Participant Guidelines
Thank you for your interest!
We have a few rules and guidelines for your participation to keep the show lively and fun.
Pick the show below you will be involved in, the rules are a bit different for each with some overlap.
WPwatercoolerWeekly WordPress Show
Participant Guidelines
Thank you for wanting to participate in a WPwatercooler show! We have a few rules and guidelines on your participation to keep the show lively and fun.
These guidelines below are written for WPwatercooler but are good guidelines for any of our shows.
-
Be Professional
We’re professional but we have fun. We’re by no means serious and we tend to talk over one another (you try to have 10 people not talk over one another in a 30 minute discussion).
-
Bring a topic to the show if you can
During our preshow we come up with the topic. It can be timely or timeless evergreen stuff, either is fine.
-
Use a microphone, not the one on your computer or a webcam
Use a microphone that isn’t your laptop’s built in mic. These mics pick up sound when you type, even if it’s a few characters it will be LOUD on the viewers end. The better the mic the better the sound.
-
Minimize camera movement
Place your laptop on a sturdy surface while recording. Having your laptop on your lap leads to movement that is distracting. Lots of movement also takes up more bandwidth (the pixels on the entire scene are changing instead of just your head… science.)
-
Use proper lighting
Use proper lighting. Make those HD pixels nice and bright and clear to see is helpful.
- Use a defused light next to your monitor and try to block out any lights behind you head.
- Webcams aren’t studio quality so you need to work with their limitations.
- Turn up the brightness on your screen, this helps with lighting up your face a bit.
- Turn off Night Shift or anything that changes the color of your screen.
-
Hardwire Ethernet
Hardwire Ethernet. Having a hard wire to your computer instead of using WiFi will improve your audio and video quality quite a bit. It’s not a requirement but it is very much so encouraged. The more bandwidth you have the better the quality will be.
-
Be indoors
Background noise it never a good thing and microphones can pick up on the smallest of noises, try to be indoors in a room where you can control the background noise if you can.
-
All panelists should be active participants
All panelists should be active participants. This does not mean you have to talk the whole time, but you should be actively engaged in the conversation, i.e not working on other projects, emailing, etc. If you just want to watch or you have things to attend to, you can go to wpwatercooler.com and watch the show live or after it’s aired.
-
If you are having any technical issues after the show starts at 11am, please leave the show.
If you are having any technical issues after the show starts at 11am, please leave the show. Dealing with technical issues during the show isn’t what our viewers came to view. Feel free to contact Jason after the show or before the next show and he can help you out.
-
Find a nice quite place that doesn’t have any background noises or any other distractions.
The show is 30 minutes long, please find a nice quite place that doesn’t have any background noises or any other distractions. Dealing with background noises and other distractions takes time away from the show.
-
If you notice something out of the ordinary
If you notice something out of the ordinary during the recording please wait until after the show to discuss it. Breaking topic and conversation flow to talk about unrelated events slows the show down.
Timeline of events during a typical WPwatercooler show
Morning of the show
Jason should provide everyone with a link to the wpwatercooler.com site where the shows youtube embed will be at. If not, ask Jason for the URL of the blog post on wpwatercooler.com and post on various social networks about you being on the show and what the topic is. This will draw interest from your social networks and everyone benefits from the mutual exposure.
A typical status update would be:
I’m going to be on the WPwatercooler show talking about XYZ plugins in #WordPress https://www.wpwatercooler.com/videos/some_post_name
or
In 30 mins WPwatercooler will begin streaming live, come by the website and see me on the show! https://www.wpwatercooler.com/videos/some_post_name
Before 10:30 PT
You should have RSVP’d on the WPwatercooler.com website for the event, we will send you a message letting you know the hangout is starting and provide you a link.
10:30am PT
You will receive an email from WPwatercooler with the URL to Zoom.us at 10:30am PT. This time is called “show prep” and it’s where the panelists will come together and talk before the show beings. Live recording typically starts at 11:00am PT so show prep would begin at 10:30am PT.
