[Lnc-business] record & stream next LNC meeting

Fri Aug 29 01:03:45 EDT 2014

I run (part time) a Skype based business.  To do this, I use a special
setup which takes a room, and that's to broadcast one person.  I also pay
absurd amounts of money for a download rate I don't need (and which no
hotel will provide) so that I can get good enough upload.  Thus, I agree
with the comments that audio makes more sense - besides, aren't people
concerned with what business we conduct, not whether or not we dimple our
ties correctly (sorry to those who don't wear ties.)  I plan this weekend
to try out the laptop I bought to do portable broadcasting, and to throttle
down my internet connection while using it, to see what I can get.
 However, I don't thought about the extra difficulty with more people, and
do not have the equipment to place 3 mics.

If I get reasonable results, as I said, I'll take this on, but I'll ask the
member from region 1 to loan me some equipment, provided it is simple
enough that I can figure out how to understand it.

(Ideally we could have everyone wear lapel mics...)

The point about primary responsibilities is a good one.  It's my motivation
in volunteering - I'm an alternate, so I'm less involved anyway.

Joshua A. Katz
Westbrook CT Planning Commission (L in R seat)

On Thu, Aug 28, 2014 at 11:16 PM, Norm Olsen <region1rep at donedad.com> wrote:

> Hello Wes . . .
>
>
>
> I cannot accept responsibility for any of these functions.  I have some
> experience and know all too well that one cannot be actively engaged in a
> meeting and manage the recording/streaming of either video and/or audio at
> the same time.  However, as you and some of the other old timers on this
> committee are aware, I do possess proper equipment for the audio portion of
> this endeavor and will be happy to assist in that regard.  If not requested
> otherwise, I will bring only the equipment I need to overcome my hearing
> disability.  Should someone else volunteer to take on this responsibility,
> I will be glad to bring along additional equipment to assist as requested.
>
>
>
> I would like to make some points about this effort.  Please excuse me if
> the information provided below is already known to the reader:
>
>
>
> 1>     Video quality is of a stream is not that critical, however high
> quality audio is a must if your audience is to remain connected.  Folks
> don’t need to watch to know what’s going on.   They do need to listen.  If
> listening is painful, only the truly dedicated will continue listening past
> a certain point.
>
> 2>     Typical Internet connections concentrate available bandwidth to
> the download function; only a small portion (~10%) of the bandwidth is
> available for uploading.  Unless a special internet connection is made
> available, it is unlikely that the desired level of quality will be
> achievable in streaming mode.
>
> 3>     The primary detriment to the audio quality will be the background
> noise level in the room.  Typically this is air conditioning noise.  Allow
> me to quote from a recognized governmental agency report.  (Surprise!!! One
> of the few government reports I agree with.)  *“For full sentence
> intelligibility in listeners with normal hearing, the signal-to-noise ratio
> (i.e. the difference between the speech level and the sound level of the
> interfering noise) should be at least 15 dB(A). Since the sound pressure
> level of normal speech is about 50 dB(A), noise with sound levels of 35
> dB(A) or more interferes with the intelligibility of speech in smaller
> rooms. For vulnerable groups even lower background levels are needed, and a
> reverberation time below 0.6 s is desirable for adequate speech
> intelligibility, even in a quiet environment.”*
>
> 4>     Recording quality audio for a meeting with 18 participants, plus
> some gallery interaction, requires a minimum of three microphones of the
> “Boundary Microphone”  variety.  Having an individual whose primary purpose
> is to monitor/adjust levels is important to create quality audio.  Thus I
> cannot commit to performing this function as my primary function at the
> meeting will be to represent my region.
>
> 5>     Please note that the above consideration is why everyone had
> trouble hearing during the last meeting in Alexandria at the Westin.  My
> measurements indicated that the ambient noise level was about 40+ dB(A).
> If you have three or four microphones picking up and feeding the background
> noise to the to the streaming/recording device, and a single microphone
> picking up a speaker who may be 8 feet away, the speaker is essentially
> drowned out by the noise.  All the electronics in the world will not solve
> this problem.
>
> 6>     I have experience in this area as I am one of the few deaf sound
> men in the world :>)
>
>
>
> Regardless of the recording/streaming effort, please advise the hotel of
> my traditional request of having two tables in the center of the
> rectangular meeting table upon which I may place the boundary microphones
> which I rely on.
>
>
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
>
>
> Norm
>
> --
>
> Norman T Olsen
>
> Regional Representative, Region I
>
> Libertarian National Committee
>
> 7931 S Broadway, PMB 102
>
> Littleton, Colorado  80122-2710
>
> 303-263-4995
>
> Norman.Olsen at lp.org
>
>
>
> "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then
> you win." -- Gandhi
>
>
>
> *From:* Lnc-business [mailto:lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org] *On Behalf
> Of *Wes Benedict
> *Sent:* Thursday, August 28, 2014 9:21 AM
> *To:* lnc-business at hq.lp.org
> *Subject:* [Lnc-business] record & stream next LNC meeting
>
>
>
> Chairman Sarwark has asked me to make sure the next LNC meeting is
> recorded and streamed live (sound and video). Staff can make this happen.
> However, if there is someone on the LNC who can take responsibility for
> this, that would be nice, and might save on expenses at future meetings
> that aren't in Alexandria.
>
> Quite often I've seen situations where people have offered to video tape
> or stream something, and then they have been unable to follow through for
> various reasons, technical and otherwise. Additionally, I've seen good
> quality, and terrible quality results.  For this reason, I'd like to see
> duplicate streaming of this next meeting in Alexandria so we can compare
> results and see if one arrangement works significantly better than the
> other.
>
> I'll make sure staff has at least one broadcast running. I'd like to see a
> member of the LNC streaming a second broadcast. If you're willing to do
> this, please provide your own camera, software, choose your own broadcast
> service, etc. We'll make sure an internet connection from the hotel is
> promised, but if you bring your own 3G/4G service or whatever and it works,
> that's bonus points to you. Hotel wifi seems to be promised, but tends not
> to work so well so often. If you give us a link to where you are
> broadcasting the meeting, we'll embed it or link to it on a blog entry on
> LP.org.
>
> The following are things that I'll be looking for to gauge our success:
> video quality
> sound quality
> How well do the video and sound capture all meeting participants?
> How often does the broadcast stop working?
> Was the setup ready and working at the start of the meeting and did it
> cover the entire meeting?
> How simple is the setup? We might be doing these at every meeting.
> Do you blame the hotel for poor quality results, or can you get a quality
> broadcast out in spite of a hotel?
>
> Anybody want to step and take this one?
>
> --
> Wes Benedict, Executive Director
> Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
> *New address: 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314*
> (202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict at lp.org
> facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational
> Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership
>
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>
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