[kwlug-disc] Remote vs local meetings, five months in

[Paul Nijjar]

On Thu, Feb 15, 2024 at 04:08:33AM -0500, Bob Jonkman wrote:
> Paul wrote:
> > (A large number of the in-person attendees also are on BBB for some reason?)
> 
> Yes, if I were at the meeting then I would be on BBB too. Just as remote
> people don't want to miss the chatter in the room, so the in-person people
> don't want to miss the chatter on BBB.

That's a good point, but if I remember correctly most of our
presentations display the full BBB window on screen, including the
public chat. Others who are in-person: is this the case?


> One thing that would help engagement between in-person and remote attendees
> is to point a webcam at the in-person audience before the speaker starts,
> during intermission, and for a short time afterwards. And if you allow
> remote webcams during that time and project BBB on the screen then everyone
> can see everyone else. If the bandwidth requirements of all-webcams is too
> much, at least show the chat box to the in-person audience so those without
> a personal BBB device can still get some of the online flavour.

We have been staying away from webcams on BBB for bandwidth reasons.
If people in the meeting don't mind revealing themselves to strangers
on the Internet we might be able to have an introductory webcam shot.
(Again this would end up being something others have to remind us to
do. Yes we should have a proper script. I find that it is hectic and
distracting getting everything ready for the in-person portion,
especially when we are having A/V issues.)


> To improve the audio for in-person presenters, maybe have two mics? One
> lapel mic and one hockey puck mic should work well. Of course, that may
> require some analogue audio gear...

As I said before, two mics is a recipe for feedback. Maybe we can work
around this? I wish I had better A/V skills. 

If the main issue is that people want to hear the chatter but it is
inaudible we can play with the puck settings/placement to capture more
of the room. We can also have people who are asking questions get
closer to the mic (as we did for Ole's presentation).

If the main issue is that people do not want to hear the chatter
because it is distracting then we should think about the lapel mic and
abandon the puck.

But I think there might be a mixture of both within the group?


- Paul