Get involved!
Feel free to talk with everyone and do any show prep with your fellow panelists. This is a great time to make sure your equipment is working.
11:00am PT
Once the show starts, feel free to post that the show is starting and drive some viewers to the live event on the wpwatercooler.com site as stated in step 3.
I’m on the WPwatercooler show this morning, it’s streaming live come by and watch! #wordpress https://www.wpwatercooler.com/videos/some_post_name
or
On the WPwatercooler show I’m taking about XYZ theme that I love. Come watch! #wordpress https://www.wpwatercooler.com/videos/some_post_name
11:01am
Jason will click the “Start Broadcast” link in the streaming software. The posting process takes a few seconds. Jason will start off the show intro mentioning the topic of the day and that he will be asking for self-introductions, he’ll say your name and then you respond with something like “I’m Jason Tucker, web developer at Tucker.pro” the quicker we get through all 9 people the faster we can get into the meat of the show.
During the show
- Feel free to interject. This show is about showcasing who you are and what you know about the topic of this show we only have 30 minutes to discuss. If you cant get in edgewise feel free to push in a bit, make yourself known but be respectful.
- Typically a few of the panelists know one another and know how to talk to each other, don’t be a wallflower ?
11:29am
At the 29 minute mark Jason’s timer will go off and the conversation closes. We hard stop at 11:30am, he does a quick outro and we’re done.
Aftershow
People stick around after the show to chat for a few minutes. If you have anything to add to the show notes add them to the chat window, Jason will include them in the notes on the website, YouTube and the Audio Podcast.
Feel free to schedule out a tweet an facebook update with a link to the show so people can come back and see you on it. You have full rights to reuse the show anyway you see fit for self-promotion. As credit to the show please include a link to the website https://www.wpwatercooler.com can embed the video from our youtube channel if you wish.
Dev BranchMonthly WordPress Show
Participant Guidelines
Thank you for wanting to participate in a WPwatercooler show! We have a few rules and guidelines on your participation to keep the show lively and fun.
These guidelines below are written for WPwatercooler but are good guidelines for any of our shows.
-
Be Professional
We’re professional but we have fun. We’re by no means serious and we tend to talk over one another (you try to have 10 people not talk over one another in a 30 minute discussion).
-
Bring a topic to the show if you can
During our preshow we come up with the topic. It can be timely or timeless evergreen stuff, either is fine.
-
Use a microphone, not the one on your computer or a webcam
Use a microphone that isn’t your laptop’s built in mic. These mics pick up sound when you type, even if it’s a few characters it will be LOUD on the viewers end. The better the mic the better the sound.
-
Minimize camera movement
Place your laptop on a sturdy surface while recording. Having your laptop on your lap leads to movement that is distracting. Lots of movement also takes up more bandwidth (the pixels on the entire scene are changing instead of just your head… science.)
-
Use proper lighting
Use proper lighting. Make those HD pixels nice and bright and clear to see is helpful.
- Use a defused light next to your monitor and try to block out any lights behind you head.
- Webcams aren’t studio quality so you need to work with their limitations.
- Turn up the brightness on your screen, this helps with lighting up your face a bit.
- Turn off Night Shift or anything that changes the color of your screen.
-
Hardwire Ethernet
Hardwire Ethernet. Having a hard wire to your computer instead of using WiFi will improve your audio and video quality quite a bit. It’s not a requirement but it is very much so encouraged. The more bandwidth you have the better the quality will be.
-
Be indoors
Background noise it never a good thing and microphones can pick up on the smallest of noises, try to be indoors in a room where you can control the background noise if you can.
-
All panelists should be active participants
All panelists should be active participants. This does not mean you have to talk the whole time, but you should be actively engaged in the conversation, i.e not working on other projects, emailing, etc. If you just want to watch or you have things to attend to, you can go to wpwatercooler.com and watch the show live or after it’s aired.
-
If you are having any technical issues after the show starts at 11am, please leave the show.
