Student Observations on Weekly Presentations

[Mark Schonewille]

Hi Calvin,

Thanks, I appreciate your comments and I'm glad that the presentations are useful for you. Unfortunately, we can't and don't want to tell people how to present and we don't want them to follow any kind of rules. There is only one rule: THERE ARE NO RULES!!!

I am afraid that your e-mail scared off dozens of people who were thinking they might do a presentation at some time. These people have seen your e-mail and are now backing off. I would like to say to those people: don't worry, we are not going to demand anything from you.

If anyone would like to do a presentation, no matter if you hardly speak English or have never released any product, you are always welcome to show us what you do with Revolution/LiveCode. We usually have more than 20 participants and some of them like to see a really informal video chat while others prefer a more formal lecture. There is no "right" way.

Sorry Calvin, I just had to say this. If the main goal would be to teach, then you were absolutely right, but the true goal of the Live LiveCode Code Event really just is to gather a bunch of people and have some fun. I hope you don't mind.

--
Best regards,

Mark Schonewille

Economy-x-Talk Consulting and Software Engineering
Homepage: http://economy-x-talk.com
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On 25 jan 2011, at 20:59, Calvin Waterbury wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> First off, "BRAVO!" to all who take their time and knowledge to make these presentations!  They have been extremely helpful in my learning of LiveCode and in being introduced to the programming world outside of Windows®!
> 
> I also wish to convey my comments herein are not intended as criticisms, but as a "reflection" through the eyes of a student.  If nothing changes, I will still continue to participate and glean what I can from each session.  I realize that "newbies" are in the minority and I do not expect nor desire the presentations to be "dumbed down."  I can understand that spicing up a presentation makes for a less mundane experience.
> 
> My comments are from only seeing four presentations.  Perhaps the presenters were having "off days?"
> 
> Ok, with the above preamble/disclaimers in place, here are some thoughts for your consideration when you present...
> 
> 1. RECORDING - Please make sure you are recording, if you intend to do so and let your audience know at the outset you are doing so.  Others mileage may vary, but for me knowing I will be able to review the presentation allows me to relax and look at the bigger picture and more robust interaction of Q&A during the live presentation.  The couple of times the chat had comments like "Is he recording?" and "Did he turn on the recorder?" sent me into a quasi-panic of myopia and tunnel-vision because I did not want to miss any details.
> 
> 2. SCREEN VIEW - It is nice to match a face to a voice.  Seeing the "camera view" of the presenter at the beginning and briefly "here and there" during the presentation certainly assists the tardy as well. Aside from these brief displays, it is very helpful if the screen real estate, the "screen view" is allocated to the computer desktop and specific windows where the coding action is happening.  Without doing so, it is impossible to read the script, etc. windows.
> 
> 3. DISTRACTIONS - Just a quick note to say I found the visual effects and cartoon animations to distracting for my taste, besides taking up screen area.  This is my own personal opinion and not necessarily the opinion of any other participant(s).
> 
> 4. VERBOSITY - I realize this comes easier to some than others, but try to verbalize your thought processes as you are working through your presentation.  This really helps to "connect the dots," especially for those of us who do not have the same familiarity yet.  While I am a newbie to LiveCode, I am not a novice programmer and "hearing" the logic spoken allows my experience to assist my learning.  Also, if your presentation contains a bug, hearing the logic may allow me to assist in debugging where otherwise I could not.
> 
> 5. KEEP AN EYE ON THE CHAT - *We* are able to see and hear you via USTREAM, but but the only way you can "see" or "hear" our feedback is via the ChatRev.  I noticed more than one instance where the presenter was oblivious to what the audience was trying to "say," especially when there were problems like sound issues, performance, clarity, etc.
> 
> 
> Ok, there are my notes from *my* experiences.  Use what you feel is valid and throw out the rest, but by all means please continue to present!  :)
> 
> I would like to encourage everyone to present something.  Everyone has their own personal way of communicating and the way *you* might say something could unlock someone's understanding where no one else's would.  You don't have to be a guru-coder to present either.  Maybe your presentation could be about how you lay out your LiveCode work space, what ancillary tools you use to develop, etc.  I am working on a project that I will present, hopefully in about six weeks, if I haven't bit off more than I can chew. ;)
> 
> FYI - I used to work in a television station years ago and have coached people into getting over the intimidation, anxiety and stage fright of being in front of an audience on camera.  I'll be glad to help if you want to try and present.  Unfortunately, I will have to defer the technical questions about using USTREAM to other experienced presenters at this time.
> 
> Fair winds,
> Calvin
> 
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