MicroHAMS Digital Conference Update - May 5th

Quick update on how the conference will operate this year. While the MHDC has been streamed via YouTube the last couple years, we have never attempted to produce the show with all the speakers remote and 100% of the audience also remote. Since this our first time trying something this complicated, please understand it will not be perfect.(You get what you pay for, but please donate anyway)

Here is some of the details for how things will work on Saturday.

  • The event is being streamed via YouTube, a link to the event will be posted on Friday evening (May 8th) on this page and the home page. This allows any modern web browser to enjoy the event, as long as you have a decent internet connection. The stream should go live at ~8:30AM on May 9th, with Scott-N7SS kicking things off officially at 8:45AM.
  • The chat function YouTube provides (on the same page as the stream) will be enabled for the event and this will be how people can submit questions. Questions can asked any time during the speakers talk and they will be captured by one of the moderators. During the Q&A time at the end of the speakers presentation, Scott-N7SS will ask as many of the questions that there is time to cover. (similar questions will be combined) Based on our testing, there is about a 10 second delay on the stream, so doing ‘interactive’ questions isn’t feasible.
  • To provide additional time to interact with speakers for those interested, each speaker will be invited to a private Zoom chat room after their talk has completed. For those that are interested, you will be able to join the Zoom chat room and continue the discussions. The Zoom chat room will be lightly moderated and participates will need to be respectful. Because some of our speakers are located in different time zones from Seattle, we can’t guarantee how long or if every speaker will take part in this option. Information on the chat room will be made available on Saturday morning. We will only have one breakout room, so the speakers will only be available for a maximum of an hour, after that it will be time for the next speaker. Please remember the basic Zoom etiquette of muting your mike when not speaking and being respectful of others.

FAQ:
Question1: why are you using Youtube and not Zoom for the entire conference?

The primary reason is around control and ensuring the event is enjoyable by as many people as possible. Streaming via YouTube allow anybody with a decent internet connection and a modern browser to take part in the conference. YouTube is also designed for broadcasting to thousands of people located around the world. We chose to use Zoom to ‘produce’ the content from the speakers who are all remote and located around the world, along with switching to different local video sources as necessary to create the live stream. This ability to blend different sources on the fly isn’t something Zoom is designed todo, which combined with the access and number of viewers we are expecting, made YouTube the only real choice for the conference.

Question 2: Then why will you host a Zoom chat room after the talks?

It is our belief that the number of people taking part in any single ‘chat room’ will be much smaller than the overall number of people viewing the stream. This is similar to the of people who chose to follow the speakers out to the hallway to continue discussing their talk during the in person conferences, while the next talk begins. It is possible we are wrong and the chat room will become unruly and will need to be turned off. Please follow the basic Zoom etiquette of muting your mike unless speaking and being respectful of others.

Question 3: I can’t make it on Saturday, where can I watch the talks later?

The talks will be made available on YouTube (like past years) after Saturday. Links to the each speaker will be provided on the MicroHAMS website, along with copies of the slides. Groups are welcome to re-stream the talks at club meetings, as long as the creative commons license is followed.

Question 4: Wait a minute, there is no break for lunch or even going to the bathroom in the schedule!

That is correct, no breaks have been planned. By eliminating lunch and bathroom breaks, an additional speaker slot was created. Since people will be viewing this from around the world, there is no common “lunch time”, so instead people can grab lunch/snacks or a bathroom break whenever works best for them. You will be able to ‘pause’ the stream if you don’t want to miss anything.

Question 5: What is the schedule of the talks?

See the schedule linked on the main MHDC2020 page.

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