If you are having any technical issues after the show starts at 11am, please leave the show. Dealing with technical issues during the show isn’t what our viewers came to view. Feel free to contact Jason after the show or before the next show and he can help you out.
-
Find a nice quite place that doesn’t have any background noises or any other distractions.
The show is 30 minutes long, please find a nice quite place that doesn’t have any background noises or any other distractions. Dealing with background noises and other distractions takes time away from the show.
-
If you notice something out of the ordinary
If you notice something out of the ordinary during the recording please wait until after the show to discuss it. Breaking topic and conversation flow to talk about unrelated events slows the show down.
Timeline of events during a typical WPwatercooler show
Morning of the show
Jason should provide everyone with a link to the wpwatercooler.com site where the shows youtube embed will be at. If not, ask Jason for the URL of the blog post on wpwatercooler.com and post on various social networks about you being on the show and what the topic is. This will draw interest from your social networks and everyone benefits from the mutual exposure.
A typical status update would be:
I’m going to be on the WPwatercooler show talking about XYZ plugins in #WordPress https://www.wpwatercooler.com/videos/some_post_name
or
In 30 mins WPwatercooler will begin streaming live, come by the website and see me on the show! https://www.wpwatercooler.com/videos/some_post_name
Before 10:30 PT
You should have RSVP’d on the WPwatercooler.com website for the event, we will send you a message letting you know the hangout is starting and provide you a link.
10:30am PT
You will receive an email from WPwatercooler with the URL to Zoom.us at 10:30am PT. This time is called “show prep” and it’s where the panelists will come together and talk before the show beings. Live recording typically starts at 11:00am PT so show prep would begin at 10:30am PT.
Get involved!
Feel free to talk with everyone and do any show prep with your fellow panelists. This is a great time to make sure your equipment is working.
11:00am PT
Once the show starts, feel free to post that the show is starting and drive some viewers to the live event on the wpwatercooler.com site as stated in step 3.
I’m on the WPwatercooler show this morning, it’s streaming live come by and watch! #wordpress https://www.wpwatercooler.com/videos/some_post_name
or
On the WPwatercooler show I’m taking about XYZ theme that I love. Come watch! #wordpress https://www.wpwatercooler.com/videos/some_post_name
11:01am
Jason will click the “Start Broadcast” link in the streaming software. The posting process takes a few seconds. Jason will start off the show intro mentioning the topic of the day and that he will be asking for self-introductions, he’ll say your name and then you respond with something like “I’m Jason Tucker, web developer at Tucker.pro” the quicker we get through all 9 people the faster we can get into the meat of the show.
During the show
- Feel free to interject. This show is about showcasing who you are and what you know about the topic of this show we only have 30 minutes to discuss. If you cant get in edgewise feel free to push in a bit, make yourself known but be respectful.
- Typically a few of the panelists know one another and know how to talk to each other, don’t be a wallflower ?
11:29am
At the 29 minute mark Jason’s timer will go off and the conversation closes. We hard stop at 11:30am, he does a quick outro and we’re done.
Aftershow
People stick around after the show to chat for a few minutes. If you have anything to add to the show notes add them to the chat window, Jason will include them in the notes on the website, YouTube and the Audio Podcast.
Feel free to schedule out a tweet an facebook update with a link to the show so people can come back and see you on it. You have full rights to reuse the show anyway you see fit for self-promotion. As credit to the show please include a link to the website https://www.wpwatercooler.com can embed the video from our youtube channel if you wish.
WPwatercooler – We send out emails to our mailing list weekly asking people to reply and let us know if they want to be on the show that week. We only schedule for the current weeks’ show.
Subscribe to be notified of upcoming episodes to watch or be involved in.
Participants and Viewers
Participate as a panelist:If you want to be on the live show and participate in the google hangout subscribe below and we’ll send you an email weekly on how to participate. Please take a moment and read over our Participant Guidelines that we ask our panelists to adhere to while we are recording the show. Viewers:
Join our mailing list and you will be notified of new episodes via email. We record on Mondays at 11am PST.