Mid-term critique instructions

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Here is some information that is useful in order to prepare for the mid-term critique (Monday November 14).

- We are aiming for three "guest critics" at the event. The first will be our guest lecturer Charlie Gullström. The second will be professor emeritus in Human-Computer Interaction Yngve Sundblad (Swedish wikipedia entry). Our third guest critic is architect Sigrid Zenger.

- This is the first and the last time the whole class meets between the end of the guest lectures a month ago and the final presentation a month from now. It is also the one and only time you will have the opportunity to hear what the other groups are doing!

- Each group has 2o minutes and this includes time for feedback from comments from guest lecturers and discussion. This means it will take almost 4 hours for the 11 project groups to present their stuff. Together with breaks and lunch, we have booked the lecture hall from 09.00 in the morning until 14.30 in the afternoon.

- You should aim at using around half of those 20 minutes to present your project (i.e. a comparable amount of time to what you will have at the final presentation), and leave the rest of the time for discussions.

At the time of the mid-term critique ten days from now, almost six weeks will have passed since you were divided into project groups (on Oct 4) and only three and half weeks will remain until the final presentation (on Dec 9). You should thus have come quite far in your projects! We expect you to be able to:

- Present your group/concept/core idea (Who is it for? How does it work? How will they use it? What is the business/operational model? - or other similar questions that are more adapted to your project).

- How did you arrive at this concept? (i.e. what did the design process look like, what choices did you make - perhaps exemplified by concepts or ideas you choose not to proceed with)

- What is the status of your project today? What results do you expect to be able to present on Dec 9 (and how do you work in order to get to those results)?

- What concrete, practical design representation will you develop/showcase at the final presentation? (If possible, don't just talk about it, but show as much as you can at the mid-term critique event.)

- What remains to do in your group, in your "research project" and in designing and making your design representation come alive?

The event is "friendly" and guest critics will do their very best to give you relevant feedback and constructive criticism so as to help your projects reach their full potential. The mid-term critique is however also an activity that is part of the examination of the course. Both guest critics as well as Daniel and Åke will judge your contributions based on criteria that will also be used at the final presentation:

Relevance

• Relevance for business, academic world, individuals, society?
• Good, suitable, appropriately size of the question being explored by the project group?

Innovation hight

• To what extent are the project group results innovative, original and surprising?
• What are the merits, do the results have an engineering, scientific, commercial or artistic height?
• Does the underlying idea raise the pulse?

Credibility

• To what extent are the project group results credible?
• Is the scenario/solution presented believable, could it happen?

Integration

• To what extent can the project group results be regarded as a well-integrated whole?
• Is the final results and the presentation based on a well-developed line of reasoning?

Finish

• Finish, surface, packaging, professionalism of content and delivery?

Good luck!

Daniel and Åke

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Mid-term critique date set for Nov 14

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We now have a date for the mid-term critique and that date is Monday November 14, i.e. Monday exactly two weeks from now. I already murmured something about that date in the previous blog post with the minutes from the first coordination meeting a week ago.

I will get back with information and instructions for you as soon as possible (hopefully by the middle of this week at the latest).

Meanwhile, please book this date in your calendars. This is the only time during period 2 that the whole class will meet until the final presentation on December 9, and it is thus the only opportunity we will have to see what other groups are doing and comment on it! We will use the better part of that day (09.00 - 14.30) for your presentations and for feedback/critique from our invited "guest critics".

Do note that the date is not chosen taking any of your other courses into account, so I expect there to be some problems with collisions. Therefore please tell me (in the form of a comment to this blog post) which courses you study where I need to get in touch with the teacher and ask them to try to move their activities.

- Please don't bother to comment if you read a course that no-one else (of very few others) take

- Please don't bother if you read DM2578 (my course) as my seminar on Nov 14 will obviously be changed anyway

We will be visiting KTH School of Architecture and do our presentations there. That's across Valhallavägen and the address is Östermalmsgatan 26. I believe we will be in a room called "Övre Ateljén" [Upper Atelier].

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Minutes from coordination meeting #1

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We had our first meeting today with the coordination group (Daniel, Åke, the executive group and representatives from each of the 11 project groups - but one group was missing). Here is the most important information that you all should be aware of (your project leaders might have more information).

- Due to Armada/meet-your-future-employers day on Nov 15, the mid-term critique will be moved. Preferred dates are either Fri Nov 11 or Mon Nov 14, depending what is best for our friends over at Architecture (we'll be in their house). I'll publish more info here as soon as I know what day it will be. I'll do my very best to get other stuff (courses) moved - this is the only time we meet as a whole class before the final presentation.

