Y6 | Instructions for Workgroup Leaders
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Instructions for Workgroup Leaders
Supporting Materials
At this year’s workshop, as usual, we would like to focus our time on discussions/brainstorming and the planning of activities while avoiding presentations. Our goal is to get members involved without simply reporting what has been done within each workgroup. To that end, we ask that all presentation-like material be submitted ahead of time, so that participants may read, listen to, or visualize things before they join the meeting. These materials will all be put on the ACTOR repository in Sharepoint ACTOR_Y6_Workshop under appropriate folders for each of the workgroups. It would be most efficient if they were put there at least two weeks prior to the workshop, so by July 1st at the latest.
Materials may be pdf files of text, scores or graphics, videos, sound files, links to websites (.webloc), or anything else you deem appropriate. They should also include an activity report for Year 6 (2023-24) and a clear agenda with rough timings for each workgroup. In your workgroup session, you should leave ample time to discuss action items (who will do what over the next year). If presentations are needed, they should be limited to less than 1/4-1/3 of the time.
You may upload materials to the repository directly; access has been granted to all workgroup leaders. Alternatively, if you prefer to submit materials through us, please send an email or a link to bigger files on your preferred file transfer site to Andre Oliveira (actor-project.music@mcgill.ca). Specify which workgroup folder they should go in. The list of folder names is below (along with the head chairs of each workgroup). If by any chance you have problems or need to make changes, please email Andre specifying what the problem is and what folder is involved.
Keep in mind that the workshop will be held in a hybrid format, with many participants joining us on Zoom. It is therefore important that they have access to all the information needed to actively engage in the discussions taking place in each session.
We appreciate your timely contributions.
| Folder | Chair |
|---|---|
| Diversity | Bob Hasegawa |
| Orchidea | Carmine Cella |
| Room Acoustics | Malte Kob |
| CORE | Stephen McAdams |
| TOR | Kit Soden |
| Timbre Semantics | Lindsey Reymore, Jason Noble |
| Voice | Juanita Marchand Knight |
| AI | Philippe Esling |
| Interdisciplinary Methodologies | Moe Touizrar, Jason Noble, Rebecca Moranis |
| Timbre Afrological Music | Jason Winikoff, Juanita Marchand Knight, Joshua Rosner, Danielle Davis, Chidi Obijiaku |
| Orchestration Pedagogy | Kit Soden, Victor Cordero |
| Timbre Orchestration Analysis | Bob Hasegawa |
Hybrid Setup
To ensure it will be accessible to the maximum number of members possible, the workshop will be held in a hybrid format, meaning that all sessions will be accessible both via Zoom and in person. We are organizing a setup where in-person participants will be able to see and hear those in Zoom, which should facilitate the interaction in both ways. We anticipate that a large number of members will participate in the workshop via the online platform, and we ask that workgroup leaders try and keep them as engaged as possible. A Zoom monitor will assist workgroup leaders by checking for hands raised and making sure all questions in the chat are addressed. Moreover, we will be advising all participants attending the workshop in person to bring their laptops so they can connect with all of those joining the session via Zoom. Our goal is to promote a fluid discussion and make the physical-online barrier as seamless as possible.
Daily Communication and Follow-up Meeting
We are also asking workgroup leaders to schedule follow-up meetings with their teams over the year. We believe this will enhance progress, increase engagement, and keep everyone up to date with regards to the workgroup’s activities. To facilitate the discussion within each group, specific Slack channels have been created (see the complete list below). Please contact actor-project.music@mcgill.ca for access to Slack.
Zoom
Zoom Meeting Configuration:
If peoples’ voices start to get garbled, it is best if their ‘Suppress background noise’ setting is changed to low in their own Preferences/Audio. If their speaking gets cut up or seriously garbled in spite of these settings and due to poor internet connection, at times it works to have them disable the video so there is more bandwidth for the audio. This could be mentioned at the beginning of the session, along with the unmuting procedure.
To maximize audio quality, particularly when playing sound examples from presentation software like PowerPoint, check this quick guide with suggestions for setting up Zoom meetings – Quick Zoom Guide
Zoom Etiquette:
When not speaking, participants should remain muted to avoid disrupting ongoing discussions. One can temporarily unmute oneself by pressing on the space bar.
To manage interventions by different people (depending on the number you have), it is possible to use the "Raise hand" feature in the Participants window. In Gallery view, it is possible to see up to 49 participants on the screen (depending on your CPU) and then look for gestural cues such as physical hand raising.
The host needs to manage who talks when to avoid people talking simultaneously as Zoom attenuates any channel that isn't the loudest. It may be that a co-host or student helper could assist with keeping track of who requests speaking privileges.
Workgroup Report
Workgroup leaders are required to turn in a report with the main points discussed in their session and any action items. Every year, these reports are compiled into a workshop summary that is made available to the entire membership. Ideally, reports should be turned in by the end of the workshop, on July 17th. As usual, a student will take notes to help the workgroup leaders in that process.