#seminarcritique

[bits-things-blog]

MI2 Assess PART 2 - Seminar critique for 'Eventception'

Week 9 (21/9/12) - Inside the Mind of the Events Industry  

1.     Seminar content is focused & relevant.

The content discussed in Eventception was certainly focused and relevant to the event industry theme. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I could feel myself as an audience member really getting into what was being discussed up on the stage, I felt curious, intrigued and engaged, and never before had learnt so much about the events industry.

= HD

2. Guests relevance to topic & career development

Eventception featured three guests on the panel. They were Michael Currucan, Bruce Keebaugh and Ryan Barwood. The guest’s variety of experience enabled wide-ranging discussion that reflected both their professionalism and long history of working with events, as well as showcasing their career development over the years.  = HD

3. Quality of seminar facilitation (including set-up, staging, refreshments, audience interaction, flow, technical eg sound, IT, rapport with guest, guest briefing)

The standard of the seminar overall was high. The set up worked well with their panel size, and the refreshments served for the audience and guests made the atmosphere very inviting. There were, however, a few minor technical setbacks, particularly in sound. Otherwise, the quality of the seminar facilitation was good. =D

4. Opportunities for audience inclusion, participation & integration

This seminar group clearly put a lot of thought into creative ways in which they could strive for audience inclusion, participation and integration. Just before the seminar was to commence, the hosts were advertising to the audience that if they sit in the front two rows you could win a bottle of sparkling. This got the audience excited and involved, and encouraged people to sit up the front and close to the action.

Audience interaction was also evident during the seminar when members of the audience were asked to choose a scenario at random from a lucky-dip bag of predetermined questions to ask the panel. Similar to previous seminars, the event concluded with the floor being opened up to the audience and any questions they had for the panel. This ended the seminar on a helpful and informative note, and again encouraged participation and inclusion of everyone present in the room. = HD

5. Promotion of this weeks seminar (timely and visible)

Eventception was promoted on Facebook and Twitter, and through posters being created and a short video. The promotion was timely and exposed to the correct demographic for their event. = HD

[bits-things-blog]

MI2 Assess PART 2 - Seminar critique for 'It's Alive!'

Week 8 (14/9/12) - It's Alive! - Why Radio Survived the Death of Traditional Media

1. Seminar content is focused & relevant.

The seminar content was very relevant to the topic of the radio industry. I was intrigued by the content discussed as much of it I had not realised or taken time to think about before. The questions that the guests were asked were focused and clear, encouraging a response that would again directly relate to the theme of choice and explore their own personal career journeys in doing so. = HD

2. Guests relevance to topic & career development

The guests who featured on this panel consisted of Lauren Brain (Nova), May Hu (SBS), Jennifer Bowen (Freelancer) and Damon Hughes (triple j Unearthed). Also featured was a short video interview with Fox FM's 'Cackling Jack' who works with the renowned Hamish and Andy on their weekly radio show. Each and every guest displayed strong relevance to the topic and all shared elements of their personal career journey and development, which gave further insight and knowledge to the audience through doing so. = HD

3. Quality of seminar facilitation (including set-up, staging, refreshments, audience interaction, flow, technical eg sound, IT, rapport with guest, guest briefing)

The set up was flawless, the refreshments for guests were above standard and added a nice touch to the atmosphere, as did the way in which the stage was set up, and the area provided for the musical act of Lurch & Chief at the end of the seminar. The IT side of things did very well particularly as this seminar was a bit more demanding in it’s need for good sound, visual etc. as they had a band perform and video interviews play. Rapport with guests was evidently sound. = HD

4. Opportunities for audience inclusion, participation & integration

The audience was actively present throughout the seminar. They responded well to all aspects of the event and were clearly captivated by the content. In closing there was the opportunity for audience to ask the guests their own questions, and after the seminar the guests were able to mingle with the audience were some took the opportunity to create further discussion. = HD

5. Promotion of this weeks seminar (timely and visible)

This even was very well promoted on various platforms all of which effectively gave details on what the seminar was about and why you should be there. The promo video captured people’s interest and encouraged them to come along, an event was created on Facebook where people could click whether or not they were attending and all details were provided, and posters were also created to advertise the seminar. Overall the promotion for ‘It’s Alive!’ was timely and visible to the right crowd. = HD

[bits-things-blog]

MI2 Assess PART 2 - Seminar critique for 'Digging Up the Truth'

Week 6 (24/8/12) - Documentary - Digging Up the Truth

1.     Seminar content is focused & relevant.

The guests that they chose to have on the panel explored topics that were relevant and interesting, and all of which related to the main topic of the seminar. Topics discussed included the newest strategies to get a documentary film distributed, interviewing techniques and how one should go about finding inspiration for a new film. Another point discussed was regarding the growing combination of the Internet in documentary story telling and how the potential of interactive documentaries may arise in the future. The seminar content was very much focused and agreeably relevant, if ever a guest would go astray from a topic the host would bring them back with a fresh question directly relating to the overall theme.  = HD

2.     Guest’s relevance to topic & career development.

The guest panel consisted Nicholas Hansen, Dennis K. Smith, Helen Gaynor and John Safran. The choice of guests was diverse enough to enable invigorating and dynamic discussion throughout the seminar. All guests held significant relevance to documentary making, and their career development reflected this soundly.  = HD

3. Quality of seminar facilitation (including set-up, staging, refreshments, audience interaction, flow, technical eg sound, IT, rapport with guest, guest briefing)

The set up was of good standard, and the stage was constructed and organised in a way that would work with their presentation accordingly. The audience interaction was strong, and the crowd responded well to this. The technical side of things was adequate, sound and IT was good and worked in a way that supported the seminar. = D

4. Opportunities for audience inclusion, participation & integration

Opportunities for audience interaction were evident, such as towards the conclusion of the seminar where audience members were given the opportunity to ask the panellists questions allowing them to interact with the featured guests. For this participation was evident, but could have been more so.  = D

5. Promotion of this week’s seminar (timely and visible)

‘Digging Up The Truth’ were great at promoting their event, and they ways in which they did so were timely and visible to the right people. They created posters, promoted the seminar on Facebook, shared video teasers to capture the interest of their audiences to be. Quotes from the seminar were posted on Twitter and Facebook during the event which gave the seminar more exposure. = HD