In January I am scheduled to speak at a conference for educators and others in Reno, Nevada. This is the first “live” conference I have attended in more than a year. I have really hated delivering talks through Zoom or other conference software. Doing a talk of the type I deliver depends so much on reading the crowd and building from the energy in the room, and that energy and enthusiasm isn’t there when you can’t see anyone. One feels like he is shouting in an echo chamber.
So, I was very excited when I learned that this was going to be a live conference. I look forward for the silence that follows my jokes to be legitimate and not artificially created. I love to look in people’s faces to determine whether they are getting it, liking it, or even awake. Broader than this, it felt like this was another beginning, and emerging from the pandemic cocoon to that new place that we are all talking about.
However, the organizers of the conference, seeing the on going creep of the virus, even before omicron, asked if I would be willing to make a recording of my presentations that could be available for those who would not choose or be able to attend the conference in person. While I recognize and agree with their decision, I now had an additional task on my plate
One of the reasons why I balk at making recordings is that once a recording is out, I really have no control over my material any more. I hate to kill the golden goose of live speaking events by giving my stuff away to all. But, honestly, my talk about protecting intellectual property was just a guise for my balking at making two session recordings
In order to make a single one-hour recording, one has to have focus, confidence, and the ability to let little things pass without correcting them. I suspect there is a mathematical formula balancing the number of minutes into the recording with the size of mistake one is willing to accept. In the first five minutes, one might restart with a stammer. After 45 minutes a coughing fits bad. All things considered, these recordings didn’t go too badly, with the exception of once I lost Wi-Fi 20 minutes into a talk and had to restart.
I used Zoom to record the sessions. Zoom allows me to record and share the screen while keeping the actual file in the cloud. Video files are enormous, and storing and sharing them becomes a problem. This way I could send a link and I would be done.
Unfortunately, after I sent the links of the completed talks, I head back from the conference that they couldn’t open them. I had no trouble opening them on my computer…of course my machine was logged in to Zoom. I sent a passcode for each talk and I hope this works, but I fear that I might be caught recording again.
This is a common challenge for me. I know how I want to do something and it makes complete sense in my mind, but the complexity of systems and commands and compatibility fight against me. I know where I’m going, but I can’t get there from here.