General rehearsal on Dec 8

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We have gotten a few questions at the just-finished review meetings about the general rehearsal the day before the final presentation.

I wrote about it here (in the minutes of the first coordination meeting):

The final presentation is Friday Dec 9 from 13.00 to 16.00. Do note that it (officially) starts at 1 o'clock sharp. I just sent out an invitation to all (200+) students studying media technology.

The test run/general rehearsal is the the day before the final presentation (Dec 8). The lecture hall was unfortunately booked until 15.00 in the afternoon but we have booked it from 15.00 till 21.00.

You will present your projects as if it was in front of an audience in order to find problems and things that could be improved in your own and each other's presentations.

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Upcoming book draft deadline (Nov 25)

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Please read Malin's inctructions for the hand-in (draft) chapter you are to provide this upcoming Friday (Nov 25).

Also, please note the (draft) foreword that I have written and that is accessible in Bilda - it has some information that is relevant for your texts.

The document is called "111110 Book into.pdf" and it is located in Bilda/Documents. Please especially have a look at the text under "On the texts in this book". It is written for the readers of the book, but could equally well be seen as instructions for you about the goals/requirements of these texts.

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2nd review meeting - seminar rooms

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Only 8 out of 11 groups have signed up for the review meeting - the list is on my door.

I have booked the following seminar rooms for our meetings:

Fri Nov 25 13-15 seminar room 1635

Mon Nov 28 10-12 CSC library 1439 (only booked 11-12)

Mon Nov 28 15-17 CSC library 1439

Tue Nov 29 09-12 seminar room 1635

Comment: We might change the Monday morning (10-12) location if any groups sign up for the first two slots (10-11), but seminar rooms are really tight that day! If you have a Monday morning meeting, please check back here to make sure of the location - I might change/update the contents of this blog post later during the week.

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Minutes from coordination meeting #3

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We had our 3rd coordination meeting last Friday (Nov 18) and will have our next meeting next Wednesday (Nov 30). Here are the minutes from our previous coordination meeting. Below is the most important information from the meeting (your project leaders might have more information).

Mid-term critique - reactions

It is useful the present your ideas to "outsiders" and to get feedback, but they should have been more up-to-date about the course (definition of radio etc.). The were suggestions for the mid-crits to have been a little earlier during the term, or to have two mid-crits, making the process more iterative.

Book

Daniel has written a foreword (uploaded to Bilda) which answers some of the requirements above; what radio is to us in this project course, how you should think about product (your final idea) and process (your way there and the way you back your final idea up).

Webpage

Each group/group leader will have access to a sub-page of the whole and information about that has gone out. The deadline for going live with the webpage is Friday this week (Nov 25). Each group should upload stuff there (according to instructions that has been sent out by our webmaster (Robert). Also, for your information, there is work going on about how to archive all the material you create so that it will be accessible together with results of future courses (Christoffer).

Presentation

Unless there are Reasons, we will use the same order at the final presentation as in the mid-crit, but, there should be few presenters (suggestion: one or two personsl). Choose people who are good at talkning in English and who are engaging. In your 10 minute presentation, you can use no more than 5 or 6 minutes for a video (get boring). Dress sharp to make an impression an guests and sponsors. Keep the time and practice beforehand! Don't turn your back to the audience to look at the projector screen! Use PowerPoint (not Keynote etc.), integrate video into the presentation.

Sponsorship

It seems we have (some) sponsors, we at least want to be able to offer coffee and cakes of some sort.

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General reflection after mid-crit

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1) Some groups might want to consider changing your group names (some groups have already done that). If you have moved on, you don't need to be weighed down by a name that isn't the best any longer or that doesn't really apply to your current work.

2) Some groups presented their ideas in very general terms that made them less easy to understand. Do (also) use concrete examples because they are much easier to understand. Some groups presented a lot of stuff ("we had brainstorming sessions where...", "our original idea was that...") before the core concept/idea was presented. This makes your concept/idea difficult to understand for someone who doesn't already know some about your concept/idea.

3) Anna Swartling's (guest) lecture (number 14) was unfortunately on of the least visited lectures. That is a pity. She basically said:

- Every project with more than two member needs a project leader (perhaps with the exception of small groups of people who have successfully worked together before).

- The project leader has to have the mandate to make decisions. The project leader does not have dictatorial powers, but when group members have different ideas and these differences make it difficult to progress, decisions have to be taken. Group members has the responsibility to support their project leader and to help make the project successful (you can't just blame the project leader, you are responsible too).

