Herolds
From 24C3 Public Wiki
| TEAM | |
|---|---|
| Name | Herolds |
| Coordinator | Volty |
| Mailinglist | |
| Location | |
| Phone | |
Herolds are volunteers that provide a special service to the audience by being the main spokesperson in a conference area for a couple of hours.
Contents |
Job Description
The job of a herold is to briefly introduce the speaker, and then stick around in case something goes wrong -- i.e., if the speaker needs assistance with technical or organizational problems, the Herold is always the first to react and take care of any problem. If you want you can also moderate the Q&A-section of your sessions, but usually the speakers can do that by themselves. Just make sure everything goes smoothly.
As a herold, you should take care of the following:
- Prepare a short introduction of the speakers and session (see the schedule and speaker page for content). Your announcement can be as short or long as you wish; at the very least mention the speaker's name and topic. Be creative, but don't overdo it.
- Before your shift starts:
- get to know the Audio and Video angels in your room
- get headsets for the speakers from the guy at the mixing board, and ask for a quick introduction of how to use it. Bring the headsets back to the control room at the end of your shift.
- Before a session starts: introduce yourself to the speaker; help him set up his equipment (there are audio and video angels who can take care of technical problems)
- If everything is set up and the speaker is ready to start: make your introduction.
- Stick around in case something goes wrong. Try to follow the presentation to make sure you detect trouble before it arises.
- NEW! Ensure water supply for the speakers. If you detect that there are insufficient water bottles on the stage, call 1020 (Konferenzleitung) and name your room number so they can bring new water.
...and that's about it.
What do I get for being a Herold?
Herolds are part of the Chaos Angels, please see the extensive Angel FAQ for details.
I want to be a herold, but not an angel.
If you want to help as a herold and as a herold only, that is totally fine with us. Really! It is just from the a terminology point of view that we call our volunteer helpers "angels", whether they announce sessions, guard the exits or prepare food. Our badges neutrally state "crew" and every crew member decides what tasks they wish to fulfill. In return, we feed our crew, give them free drinks and a place to sleep in the gym - and when you have done at least three shifts you will even get a T-shirt at the end :)
Can I be both Herold and Audio-angel?
Sure, it actually even makes sense if the herold ensures that the audience uses Microphones to ask questions, and helps handing them around. However, the shift-system does not currently allow you to register for two shifts simultaneously. If you want to be both Herold and Audio-angel, please ask the shift coordinator or volty (DECT 4322) to do it for you.
Schedule
Please note: It would be useful if herolds would register not only for one slot but ideally two or three in a row. This is not only to help avoid fragmentation, but also to make sure that in at least 50% of the cases the herold is already familiar with a specific hall. However, fragmentation can never be avoided so it is also much appreciated if a herold checks the schedule regularly and jump in on unfilled shifts. Also, it helps A LOT if you bring a DECT, e.g. your phone from home, so you can use it on the congress!
To get started, create an account for yourself in the Angel System because this is the place where all volunteer shifts are centrally managed and to ensure you get your free congress T-Shirt in the right size. At this moment, you cannot yet register for shifts there but this will be possible in a week or so, but once you have an account there, use the message feature to send a brief message to volty.
Please also come to the herold meeting on day 1 (15:00 in the backstage room in the basement - Room A08), and watch this page, the CCC Events Blog and the Angel News for updates. Contact user:volty if you have any questions, or leave them on the discussion page here.
See also: the time layout for this years' Congress.
Who are the Herolds?
This year, the following people are Herolds (feel free to add your own name after registering on the angel system): hackfoo, joha@nnes, (martin), rafael, volty.
Hints
In this section, you can place practical and productive hints for Herolds, especially if you are a Herold yourself.
- With your speaker, discuss up front...
- what kind of introduction he/she would like. This is not a regular chairperson job where you just say what someone did his/her PhD on.
- when he would like to receive the 15min session timeout signs, and from where in the room they are given (usually it is the video angel). Some speakers also prefer the 15min sign showed earlier because they want to have 15min Q&A.
- how you will signal that the session must end now or will be cut off
- how much overrun will be tolerated (the 15 min breaks between sessions usually allow for about 5min). Check the Fahrplan: If there is no session afterwards (e.g. big break) you can no problem tolerate longer runover times)
- whether or not they want to do the moderation of the Q&A session themselves or not
- the language of the introduction (usually the language of the talk, but if you do not speak German and it is a German talk, check with the speaker first)
- Get to know your audio and video angel(s) and find out where he/she sits. Agree on some gesture to use when you want your microphone open. If one of the required angels is missing, call 1023 (shift coordination) from your DECT or the room phone (recognizable by the light bulb) to request an angel.
- Make sure you understand the timetables. It's rather easy to make off-by-one errors here when it comes to end times. Talks are supposed to last for one hour (I wouldn't write that if hadn't fouled this up the first time...)
- Don't worry if you feel superfluous. As I understand it, you're mainly a troubleshooter, so without trouble, don't be worried if you've got nothing to shoot.
