried to push my multi-tasking abilities by simultaneously live photo blogging on flickr, live microblogging on Twitter, liveblogging on this blog, and actively participating in the sessions as well as taking time to meet and hang out with NV08 friends. To an extent I was successful but there were challenges that I'd like to share with you from the experience.
Challenges
1. Power - My laptop battery died a couple of times. I can't find locations with multiple electrical outlets (note to self: bring an extension cord) since unfortunately I have a cheapo digital camera that needed to be plugged separately.
2. Bandwidth - Since everyone else is doing the same thing and some are even live video streaming through UStream (which I have yet to start doing), sharing bandwidth caused more traditional ways of live 'ing" online to slow down. It would be great for video streaming companies to figure a better way to "play nice" with others.
3. Paper and Pen - When all else fails, bring a notepad and start scribbling. I like Nancy White's painting session (you can see Nancy in action at Jennifer Jones' UStream video here) since its a visual way of getting my thoughts on paper.
Successes
1. Choose a medium that works for you - I'm able to choose a medium especially when there's lack of time. It's a success for me as it provided me with an understanding of how these tools will not always work for all but there is a gamut of them that finding the right combination that will work for an individual or an organisation is part of the adventure. For the most part I posted lots of photos as it was the quickest way to share what I'm seeing at the very moment I was seeing it. My thought process was not to have a fancy photographer's eye since I don't think I have that, but just to capture what I'm seeing and focusing on. For those who know me, they know why I would take a picture in a way that I did or would find an angle that is slightly skewed or something in the photo that reflects what I'm feeling at the time of the snapshot. I would then live microblog on Twitter what I've just posted and add a tidbit of the info as well.
2. My Raw, Unadulterated Ramblings - I consider this a success because immediate feedback is most likely not filtered and provide that snapshot gut reflection that could provide valuable input to the speaker/facilitator. In our liveblogging session at Northern Voice, we actually thought of this to be valuable info especially when matched with other thoughts posted in various sources - blogs, wikis, photos, etc.
3. Memory joggers - Since I was using these various mediums, I can remember a lot more information of what transpired in the different sessions. In conferences like this, attendees can potentially be overwhelmed with data but when there's a lot of opportunity to capture this data, then culling it back into something you can leverage would hopefully make it easy.
I'm sure there's more you can add to this esp so please post your thoughts on the comments section. Let's start a conversation.
photo by Justin Sacks
Comments (7)
Thanks for sharing the details of your practice. I LOVE posts like this. And it was great to see you Robin. I wish it were more often! You have great spirit and energy
Posted by Nancy White | February 27, 2008 5:15 PM
Posted on February 27, 2008 17:15
Great attempt! It was a struggle, especially with bandwidth. Sorry to hog it all! Here's a link to the sessions I captured. http://www.ustream.tv/injenuity/videos I was also trying to live blog it in Twitter. One thing I found is that I feel like I missed out on some of the content while trying to fiddle with the technology. Do you feel you missed anything?
Posted by Jen | February 27, 2008 6:27 PM
Posted on February 27, 2008 18:27
Thanks for the link Jen. I did feel I missed on a session or two at some point and had to not attend one session just because I needed to catch up. Must have been the type A personality in me :-)
Posted by Robin Yap | February 27, 2008 8:29 PM
Posted on February 27, 2008 20:29
Thanks Nancy! I appreciate the kind words and it would be great to connect more often. Maybe I'll see you in SL and at SCoPE :-)
Posted by Robin Yap | February 27, 2008 8:30 PM
Posted on February 27, 2008 20:30
I liveblogged every session I attended, and can say that while I captured a lot of what was happening, I did not have the time to sit and reflect and consider asking questions. At times I forgot to snap photos or have backchannel conversations with colleagues. I was so busy setting up my laptop with plugs and wifi, that some of the interpersonal aspects of the conference was lost.
I think to do what you tried to do takes multitasking to a whole new level, and also calls into question if it is worth doing all of that rather than verbally engaging in conversation and engagement.
I think this is an area of research we should explore.
Posted by Jeffrey Keefer | February 28, 2008 1:49 AM
Posted on February 28, 2008 01:49
Jeffrey - that was one of the reasons - to identify if this is something we should pursue in research because it was important to understand its effects from an autoethnographic perspective.
Posted by Robin Yap | February 28, 2008 6:47 AM
Posted on February 28, 2008 06:47
Do you know if anybody else has tried these all at once?
Posted by Jeffrey Keefer | February 28, 2008 10:04 AM
Posted on February 28, 2008 10:04