Re: [DebConf 23] Guidance for remote speakers

[Lucas Kanashiro <kanashiro@debian.org>]

Hi,

Em 29/07/2023 11:37, Stefano Rivera escreveu:
> Hi Lucas (2023.07.28_23:52:04_+0000)
> > I am one of the DebConf content leads this year, and we'd like to confirm
> > with you what we should say to speakers participating in talks remotely. So
> > far, we have 2 talks where the speaker requested a remote co-speaker, and 1
> > talk which will be recorded (no in-person speaker).
> I'm afraid we aren't any better set up for remote speakers this year
> than we've ever been before.
>
> We just had a video-team sprint, but this wasn't a topic anyone was
> working on. Just keeping the rest of the stack going was enough to keep
> us busy for the sprint:
> https://grep.be/blog/en/computer/debian/DebConf_Videoteam_Sprint_in_Paris/
>
> We've done some remote speakers in the past with varying results:
>
> Ben's kernel talk at DC19, and the tech-ctte BoF at DC22.
> https://debconf19.debconf.org/talks/83-whats-new-in-the-linux-kernel-and-whats-missing-in-debian/
> https://debconf22.debconf.org/talks/12-meet-the-technical-committee/
> I think those were the only ones we committed to at each event, but
> someone may correct me.

FWIW one of the requests we have for remote presentation is coming from 
Ben.

> The approach we currently use is to run Jitsi on a laptop connected to
> the projector, with a camera facing the audience and an audio-feed from
> a sub-mix of the desk (if possible).
>
> The tricky bit here is the audio. We have to feed room microphones into
> the laptop, and laptop output to the room, without getting feedback.
>
> I think it worked acceptably at DebConf 22. *But* it takes quite a bit
> of time from core-video team people to get setup. So, if we're going to
> support it, I think it would make sense to batch all the remote-speaker
> events in a single room (as close to the video team HQ as possible) on
> the same day.

That would be definitely doable. The only talk which will be fully 
remote is the one proposed by Ben (mentioned above). The 2 others have 
in-person speakers, so if we want we can ask them to present without the 
remote co-speaker.

> What do other video-team members think about that?
>
> > - For talks with remote speakers: https://debconf-video-team.pages.debian.net/docs/advice_for_presenters.html#presenting-remotely-or-online-jitsi
> That was really written for the online events, but it mostly applies.

Ack.

> > - For recorded talks:
> > https://debconf-video-team.pages.debian.net/docs/advice_for_recording.html
> I advocate requiring pre-recording talks for remote presenters.
> With a deadline during DebCamp to deliver recordings, so that they can
> be checked and re-recorded/edited if necessary.

Sure, we can request that.

> Yes, it loses something not having them respond to the audience. But
> they're already not in the room, so we're not losing much there.
> We can be sure that the quality is acceptable and the entire talk will
> be seen at high resolution. No audio/video dropouts during the talk, no
> microphone issues, no resolution drops. Even with a full network outage,
> the talk can happen.
>
> And they can edit it a bit and get a really tight presentation. They
> won't because this takes extra time and effort. But they could...
>
> We can have them for Jitsi Q & A after the talk.

I think this is reasonable.

Thanks for the reply Stefano!

--
Lucas Kanashiro