TechBox - What’s in my techbox.

This is an actual question I get asked. On my Treshnish retreat it was the one post I definately wanted to write. It has been the hardest. Why? Because I didn't want it to just be a list.

Capturing content is just the first step. The next is to establish a workflow to produce content, The next is the creative spark followed by the skill to edit and compose in a compelly way to reach the point of publication.

So I have a long list. I wanted it to be comprehensive including EVERYTHING!

Its easy to layout the devices but media making is not that aesthetically pleasing. Behind the scenes are cables, batteries, back ups, power supplies, extention cables and software.

The software and apps facilitate creativing.

This is the topography of my personal media kit. It’s from this I develop and compile tech boxes based on client needs by knowing my needs for streaming, production or capture and the technology insights of what’s on the market at various price points to make solutions for all budgets possible.

From the bottom right… Stage Left

Primary Mobile Phone iPhone 8 (not show, used to take photo!)

⁃ Lightening cable
Primary iPad 2018
⁃ Lightening cable
iPad stylus pencil
⁃ USBc charging cable
Primary headphones (Audio-Technica ATH-FC700)
⁃ 2.5mm jack cable ext
⁃ 2.5 - 1/4" jack adapter
Apple in ear headphones
Ospey Mifi x15 devices wifi hub
⁃ Unused sim card
Mini projector (audience / Isadora monitoring screen)
⁃ Power supply
⁃ Remote + x2 AAA regargable Batteries
⁃ Mounting clamp
⁃ HDMI cable with apple display port adapter
Livescribe 3 Smartpen
⁃ Folio Case
⁃ A5 Notebook
A5 Paper Notebook
⁃ Pen
1TB External HardDrive

Bluetooth Mouse
⁃ AA rechargable battery
Joby mini tripod
⁃ tripod mobile phone clamp
3m lightening cable
USB charging plug
Body Camera (Boblov dv007)
⁃ Micro SD card
⁃ SD card adapter
Webcam - Logitech C922

Down Stage Centre!
MacBookPro
Asus i7 Windows Laptop
SamsonGO mic
⁃ Lightning to USB socket adapter (for iPad or iPhone)
AltecLansing - wired external speaker
⁃ x3 AAA rechargable batteries
⁃ 2.5mm jack ext cable
AvesAqua - Bluetooth Conferencing Speaker
⁃ Mini USB charging cable
iPad bluetooth keyboard
Point & Shoot HD Koday zi12 still & video camera
⁃ x2 charged spare batteries
⁃ Spare SD card
⁃ Battery charing station
⁃ micro USB to USB power / data cable
Bluetooth wireless Microphone (Sony ECM-AW3)
⁃ in-ear piece for monitoring
PowerGorrilla
⁃ USB power boost adapter
⁃ iPhone charging cable
⁃ Air / Cabin / Car socket adapter for multi voltage devises)
⁃ MagPower cord to Air / Cabin / Car plug

Up Stage Centre Right (moving down)

MacBook power supply / charging cable
Asus Laptop power supply / charging cable
PowerGorrila charging power supply

x2 MultiTools (unbranded)
⁃ pliers
⁃ wire stripper
⁃ blade
⁃ picks / levers
Contact (business card) Inked Stamp

iPhone 6 (Secondary wifi camera)
x2 Pasta MugShot (food is food missed!)
Bluetooth Headphones
Hooked mini bungie cord
Prop makers wire
Sharpie Marker
Plastic cable ties

Monitor mirror (for non flip out display devises)
Tripod screw mount selfie stick

Mini tool kit (Pink Box)
⁃ Craft knife
⁃ Allen Keys
⁃ micro head flat and Phillips head screw drivers
⁃ Flat head screwdriver
⁃ Safety Pins
⁃ Multi head ratchet screwdriver and bits
⁃ Tape Measure
⁃ Bottle Opener
⁃ Needlenose Pliers

Velcro cable ties
x2 USB flexible keyboard lights
Black Gaffa Tape
x2 rolls of LX (electrical) / spike marker tape
Bulldog Clip

ZXspectrum Pencil Case
⁃ Bank access code generator
⁃ Battery Charger
⁃ Micro USB power cable
x4 AA rechargable batteries (charged spares)
x6 AAA regargable batteries (charged spares)

Canvas text pring bag
⁃ Micro SD card - USB adapter (for Body Cam)
⁃ Micro USB charging cable (for Body Cam)
⁃ Lens Cloth (for Body Cam)

Down Stage Right

Black zipped storage case
Black mesh front storage bag

International plug block with x2 USB sockets
x6 13amp power socket bar

The box and the mobile functionality.

