How to get your copy of the book

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I have the first copy of the book in my hand and a much bigger package has also arrived for me to pick up (34 kg). So, the books have arrived and each one of you can get your own copy of it.

Me and Åke will bring the books and sit at a pub near KTH tomorrow Friday (Dec 16) between 17 - 20 in the evening.

The pub is "Man in the Moon" on Tegnérgatan 2C. It's a 10-minute walk from KTH (see below). Drop by and pick up your copy or ask a friend to pick up your copy. Sit down and have a beer too while you're at it (or the non-alcoholic beverage of your choice).

Those who can't come tomorrow are welcome to drop by my office in January (house E top floor) and pick up your copy of the book.

/Daniel
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How to finish the course

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Thank you for your presentations last week. There are two more things you need to do in order to pass the course and get your points (10 hp) registered:

1) Write essay 2 (see instructions the the previous blog post)

2) Your group has to send all material to Christoffer Å for archiving purposes.

Christoffer has sent mail to all group and vice group leaders. You need to send all your stuff (movies, audio files, cartoons etc.) to him according to earlier instructions. We will make everything accessible on the course homepage.

You will not have passed the course until you have completed both 1 (as an individual) and 2 (as a group). The (first) deadline for handing in your essay is December 20 (see further information in the previous blog post).

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Essay 2 - instructions

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Back when the course started, in August, I wrote the following:

"You have to write an individual essay twice during the course; in the beginning and in the end. Writing these essays are compulsory and they must be written individually."

The time to write the second essay has now come and it also replaces other forms of course evaluations. Here are the instructions:

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Please download and use the template that is available in Bilda ("FoM essay 2") when you write your text. Use your family name when you name your file ("Pargman essay 2") and upload it to the "drop box" that has been created exclusively for this purpose in Bilda. Do note that you can only upload the file formats .doc, .docx (MS Word) or .pdf to the drop box.

The deadline for handling in the essay is Tuesday December 20 (23.59). That was the alternative date for the final presentation before we decided to go for December 9. If you miss the deadline, there will be a deadline on Saturday Jan 14 (last official day for the autumn semester). That should be plenty of time as the task is neither very comprehensive nor time-consuming.

Instructions

1A. "Instead of a course evaluation".

- What were in your opinion the three best things about the course?

- What were in your opinion the three worst things about the course?

- What are your (three) suggestions for how to change/improve the course?

- What is your most important advice to next year's students who will take the course?

You are of course allowed to posit more than three suggestions (etc.), but plese don't answer each question with just a few words or a sentence each. State your opinions and then exemplify, explain and back them up. I will not specify a set length, but you are not allowed to just enumerate stuff without also including explanations.

1B. "Closing the circle"

Go back and re-read the essay you handed in at the beginning of the term (if you absolutely can't locate it, send a mail to Daniel Pargman and you will get it in return).

In that first essay (the instructions are here) you wrote about A) your "expectations and apprehensions" regarding the course and B) about your "relationship to radio". What has changed and what hasn't since you wrote that first essay? Did the course live up to your expectations or did you apprehensions come true? Has your relationship to radio changed since then or is it still the same?

Please write 400-1000 words (1 - 2.5 pages) on this topic.

Addition (Mon Dec 12 at 17.30): English or Swedish is ok since only me and Åke will read these essays!

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Minutes from coordination meeting #4

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We had our 4rd and last coordination meeting Wednesday this week (Nov 30). Here are the minutes from our previous coordination meeting (DO read them - important information has NOT been repeated below). Below is the most important information from this week's meeting (your project leaders might have more information).

Book

All groups delivered their drafts in time last Friday (Nov 25). The deadline for final texts AND for images is Friday this week (Dec 2). Four pictures/images per group is ok. Please write down the names of all group members (make sure you spell all names correctly). The book is slated to be delivered on Dec 16, exactly one week after the final presentation. You can get extra copies of the book (Christmas presents for your parents?), but you have to pay for them yourselves (100 SEK, send a mail to Malin).

Presentation

Deadline for sending material to Fabian (max 500 MB per group) is Tuesday next week (Dec 7). Video and all other materials should be integrated directly into the slide show. We will use one projector, special needs will be taken care of by the group itself. There will be a run-through/general rehearsal on Dec 8 from 15.00 and until whenever we are finished - please rehearse and practice delivering your presentation beforehand! Each group has no more than 10 minutes to present and the schedule is very tight so please respect these time limits!

Webpage

The webpage is up and running. Invitations have been spread to all media technology students and to other relevant groups (media management students, teachers, guest lecturers and their friends etc.). In fact, our first external attendees (from Swedish Radio) have already signed up!

Archiving

From this year and on, we will leave a Future of Media legacy on the web and Christoffer Å is responsible for collecting all your stuff and making it happen. For those groups using film/video, he wants you to send him a non-integrated version of your videos (no larger than 200 MB).

Sponsorship

Unfortunately we might not get any sponsors, but we don't know for sure yet.

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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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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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