- If decisions are not made or postponed indefinitely, you might have different ideas about the goal and pull in different directions. You will always get something together that you will deliver in a school project. The risk you run though is that what you turn in isn't that great, but the bigger risk is that the if the project isn't managed, the relationships between group members will suffer and you leave a project with anger bad blood between you. In worst case, friends will turn to foes (she gave an example of when she was the manager of a badly managed project, a larger amateur theatre production, and how she lost some friends when she at a very late stage had to make some heavy-handed decisions).

She also said that it's important for you to know that if you think you have a problem in the group that you can't solve by yourselves, you should bring it to Daniel and Åke so we can discuss them and help you solve them in order to go forward.

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2nd review meeting for project groups (Nov 25-29)

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I now realize I posted all relevant information about this topic last week (5 days ago) but had forgotten about it.

Anyway, there are 18 slots (30 minutes each) for you to sign up for. The slots are in-between now and the final presentation three and a half weeks from now:

Friday Nov 25 from 13.00-15.00

Monday Nov 28 from 10.00-12.00

Monday Nov 28 from 15.00-17.00

Tuesday Nov 29 from 09.00-12.00

I will post the physical list on my door (house E, top floor, near the kitchen) tomorrow at 09.00. Just pass by and sign up.

Also the last group will have 8 slots too choose from so there shouldn't be a problem to find a slot that suits you.

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Post-midcrit feedback

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We had not really prepared for it, but, some expressed interest in getting some feedback from Daniel and Åke. We did take (some) notes, but not primarily for the purpose of giving you feedback.

There is however now a folder in Bilda where you can upload your mid-term critique presentations/slides (Bilda/Contents/Mid-term critique presentations). Your slide sets are a good way for us to remember your presentations.

In fact, the act of uploading your presentation is a way to signal to us that you want some feedback from us!

2nd review meeting for project groups (Nov 25-29)

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We will have the mid-term critique on Monday next week. After that, only a little more than three and a half weeks remain until the final presentation.

We have planned for a second review meeting with all project groups where you have the chance to bounce ideas and get feedback from Daniel and Åke about your text and what you want to do with it, or about you presentation, or about anything else.

We have prepared 18 half-hour slots 10-14 days before the final presentation (3-7 days before the final deadline for the text). We will bring a sign-up sheet to the mid-term critique and these are the time slots you will be able to choose between:

Fri Nov 25 13.00-15.00 (4 groups)

Mon Nov 28 10.00-12.00 (4 groups) and 15.00-17.00 (4 groups)

Tue Nov 29 09.00-12.00 (6 groups)

There are 11 project groups and 18 slots so even the last group to choose will have 8 slots to choose between.

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Minutes from coordination meeting #2

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We had our second coordination meeting today (Daniel, Åke, the executive group and representatives from each of the 11 project groups). You can find the minutes from the previous meeting (Oct 24) here. Below is the most important information from today's meeting. You should all be aware of this information (your project leaders might have more information).

Mid-term critique

We be held on Monday Nov 14 - see separate blog post.

Book

We are aiming for texts (chapters in the book) that are between 4000 - 6000 words long (10-15 pages of text). The format will not be that of a school/academic report, you should rather aim for a more popular text. You still need references to back up your text though. Malin (responsible for the book) will distribute templates and guidelines.

Webpage

Each group/group leader should prepare a one-minute long "pitch" where you present what your project is about. These will be recorded next Monday, at/in parallel to the mid-crit event. The webpage (Wordpress) is being designed right now and every group will have access to their own subpage soon.

Presentation

The order of the final presentation will depend on different factors, but most important is probably the kind of technical equipment different groups might need (beyond a projector and sound). Fabian (responsible for the final presentation) wants each group leader to send him a list of what they want to use at the final presentation. Fabian will, based on these requirements, decide in which order the project groups will hold their presentations at the final presentation - and we will try to use this list at the mid-term critique next Monday too.

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Mid-term critique - find your way there!

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Architecture is nearby, on the other side of Valhallavägen and just a few hundred meters from the subway:

We start at 09 on Monday (Nov 14). Please be at Östermalmsgatan 26 at 8.50 as we don't have access to the building (our cards don't work there). We will be in "Övre ateljén" [Upper atelier] which is on the top floor (?) - there should be signs there.

If you're late and can't come in, call your project leader, or in last case Sara Lempiäinen (project leader for the executive group). Her phone number is in Bilda (Bilda/Contents/Project groups).

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