This TechBox has been evolved around a minimalist budget with media creativity at its core. Coming away and doing this post displays the essentials. The TechBox commissions include everything including the box or suitable container for all the tech. The cables, all labelled. The cases and storage bags. The manuals and configuration set ups get detailed for commissioned boxes too. This is a blogging and attendance set up. While I’ve been away I’ve been attending Webinars are zoom catch ups. Clear video and good audio. Video editing and learning. Comfort set with the folding table or folded to enable standing desk.

Explorer Case 5122
Lavolta folding table/ standing desk

So here it is.

What's in a Stage Manager’s digital tool box?

I have on occasion been referred to as Mary Poppins, one time when a friend was asked at a party I was also a guest at ‘You don’t happen to have, xxx do you? My friend replied, well I don’t but I expect CJ does! I opened my kit bag and yes I had a whistle! I was visiting friends in York at the time but a stage manager is never truly off duty! It’s deep in our psyche.

The revelation of the whistle about my person prompted - wow you are like Mary Poppins. The word had got around! Yes, I can’t go anywhere without a tool kit and a myriad of items that one day might come in handy.

So what about my digital ‘carpet bag’? Before sharing what’s in it I think a definition of the structure of the ‘digital carpet bag’!

Working on the move the apps you use, how you connect to them and the smoothest transition from desk to devices is important. That is the toolkit for this article.

Rocketbook - Dyslexics & Scribblers, you need one of these.

Potentially, the only notebook you will ever need to buy, ever again. I kid you not. You don't need a special tech pen, but you do need to use Pilot Frixion pens. I can't wait to get mine. 

"Rocketbook allows people to enjoy the pleasure of writing in a traditional paper and pen notebook, while digitizing all notes and sending them to the cloud, without introducing any special electronics." says the campaign page.

 Cool or what?

Go check it out

BassBuds - The Sound of Fashion.

I need a new set of headphones. A set came with my iPhone but they never stay in my ears. They alway feel as if they will fall out at any moment. There are 2 reasons I use headphones. One, is to privately listen to music and the other is to isolate sound while listening to playback audio during recording or for later when editing video or audio podcasts. Oh and a third, I have a 'pillow speaker' this lays beneath my pillow with my ear placed over it I can listen to late night Radio 4 and World Service without disturbing my partner who is an astonishingly light sleeper.

In the post came my BassBuds and a request to write a review. First impressions… Oooo pretty. Sapphire blue and silver with cut crystals in the backs of the ear buds. Integrated mic for hands-free but in reality I always feel a bit silly using hands free and I never seem to be able to hear the caller. Anti-tangle cable, now that has an appeal. 

I must confess I'm not a follower of fashion trends I prefer my own style. Carefully selected accessories and colour accent appeals to me though. Purple resonates with me so too do blues and teals.

Classic Collection BassBuds - "Your colour, your style"

Mine are blue (left) and I've grown quite fond of them. The embedded crystals are a stylish touch, the question is however as ear phones what are they like?

How does music sound using them?

I have worked with professional audio engineers and I have been instructed to listen to sound through pro standard closed can headphones and the reproduction is markedly superior to a domestic end products. 

These are in-ear and as I mentioned at the start they never stay in. The only sets I have came with devises they were intended for. The first ones for personal stereos could only sound as good as the devise was capable of producing. With a devise producing good audio I can distinguish between base and treble accents. Clear sound, rich sound, muted, dull, tinny and balanced are terms I understand.

Swoping between headphones I can identify depth of sound and reproduction quality depending of course on the quality of the output source.

Advanced Crystaltronics Sound Technology? As technical specifications go BassBuds sadly seems to follow a 'now for the science bit' advertisement.

