Heralds

Heralds are the main spokesperson and speaker liaison before and during a lecture. Their primary function is to make sure the speaker is introduced, well equipped and speaks no longer than his or her allotted time.

Can I be a Herald Angel?

  • Can you create a one minute introduction of speaker and session, and speak it freely?
  • Do you feel comfortable doing this on the stage in front of a lot of hackers?
  • Would you be able to moderate a Q&A session at the end if the speaker asks you to do that?
  • Can you be on time?
  • Do you speak English (ideally fluently)?

If you answered "yes" to all these questions, then we'd love to have you as a Herald!

How to Become a Herald

If you are interested and you feel up to the job, please email us, noting the talks you are interested in, ideally with a short introduction and why you feel best suited for the talks you chose, at 32c3-herald@cccv.de until the 16.12.2015

Mailing list

For the past few events, we established a low-traffic mailing list for the heralds of the CCC events. You should sign up here to get the latest news and announcements from your fellow arch angels. :) You can put your own questions and remarks there too if you want.

Job Description

The Herald is typically seen as the person who announces the speaker at the beginning of a talk/lecture/... (see Schedule). That is just the easy part of the job! Being a Herald Angel involves the following:

  1. Being familiar with your Speaker and their topic, enough to give a good introduction.
  2. Being in the room at least 15 minutes prior to your shift.
  3. Crowd-Control the audience
  4. Making announcements
  5. Introduce the speaker and the talk

Herald Angel Briefing

In years before, Herald Angels also did the tasks of the Stage managers. This year we will be splitting these tasks. As a Herald, you need to cooperate closely with your stage manager and understand what the job of a stage manager includes. You can find more information here: Stage manager

Important Numbers

  • Speakers Room (1020): Call in case your speaker is not present!

Before the Congress

Preparation before the Talks

  • Have your:
    • Talkcards
    • Announcements sheet (obtain from the Herald Coordinators/Herald Archangels if any)
    • Brief speaker introduction (make yourself familiar with your Speaker and the topic in advance!)
      • Contact the Speaker of your talks and ask the following questions
        • How would you like to be introduced? (modify your introduction slightly)
        • How do you properly pronounce your name?
        • How much time will you have for Q&A?
        • Make sure the speaker knows to repeat all questions into the microphone.
  • Know the proper room and show up 15 minutes prior to the session. Identify the working Herald Angel. (Talk changes happen, be prepared!)
  • DECT phone handy

Starting a Talk

  • Kill time if the speaker needs more time to set up
    • Ask how people are enjoying the congress
  • Crowd-Control
    • If needed seat the people so most people can attend live
  • Make any announcements prior to introducing the speaker.
    • Sometimes there are changes to the schedule to announce
    • Remind people to remove their trash with them, at the end of the session
    • Remind people to ask questions into the microphone, since they are being broadcasted and recorded
  • Make a short break (~5-10sec) so the VOC knows where to cut the video
  • Introduce the speaker
    • This can be as simple as, "(Speaker) will now talk about (Topic). Let's give (Him or Her) a warm round of applause!"
    • But, there are ways to create even better Introductions and we have created a Wikipage with a simple How-To to for you.

During Q&A

  • If necessary, take the mic during Q&A and say "three more questions" or "one more question"
  • communicate silent with your stage manager to know how may questions may be taken
  • Be ready with a microphone or microphone stands to make sure the audience can ask questions into a microphone. (This is especially important for those watching a stream!)
  • Try to have a 'personal' Microphone, which you can mute/unmute immediately without help from your Audioangel, so you can interfere in any possible situation.

When Your Speaker is Finished

  • Take the stage and thank the Speaker Publicly. Ask for a Round of Applause.
  • Wait 5-10sec so the VOC knows where to cut the video
  • Make the necessary announcements
    • Remind the audience of any announcements
    • Mention the next upcoming talk
    • Ask the audience to please remove any trash with them as they leave
    • Check your Herald-Talk-Cards for any other relevant Announcements
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