Date for final presentation is Friday Dec 9 from 13-16. We will be in lecture hall F2 (238 seats). The lecture hall is booked 09.00-18.00 on the day of the presentation and 15.00-21.00 the day before. There will be a test run/general rehearsal on Thu Dec 9 (the lecture hall was unfortunately booked until 15.00). Deadline for handing in material for the final presentation is Tue Dec 6 at midnight. Everything will be on a single computer/hard drive (PC). We will send out invitation at least 3 weeks in advance, when we launch the website.

Due to the early date for the final presentation, the book will (for the first time) not be printed on the day of the final presentation - the schedule would be too hurried to manage that feat. Preliminary deadline for draft versions of texts will be Fri Nov 25. Texts will be read and you will get feedback, deadline for the final version of the text is Fri Dec 2. The manuscript will be sent to the printer around Dec 9 and the book should be printed around Dec 16. An occasion to celebrate at a pub (also the end of the exam period) and hand out the books to all course participants? Daniel and Åke will write an introduction that will also functions as a framework about what radio is (to us, in this course/project and based on discussions and guest lectures).

The website will have a front page (news, countdown). Each group will have a page of their own. The idea is to do a short video with each group leader talking about their project. The website can be up and running soon and groups can work on their own pages (with some common guidelines for all groups). The goal is to launch the webside right after the mid-term critique (i.e. around three weeks from now and at least three weeks in advance of the final presentation).

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Mail addresses for all the important people

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The information about who is responsible for what in the executive group as well as in the project groups is now available in Bilda (Bilda/Contents/Project groups). This is useful information if you need to get hold of someone/some group.

Do also note that you can find out any course participant's KTH mail address in Bilda too if you need to get in touch with any other person in the course.

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Your revised project plans

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We met all the project groups. Some groups got more feedback, other were already right on track.

Your should now revise you project plans based on the feedback you got and your discussions within the group after our meeting.

Please post your revised project plans on the companion blog ("Future of radio / Radio of the future") so that all groups will have the chance to get an idea of what all the other groups are doing. Please also state your project group name - especially if you have changed it!

You don't have to publish the whole (revised) project plan (2-3 pages). Just choose the "best" parts so that it is around 400 words long (1 page of text).

This blog post is published after we met the last groups. Please publish your revised and "compressed" project plans within a week from now, i.e. next Tuesday at the latest (Oct 25).

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Date for final presentation

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The final presentation of the course will be done in front of an audience (200+ persons). We need to decide on the date.

There is an exam period from Monday Dec 12 until Monday 19 so these are less-optimal days. Our choice is thus to have the final presentation right before (Friday Dec 9) or right after (Tuesday Dec 20) the exam period.

Both days have different things going for them. Our audience might hesitate to come on Dec 9 because they have to study for their exams. Some might on the other hand have left Stockholm on Dec 20. Dec 20 would give us 11 extra days to complete the project. And so on.

In order to resolve this issue, I have created another Doodle. Please vote on the day you prefer. It's ok to vote on both if it's all the same to you. Here's the Doodle.

We will make a decision before the end of this week - please don't postpone voting!

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Seminar rooms for review meetings

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I forgot to book seminar rooms for the review meetings and this was something we only discovered today, when the review meetings started. Which you all know since you all got an e-mail about it.

Anyway, the review meetings in the beginning of next week will be held in the following rooms:

- Monday meetings - Seminar room 1625 (house E floor 6)

- Tuesday meetings - Seminar room 1439 (house E floor 4)

Lecture notes/slides from our guests

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I have uploaded all the PowerPoint slides that our guest lecturers have provided me with. They are all in the Bilda/Documents/Guest lectures folder.

Do get in touch with me if something is missing from that folder and I will get in touch with the culprit lecturer and ask for his/her slides again!

Please also note that Fredrik Stiernstedt has graciously provided us with a write-up (2 pages) of radio references that could be an excellent resource for your projects. One-third refer to Swedish-language stuff and two-thirds are in English and he has even divided his references into different categories for your convenience;

- Radio production

- Regulation and deregulation

- Digitalization

- Radio as a cultural form

Enjoy! (His references are of course also to be found in Bilda/Documents.)

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Thursday lecture cancelled

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It seems like we unfortunately can't get our previously cancelled guest lecturer and leader of the Swedish Pirate Party to visit us this week on Thursday, and, you have all been living up to the attendance requirements diligently so there is no need for "extra" mini-lectures.

That means we will instead meet on Friday, Monday or Tuesday for a 30-minute review meeting with each project group. Don't forget to hand in your project plans in advance.

The next time we will meet after the review meetings is one month later, in mid-November, for our mid-term critique (more info will follow).