But... I have to reiterate the products tagline,

BaseBuds - "Your colour, your style"

these are a fashion accessory a personal statement. In this approaching age of the quantified-self every element can be customised, every one can be an individual. Brand identity and affiliation are important in our tribal social society. BassBuds are part of you, reflecting your chromatic resonance.

 

I mentioned that in-ear head phones never stay in my ears. Included in the box are 3 sets of earbuds in 3 sizes; small, medium and large in black memory some, clear and black silicone buds. Small clear silicone are just the trick.

Are you going to check them out? - www.bassbuds.co.uk

Are you looking for a new set of in-ear phones?

Use this code BB38466 for £5 off

Disclosure: I received a set of BassBuds in exchange for publishing this post

PS! a pet hate of mine, the misuse of QR opportunity. Never send a QR code scan to a standard home page especially if it's not mobile friendly. Engagement, up sell, Facebook like, twitter follow, instruction manual or best of all a secret special offer. The options are numerous. 

Related articles

Review | Super Stylish BassBuds Headphones

BassBuds Review and Coupon Code for $30 off

BassBuds Earbuds with SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS: Great Gift for Girls

Bass Buds Earphones Review

Holiday Gift Idea - Bass Buds High Performance in-ear Headphones

PCM in pictures - 2011

Open publication - Free publishing - More caron lyon

A microsite solution for your events - Twoppy

When is an app not an app? When its a mobile optimised dedicated miro-site. Twoppy sits perfectly on most web enabled mobile devises. No multi-platform designing necessary just a few more steps to install than the one click 'install' command app store users are familiar with.

twoppy^® was founded in 2009 and is based in Leusden en Leiden, The Netherlands. With every event you organise the possibility to offer an easy to use and affordable mobile event guide is a reality. twoppy® can be used for festivals, exhibitions, conferences, amusement parks, zoos, sporting events and more... check out the Twoppy "Dream Team"

The New Technologies for New Audiences has a Twoppy event guide. The Audience or attending delegates use the event guides for free, to modify the branding as CultuurNet Flanders has done requires a basic upgrade at a cost of £152.27 for a year. The intention of this post is to get the New Technologies for New Audiences event guide on to your devise for you to get great added value when you attend next week's events. The method my vary from devise to devise. These screenshots are from an iPhone.

This is the event guide once installed.

Program: Lists the programmed sessions scheduled with date and times. When multiple sessions are taking place at one time the event guide enabled you to indicate 'wanna go' and builds a personal itinerary for you. Brilliant!

Speakers: Tells you who is speaking, what session they are presenting and the 'wanna go' button adds the session to your personal itinerary.

Map: Plots on a local map of the event area the venue, hotels and near by establishment the organiser wants to hi-light.

Wanna Go: This is where your personal session schedule is created and stored for a quick glace showing only the sessions you selected to attend.

Information: Everything you need to know about the event itself.

Visitors: Who is attending which sessions and doubles as a checkin service to indicate who was there.

Tweets: All the hash-tagged tweets without having to go to twitter or even have a twitter account.

Partners: Who has made the event possible? Who has supported the project? Local organisation or businesses with special offers to delegates. This is an acknowledgements board.

Here is how.

Open your mobile devise's browser and enter the URL m.twoppy.com but don't follow the instructions immediately.

Scroll down the list without cancelling the pop up box and tap the New Technologies for New Audiences event icon before carrying out the instructions starting by tapping the button indicated and 'Add to Home Screen'

Next you add the text to appear beneath the icon when it appears as the app on your devise. Tap return!

Locate the icon on your devise. Explore the Event Guide enjoy the New Technologies for Audience event. If you are in Ghent find me, tweet. If you are unable to attend join me on the live-stream, there is direct chat on the livestream viewer and there will be a chat room running on the Audiences Europe Network.

QR Code Art Exhibition in Vannes

via 2d-code.co.uk

Quick Response... don't you get the urge to to pick up your phone and look for that QR scanning app you have never used?

Even more awesome watch this video through your scanning app, I recommend RedLaser with the multiple scan option turned on you can pick up some, not all, of the QR codes in the exhibition through the video. How cool is that! With a little considered filming a more reliable scanning experience could be achieved. 

