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‘Leaving Do’ for AltSpace @39 Whitfield Street

Farewell AltSpace @39WhitfieldStreet - cover

The sun is setting on Cybersalon’s first metaverse presence built in AltSpace. In November 2022 Cybersalon used this VR and Browser-accessed metaverse to augment a virtual attendance option to launch a self published book of short  speculative fiction stories in a book called “22 Ideas about the Future”.

Guardian_OnLine_Sep_08_1994In 1994 the first internet cafe, Cyberia, a new point of presence came into existence after several false starts so a Guardian article from Sept 1994 reflects. (see article right)  article link

In July 2022 a project began to take the legacy and reminiscence storytelling of Cyberia to a new dimension, the metaverse, with its Cybersalon present day maverick, tech savvy community. AltSpace @39 Whitfield Street was conceived. Other platforms were considered but in the autumn of 2022 Microsoft’s VR metaverse AltSpace offered the most comprehensive facilities for hosting events.

The intention was always to make 39 Whitfield Street a multi-presence metaverse experience. Establishing the AltSpace presence was the first toe in the water. This farewell soiree begins in AltSpace and will retire for a first look and conversation in it's 22 Ideas Lounge in metaverse platform Spatial.

39 Whitfield Street in AltSpace is a faithful reconstruction of Cybersalons first bricks and mortar Cyber Cafe “Cyberia” which opened at 39 Whitfield Street in Central London in 1994. Cybersalong hosted 3 events in AltSpace before the announcement came on Jan 10th 2023 that the platform would sunset on March 10th. So before our fun starts it is to come to an end, in AltSpace at least. https://altvr.com/sunset/

Join us for a farewell to 39 Whitfield Street in AltSpace. Bring your 39 Whitfield Street Cyberia recollections. Last chance to don a Paper Hat and visit Hallidonto’s exhibited works. Join Eva and a few choice guest speakers for this end of the world soiree!

This is not the end! 

Thursday 9th March 

7pm - 9pm

Event Programme / timeline

18.30 - Zoom opens  (Audience Zoom link - On Request)

18.45 - AltSpace event destination opens - Destination Code - TXA241

19.10 - Welcome

19.05 - Soiree

20.00 - Chill out and Chat (AltSpace)

20.30 - Thank you and Farewell Altspace

20.30 - Spatial 22 Ideas Immersive Lounge opens

22.00 - Cybersalon Event Ends


Blue Stocking Society pitch collaboration with ChatGTP

My pitch delivered to the ladies at Blue Stockings Society on Monday 23rd Jan. Following this is the text I collaboratively through prompts generated by ChatGTP.

We came together at Tiger Community Enterprise in Nottingham's Lister Gate. It was about networking to bring a problem or issue we'd like help from fellow entrepreneurs. There was a opportunity to vote on who you think should win the £600 accumulated fund and network with other amazing women. I took SafetyCurtain as I presented my first ever pitch to fundraise. My pitch written with the help of ChatGTP3.

The winner was Fatou from Guinea (photo bottom right) who told us about the experience of pregnant women in her home country and her own sisters death while trying to give birth. Fatou’s friend has just trained as a midwife and is setting up a voluntary birthing hut so that women can access free support and midwifery and hopes to reduce mortality rates in their home town. The £600 will buy sterilising equipment, beds and packs given to the women after birth.

BlueStockings Jan 2023 cropped

photo credit - Blue Stockings Society

Ladies, I am excited to introduce you all to SafetyCurtain, an international charitable trust that I have been a trustee of since 2019. SafetyCurtain is dedicated to providing small grants, usually less than $1,200 (around £970), to struggling actors outside of the UK. Our small grants help with essential living costs and personal medical bills to assist those living in war zones, extreme poverty or exposed to political conflict.

SafetyCurtain stands side by side with performers in the toughest places in the world.

Continue reading "Blue Stocking Society pitch collaboration with ChatGTP" »


Are you starting the year slightly unravelled?

MyWord 2023 - Balance

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If you are starting the year slightly unravelled well you are not alone. Resolutions are ill advised but selecting a word to live by through out the next 365 days has been a foundation for me for a few years now.

This year after much thought I am needing to go with ‘Balance’.

On Jan 1st I reached 11.15am before my first wave of anxiety passed over me. This years word and it’s application to my life ‘Balance’ has many meditations before it.

I have plans for 2023. There is uncharted territory. There is perspective to recognise and secure. ToDo lists to compile and close. Balance to be pursued in my work and my life. Balance in how long I spend on tasks and assign to projects. I currently struggle with balance.

Tread lightly in January. Listen to your head and heart. I am resilient yet fragile. Delicate yet resolute. #MyWord for 2023 is Balance. What is yours?