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Guest Lecture 18 - Oct 11 (13-15) - Valerie Geller

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Time and place: Tuesday October 11, 13-15 in lecture hall V3

Title: "Becoming a more powerful communicator"

Guest: Valerie Geller, President, Geller Media International Broadcast Consultants/Training - "Helping Communicators Become More Powerful in 30 Countries"

Talk: Join International Broadcast Consultant, author and trainer Valerie Geller to learn proven "Powerful Radio" techniques that will allow you to get, keep and grow audiences. These techniques are in use by top broadcasters and communicators throughout the world based on material from her 2011 book "Beyond Powerful Radio - A Communicator's Guide to the Internet Age".

Radio is changing and there now exists a broader landscape with more "canvases", including interactive media. Working with digital and online media opens a world of new ways to reach radio audiences. Today it is not longer about radio specifically, but what remains important is to inform and entertain, inspire and connect with audiences. Audiences leave when it is boring. Never Be Boring!

About: Valerie Geller travels around the world training radio professionals become more powerful communicators and she has worked with both Swedish Radio and SBS in Sweden from the early 1990's and on. See her 3-minute YouTube short talk after receiving the Rockwell Lifetime Achievement Award for broadcasting last year. Her most recent book, "Beyond Powerful Radio" (2011) is primarily written for radio professionals, but is also a great resource for anyone who considers "getting into" radio and it is for sale at Kårbokhandeln (on campus) for 295 SEK. Valerie has promised to sign copies of her book to students who buy it before her lecture!

Literature: Please read/look at Valeries 4 checklists as well as chapter 28 of her book, "Audio communication across multiple delivery platforms: Broadcasting, streaming, video, social media, podcasting & beyond..." (available in Bilda/Documents/Literature).

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Project plan

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10 out of 11 groups have booked a 30-minute time slot for your review meeting (next Friday or in the beginning of the following week).

Each project group needs to hand in a Project plan before that meeting. A template for that project plan is now available in Bilda (Documents/111007 Project plan.doc). Do note that further instructions about what we expect form your project plan (including the deadline for handing it in etc.) are inside that document.

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1st review meeting for all project groups

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I wrote a few days ago:

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"Your first tasks are to get to know each other better in the group and start to discuss your topic among each other. Each group has to write a project plan (further instructions will follow) and hand it in before you have a review meeting (also referred to as a "group tutoring session" in the course PM) with Daniel and Åke either in the end of next week (week 41) or the beginning of week 42 (further instructions will follow)."

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Each group has to book at time slot (30 minutes) for a meeting with Åke and Daniel to review your initial project ideas. We have blocked 18 slots and will bring a physical sheet where you can book/write your group name to the lecture today. This sheet of paper will afterwards be found on Daniel Pargman's door (house E, 6th floor, near the lunch room) so if you can't book a time today you can pass by whenever and book a time.

The dates/time you can choose between are:

- Friday Oct 14 sometime between 13-16

- Monday Oct 17 sometime between 13-16

- Tuesday Oct 18 sometime between 9-12

It's really important that as many as possible in each project group (preferably all) comes to this meeting!

Further instructions about how to prepare for these meetings will be posted on the blog later today or tomorrow. A "Project plan" will play a prominent role in these instructions.

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Date for final presentation

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A few have asked about the date. I don't know yet. I don't want to dictate, but rather discuss the date. Me and Åke will have our first meeting with the executive group a week from now, on Friday. The date for the final presentation is on the agenda, hopefully we will be able to decide on a date at that meeting. It will be posted here!

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Our project groups

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After today's exercise, we have 11 project groups as well as an "executive group".

Who is in which group? See Bilda/Contents/Project Groups. Do note that you can also find each other's email addresses through Bilda.

Your first tasks are to get to know each other better in the group and start to discuss your topic among each other. Each group has to write a project plan (further instructions will follow) and hand it in before you have a review meeting (also referred to as a "group tutoring session" in the course PM) with Daniel and Åke either in the end of next week (week 41) or the beginning of week 42 (further instructions will follow).

The 11 project groups are:

1. School radio/podcasts

2. HCI challenges: always-present radio

3. The audio pool

5. Economic models of (future) radio

6. Important message to the public - handling crises in a post-radio age

12. Listening habits of the young generation

13. The death of radio

15. Pay for performances

18. Bringing the Internet to radio

19. Social networks and radio

21. Public service of the future

SR visit - who we will meet today

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I just got some information about who we will meet at our visit to Swedish Radio today (an hour from now!). For more information about our visit, see this blog post from last week.

• Erik Karlälv, Business intelligence [Omvärld] about listener habits
• Mats Åkerblan about radio strategies at large (broadcast, Internet)
• Mikael Zachrisson about embedding SR content and SR links in external webpages
• Henrik Tornberg about digital media and about SR in mobile phones

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