I will be running QR code masterclasses throughout November. Make and Create you own is the objective of the class.

Institute of Fundraising - Resources and Reflection

I often research a topic before meeting a client. Not every seed germinates. But I figure the infomation will come in hand, especially if its a secor or industry I'd like to work within. Primarily I'm a resource provider and project facilitator so I guess fundraising is a niche I'm attracted to. I've never really done any direct campaigning but I've taken part in a fair few sponsored events, supported Red Nose Day, Children in Need and regualarly donate to Green Peace and NSPCC. I do avoid on the street charity subscription teams in the same way I give Big Issue sellers and market researchers a wide birth. When I'm in town I'm more often than not passing through on a work erands.

Ok the point! After a day at the Institute of Fundraising's 2011 National Convention I remembered some research I'd done for a client the year before. At this years convention there was an interest in the potential of social media, it's associated technology, platforms and tools to compliment and support fundraising activity with some great examples. Mobile in particular encouraging what I come to call 'ambient participation' was of interest to many, the most potent and easy to adopt being QR codes. A QR code opens up the opportunity for printed media and digital displays to connect directly to a donation page via a mobile devise. Intergrated with a mobile payment mechanism this 'ambient participation' (catching people at a moment of engagement while out and about) has great value. 

Being 'on the ground' for this event as a blogger was quite liberating as a practitioner. I got to make media. As PCM's organiser I spend much of my time at events serveying the crowd, maintaining a schedule and liasing with the venue or event team. Having a second blogger, a highly capable one (@philcampbell) has made the PCM 'on the ground' events and projects I have been engaged with possible. I had a great time at #IOFNC. 

I loved NFP Voice's use of QR codes. Voice's Head of Client Servcies and Strategy, Sylwia Presley invited Phil and I to cover the event. Here are their t-shirts, postcards and exhibition stand. The stand was inspired. I've never known how to tackle delivering a stand for PCM but now I know. Breathtakingly simple.

A selection of fundraising-online resources and articles from previous research.

Social Networks (and widgets) for Community Building, Taking Action and/or Fundraising - http://www.wearemedia.org/Tactical+Track+Module+5 

Raise Money on Facebook: Four Fundraising Applications You Need to Know About - http://www.nten.org/blog/2007/09/27/raise-money-on-facebook-four-fundraising-applications-you-need-to-know-about 

Video Tutorial: How To Embed A Social Or Fundraising Widget Into Your Facebook Page http://johnhaydon.com/2009/01/embed-social-fundraising-widget-facebook-page/ 

Online Platforms
Fundraising widgets for webs, blogs and social networking sites.  

  www.justgiving.com - About Just Giving 

When we created the company in 1999, our dream was to enable any charity, however small, to use the web to raise money at very low cost. Almost no one believed it could be done. Nearly ten years later, we are proud to have become the leading online platform for charity giving, helping over 8,000 member charities raise more than £450 million.

BringLight.com

A central hub for charities to post information about themselves and get donations. All listed charities are certified.

http://www.pincgiving.com/

Providing the leading technology platform for Chief Philanthropic Officers to engage and inspire ~ Helping corporations and charities achieve their philanthropic goals  Donate to the charity of your choice in Canada, USA, UK and Australia; put the power of giving on your organization's website; create a peer to peer fundraising campaign or access millions of dollars in grant money.  ALL in the currency of your choice.

http://www.kickstarter.com/

Kickstarter is a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors, explorers... 

http://www.chipin.com/

ChipIn’s mission is to make it easy to collect money. We enable users to organize group payments and fundraisers (”ChipIns”) in a quick, easy, and secure way. We also make it simple for organizers to publicize their ChipIns, by providing powerful fundraising widgets that can be embedded in social media.

http://www.firstgiving.com/

Start raising money with a fundraising page. You can make your own fundraising page on Firstgiving to raise money for any nonprofit organization. Email your page to friends, family and colleagues, who donate by credit or debit card in an easy, secure online transaction.

 

The adventure continues...

The Ying of Dans Iphone Wang from Philip Campbell on Vimeo.

It should have been the beginnings of a beautiful collaborative adventure.

The story doesn't end here.