Static: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. The Herald has the role of the Host on stage - some people also call this a Moderator.

Can I be a Herald Angel?

For this year, the 36c3, we decided to not create a Call for Heralds. We will instead run with experienced Heralds from past C3-Events. We already wrote emails to everyone, so if you haven't received an email so far, you are unfortunately not part of the 36c3-Heralds Team.

It is also worth noting, that many Heralds expressed the wish to do more then one shift on stage. In the last years we had so many Heralds, that most Heralds only did one shift. This year we are limiting the amount of Heralds by not training new Heralds, so that there is a fair chance of two shifts per Herald.

Communication

We run an opensource "Slack alternative" chat server called Rocket.chat that we are using to communicate during and before the event.

The Server can be found here: https://heralds.events.ccc.de This service provides free Apps for Android and Apple

Job Description

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

Being familiar with your Speaker and their topic, enough to give a good introduction.
Being in the room at least 20 minutes prior to the beginning of the first talk of your shift
Crowd-Control the audience
Making announcements
Introduce the speaker and the talk
Manage the Q&A

It is rather likely, that the Stagemanager has less experience then you as the Herald. Please use your experience and knowledge to educate and train the stagemanager to the best of your abilities. If the Stage manager makes a serious mistake, you can override him/her, you do have a veto right on every decision he/she takes. Please do not micromanage. Make sure that your shift is a positive learning experience for the Stage manager.

There is a recording of the Herald-Introduction at SHA - it is adapted for SHA, but it has still a lot of truth in it. https://media.ccc.de/v/SHA2017-999-heralds_introduction

Herald Angel Briefing

In years before the 32c3, Herald Angels also did the tasks of the Stage managers. This year we will be splitting these tasks again. 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: Static:Stage_manager

Checklist

No checklist is ever complete. Study it well and think about the intention behind each point, so you can adapt to the ever changing demands and circumstances. Generally you should have your eyes everywhere, be responsible for everyone and more on time punctual then a japanese train driver.

Before the Congress

Stay in touch with the Fahrplan and look up if something in your shift changed
Prepare your Introductions. A How-To can be found here.

Preparation before the Talk

Have your:
- Talkcards
- Announcements sheet (obtain from the Herald Coordinators/Herald Archangels if any)
Know the proper room and show up 20 minutes prior to the session. Identify the working Herald Angel. (Talk changes happen, be prepared!)
DECT phone
Think about your outfit and change it if necessary to something nice(r), because you are the face of the Event on Stage.

Before a Talk

20 Minutes before the talk, please go to the designated area for room coordinators and get to know these people, so you know where they sit and you can recognize them:
- A/V Technican
- your Stagemanager

This year, the Stagemanager is encouraged not to speak with the Speaker, to reduce Stress on the Speaker further, this means you have to ask these questions:
- Are you happy with Audio and Video setup (T-10)
- How much time for Q&A?
- Would you like Water?
- How / when would you like to be notified of your remaining time? (Acknowledge/Nod!)
- Do you need anything else?
- How would you like to be introduced? (modify your introduction slightly)
- How do I properly pronounce your name?
- What do you want me to tell the crowd about you (Awards, Prestigious Facts that may sound arrogant..)
Do a full Briefing with your Stagemanager, this includes:
- Where the STM should stand, so you can see him/her while you are on Stage
- Does the Speaker wish to be notified of the remaining time towards the End of the Slot or towrads the Beginning of the Q&A
- How long will the Q&A be?
- How many Time-Signs does the Speaker want
- When and how you like to be notified of the times to go on and off-stage and when to start the introduction for the Speaker
- Tell the STM how long your intro will be, so he knows when to tell you to start doing it.
- Decide together with the STM if crowd flow management is necessary. Decide how early before the Talk you should go on Stage and help with Crowd Flow Management
- Check with your stage manager which live translations are offered. Announce the translation and the phone numbers in the target language of the translation. A translation angel might be available to help you with the announcement.
  - This year there wont be translation via DECT!
  - Your StageManager can press a button and this way show the Translation-Infoscreen on the Beamer. Ask him to do this at a pre-arranged keyword and explain to the audience how to listen to a (live) translation by installing the App and joining the right Room

