Vid chats plan: hosting

[bop_radar]

Thank you to everyone who left suggestions for vidding chat topics. Anyone may leave suggestions there at any time.

My plan for hosting is quite simple and mostly consists of me making puppy eyes at anyone willing to do so. This is how I see the culture of vidding chats (ideally):

1. Everyone's welcome: vidders, non-vidders, passers-by, whoever.
2. It's definitely acceptable, more like actively encouraged to reply not just to the original post but also to other commenters. All comments are viewed as contributing to the overall discussion so if it sparks your interest, feel free to reply.
3. You are encouraged to pop back into the chat periodically and comments are welcome on the chat post at any time. I've had some feedback that people came to the vid chat posts late and so didn't feel able to comment on them. While I totally understand how that feeling comes about on Livejournal, I'm sure most participants in the chat would say they'd still be very happy to talk about the subject long after the chat was posted. As a rough guide, a chat should be considered 'active' for one to two weeks and hosters should make an effort to respond promptly during this time.

These are the very loose guidelines for hosting a vid chat:

1. Choose a topic.
2. Pick a date. It's probably better we don't have two chats on at exactly the same time, so coordinate with me and I'll then be able to publish a schedule of proposed chats to relevant communities.
3. Consider finding a 'buddy' to help you--I found that having someone to brainstorm ideas on the topic beforehand was helpful and also to help field comments. Having more than one enthusiastic person around in the first day or so after posting helped foster more to-ing and fro-ing in the comments.
4. Send me a link when you've actually posted. I will post in relevant communities and link to it in my own journal under the vidding chats tag so people tracking it can find all the chats.
5. As a hoster, please do not leave any comments unanswered. Please be welcoming to all participants and encourage them to continue the discussion with you or other people. Everyone will understand that you may only have limited time (like all of us!) to answer comments, but try not to keep people waiting for too long during the 'active' period.
6. For the actual vid chat post itself, possibilities include:

• a summary of why the subject is of interest to you (I think it's helpful for chatters to know where you're coming from)
• a definition or summary of what the topic actually is. See if you can break it down for people who may be new to the term. Even experienced vidders from one area may not know a particular term from another part of fandom, so try to define what it is you're discussing without too much jargon.
•  linking to previous meta on the subject (the memories section of
  vidding is a good start)
• a list of questions to prompt discussion (I never made these 'obligatory' but I did find that they gave the chats focus at times)
• lots of encouragement to talk and participate, lots of inclusive language. Think about who might be interested in the chat and the range of people that might include--it's fine to have some chats pitched more to newbies, some more to experienced people, but try to include vid viewers in the discussion as well, as thinking about the subject from both sides broadens the discussion framework and makes it accessible to more people.
• recs of relevant vids, meta, websites, or anything you yourself have found interesting related to the subject matter. If you link to it, consider it part of the chat, so that chatters can know it's acceptable/encouraged to post thoughts arising from what you've linked to as well. Invite others to rec or link to relevant material as well.
• My posts were quite long because I'm like that, but I don't think they have to be. They don't have to be anything other than welcoming! Please, please don't feel restricted by what I've done in the past if you have your own ideas.
• If you have suggestions yourself for what would/could make vid chats even better, share them in the comments so all participants can see.

Ok, now to sign-ups. Currently the following topics are begging for hosters:
- Narrative structure - how do you structure your vids and why?
- Why did you start vidding?
- Vidding misconceptions
- Audience: who do you vid for and why?
- The relationship betwen vidding and fanfiction, differences, similarities, etiquette
- Musicality: what makes good timing and phrasing? how do you approach it?
- Multifandom vidding
- Creative growth When/how/why do you feel you grew most as a vidder? What does growth mean to you? What do you do to push your boundaries and out of your comfort zone?
- External source: where, how, why?
- Promoting vids: distribution channel pros and cons, reaching your audience
- Genres: how do you classify vids and why? (with the understanding that genres are fluid)
- Source choices: which shows and why?
- Meta
- Avisynth
- Colour
- Motion
You are still very welcome to come up with other topics.

In addition, lim has very generously offered an effects visualisation discussion that I will host in my journal. Vidders will be invited to raise questions about specific musical tracks they're working with and how the music could be translated in effects work. Since many vidders (myself included!) say they have trouble visualising effects, I think this could be awesome! Of course it would be great if other people could help workshop/respond to queries too, so keep that in the back of your mind if you're interested in helping out. ;-)

Sign ups are easy. Drop me a line in the comments with the topic(s) you are willing to host and  any preferred dates or dates that you definitely cannot host. I'd like to keep the posting dates on weekends for simplicity's sake, so for instance you might say:
- I'd be willing to host a chat on multifandom vidding any weekend in October except the weekend of 23/24.

Hosters will be chosen on a first in best dressed basis but I'm not expecting a stampede. ;) If no one signs up I will go and beg the people that responded to my poll saying they might. :D You do not have to have a perfect vision of the chat to sign up!! Believe me, I winged every single one of mine. Working it out as you go along is just fine though I suggest you check with whoever suggested the topic and see what they had in mind, as some valuable extra details are given in the vidding topic collection post.
Any/all pimpage and promotion gratefully received.

ETA: Sorry, I'm unco with Rich Text. And if you have any questions at all, let me know!