[Lnc-business] record & stream next LNC meeting

Mon Sep 1 18:23:51 EDT 2014

I just tried calling you but had some sort of audio issue.  I'm not sure
which end it was on, but my phone has been acting funny.  My number is
516-476-0055 and I'm available the rest of today and some of the day
tomorrow if you want to give it another try.

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

On Sat, Aug 30, 2014 at 3:57 PM, Norm Olsen <region1rep at donedad.com> wrote:

> Hello Josh . . .
>
>
>
> I have five boundary microphones of professional quality in my equipment
> stash.  I typically bring three, and a mixer capable of handling three, for
> my purposes.  I can bring more if there is reason to do so.  (I have mixing
> capability for up to 10 microphones.)  Please call when your experiments
> are complete and let’s discuss what actions make sense.  I can set it up
> for you; operating the equipment is not terribly difficult.
>
>
>
> To assist in analyzing sound quality, I have attached two sample audio
> files.  The first is from the Chicago meeting which was held in a
> relatively small and quiet room, and  the second from the Westin Alexandria
> meeting, a relatively large and noisy room (and also exhibits the constant
> tweaking necessary to obtain usable results).  The same equipment was used
> in both cases.  The differences are significant.  In selecting venues for
> LNC meetings in the future, we should insist on quiet rooms (ambient noise
> level at 35 dbA or less), and arrange for the “rectangular table array” to
> be of the smaller dimensions as was the case in Chicago.
>
>
>
> Dr Lieberman’s suggestion of four wireless microphones would, in an
> environment where an individual was constantly adjusting the recording
> levels of the four microphones, overcome this noise issue; but would also
> become a major disruption of the meeting as the wireless microphones would
> need to be passed around before someone could speak.  (Also, I do not have
> any wireless microphones. :>)
>
>
>
> 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:* Joshua Katz [mailto:planning4liberty at gmail.com]
> *Sent:* Thursday, August 28, 2014 11:04 PM
> *To:* region1rep at donedad.com; lnc-business at hq.lp.org
> *Subject:* Re: [Lnc-business] record & stream next LNC meeting
>
>
>
> 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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