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
- Observe the crowd flow and inform the crowd of free areas, of full areas. Work with your STM to utilize the Saalengel to the fullest as guides for the crowd.
- If the previous talk was very full, discuss with your STM to maybe only let people leave for a couple of minutes, before the doors are opened to let the next people in.
- If a talk starts to get full, start the defragmentation.
  - First-level: Hint at free areas, inform the crowd of areas that are rather full
  - Second-level: Make them get up and move together, so that seats at the edges of a block become free
  - Third-Level: Ask them to raise the hand if they have a free seat next to them
Make any announcements prior to introducing the speaker.
- Remind Stream-watching guests, that there are Signal Angels and how to contact them
- Sometimes there are changes to the schedule to announce
- Remind people to ask questions into the microphone, since they are being broadcasted and recorded
Always inform the crowd of the translations as the last thing you do, before you do the Schnittmarke (VOC-Break)
Make a short break (~5-10sec) so the VOC knows where to cut the video. Please really do this!
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

Take the stage and moderate the Q&A. (min. Distance to speaker 3m)
communicate silent with your stage manager to know how may questions may be taken
Allow only Questions, try to limit Comments
If a question was not asked into a microphone, please repeat the Question, before you ask the Speaker to answer the Question
Between a question and an answer and after every answer, you speak. Establish this as routine. You grant the audience the right to ask questions and you ask the Speaker to answer a question. If you establish this early, you have an easier time cutting people off, who don't ask questions but want to comment.
We want our Speakers to shine. Try as best as you can to let the Speaker shine. We are the professional assholes that take all the blame for everything, so the speaker can shine.

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 and with your STM for any other relevant Announcements
- Do Crowd Flow Management if necessary

Important Numbers

What?	Number	When?
Himmel	1023	Call in case your fellow Angels are not present.
Speakersdesk	1020	Call in case your speaker is not present!
Security	110	Security Issues
CERT	112	Medical Emergency
VOC Helpdesk	1600 / 1601	Call in case there are technical issues regarding Audio or Video or if Mixer and Camera Angels are missing (coordinate with A/V Technician)
Infodesk	1111	Call if there is a conflict with the schedule or an attendee has a question you cannot answer.
Katzazi	4744	Call if you are overwhelmed or need assistance
Chester	????	Call if you are overwhelmed or need assistance
Lindworm	5463	Call if you are overwhelmed or need assistance and katzazi is not available
Ijon	4566	Call if you are overwhelmed or need assistance and katzazi is not available
SHOC Helpdesk	1605	Should reach all of us SHOC Coordiantors, Call if the Herald or StS or next StM are not showing up, or if above numbers did not help
VOC Coordination	1919	Call if you have an organizational issue with the VOC
HAC Helpdesk	1606	Call if your HAC team has not shown up or if further support from the Access Control Coordinators are needed (coordinate with HAC Coordinator in the room)
Lampenfieberbeauftragter (Stage Fright Council)	3383	Call if your Herald or Speaker has stage fright or looks like he/she is being overwhelmed by it
Signal Angel Coordinator	8745	Call if you don't have a signal angel
Translation Coordinator	TRAN 8726	Call if the German / English translation angle is missing
Awareness-Team	113	Someone convinced me of putting this here, but I don't know the number. Feel free to edit if you can.
STM Saal Adams	1615 (1614 for crowd)	Call if you need to coordinate with Saal Adams
STM Saal Borg	1625 (1624 for crowd)	Call if you need to coordinate with Saal Borg
STM Saal Clarke	1635 (1634 for crowd)	Call if you need to coordinate with Saal Clarke
STM Saal Dijkstra	1645	Call if you need to coordinate with Saal Dijkstra
STM Saal Eliza	1655	Call if you need to coordinate with Saal Eliza
Hall Coordination Saal X (A/V Technician + StM)	16X0	You are on the receiving side of this number for your hall, usually no need to call it yourself
Hall Access Control Saal X	16X6	Call if you need to coordinate opening and closing of doors or anything else about crowd control
A/V Technican Saal X	16X1	Call if you need to address A/V related questions in the room and you cannot speak to them in person
A/V Regie Saal X	16X2	Should usually be internally for A/V and not something for the StM to bother
FOH Saal X	16X3	Call if you need to coordinate with the House staff person for the room, usually for sound related questions

Where X: 1 for Adams, 2 for Borg, 3 for Clarke, 4 for Dijkstra, 5 for Eliza