It needs no explaining. One word. No requirement to copy paste and share but you are free to do so. My image was created using Canva perhaps you would like to make a #MyWord image for yourself. Print it as a card for you wallet or purse. Use it as your desktop wallpaper.

Previous words I have lived with… Boundaries (2020), Mindfulness (2021), Posture (2022).

I spent December in ‘overwhelmed on a rollercoaster’ mode!

Welcome to 2023… on my terms with a new resolve.

See you around.


#EdFringe2022 - Can't be there - webcast show

Let’s look at the Edinburgh Fringe

Streaming to YouTube, Twitch & on Facebook LIVE to the PCM projects FB Page. From the StreamYard studio I can see your comments across the digital landscape. Pick your platform.

I’m looking for guests for future web and podcasts. 7 EdFringe streams scheduled but will be following the fringe with Series 5 of my Lunchtime Livestream show starting Sept 1st.

Please comment, post your questions or just shout a hello.

Ep.01 - Show LINK on YouTube (recorded LIVE 12th Aug 12.30 UK time)

Ep01 - Get with the programme

Live look at the Edinburgh Fringe programme and planning in the face of no app to help you this year. As well as chat, musings, digital meandering and virtual dreams from me Caron Lyon. Literally looking at the Edinburgh Fringe programme. Its rabbit hole time. A will share my tip and trick to help you find a path to maximise your EdFringe experience.
 
Ep.02 - Show LINK on YouTube (recorded LIVE 12th Aug 14.30 UK time)
Ep02 - with Joe Strickland
 
With 2 shows at this years Edinburgh Festival Fringe we will look back at the Chronic Insanity journey and find out what nuggets of wisdom Joe Strickland can share. Twice in one day! Live look at the Edinburgh Fringe. Conversation with Artistic Director of Nottingham based Chronic Insanity Theatre. Chat, musings, digital meandering data and immersive futures. Caron's guest is Joe Strickland.
 
Chronic Insanity show at #EdFringe2022
 
With the streams its my aim to help you find a path to maximise your EdFringe experience. Or understand a little more about the behemoth  that is the annual Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The biggest but not the only fringe festival. It is my ambition to take a show or be present as part of the official programme in 2023. How and whats involve to where I might be if I do take part is still quite overwhelming. These shows are a way for me to focus my fear and talk to those who are living the dream.
 
I've been to the fringe a couple of times. I loved each experience. I want to share how I managed and hear from performers and producers about what makes the Edinburgh Fringe so special.
 
Its an excuse to make media too. I do love a livestream. N.O.T.E No Opportunity To Edit!
 
Check out my podcast to - West Park Park Bench Podcast - https://anchor.fm/pcmcreative
 
WestParkParkBench-promo
 
 

In defence of liveness.

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Immersive and Liveness are just two buzzwords voiced with often little true comprehension.

At a day of panel discussion and presentations in a physical venue (21st April 2022) 50 mins in and the deafening rhetoric of self congratulatory ego at the expense of the general public was nauseating.

The case presentations were a saving grace but the inexcusable had been perpetuated.

Sat in the bleachers of a 100 capacity with an attendee count of 4 and 6 speaking guests I boiled while a panel of 4 blandly exchanged platitudes reflecting on a film festival injected with immersive delusions. A vanity for audience on a level that defies imagination.

There I was watching. No stream, time committed to being physically present wishing I was digital so I could turn off my camera and roll my eyes. No such luck.

And I inhaled… and said out loud… “Why are we (this microscopic audience) here?” It certainly wasn’t for a benefit I could attribute to the the audience.

I said it and 5 min of outrage ensued. Sorry but not Sorry! In defence of Liveness.

Liveness. It is perspective belonging to the observer. That can be online, offline, physical, digital or virtual. It’s Now.

Liveness for the presenters is peril and jeopardy, tension and attention. Provision for moderation and management of disruption should be expected and met with a sense of relief when all goes to plan.

Laziness during live is as criminal and passing off prerecorded as live. Perhaps even greater. Liveness is special.

Audience is everything. No audience no show. Record for capture but that’s not live. You get views not applause.

The tickets might be free but the time given ‘in kind’ to attend is valuable.


Producers' Pool - Hybrid Blended Meet Up (Hosted in NY and Zoom for everyone else)

OLB invite to PRODUCERS POOL

Its not enough to just run Zoom in the background or just welcome people to a venue and call it hybrid. There has to comparable experience for the attendees 'on the ground' and attendees 'in the cloud'. There is a third dimension of 'metaverse presence' but thats another time for Producers Pool.

A the start of the pandemic Chris Grady was one of the first of my connections to get in touch for Zoom orientation. I'd hoped Producers Pool would go digital and as we emerge for the clutches of Covid it is going very well.

There have been Zoom 'in the cloud' only events and a few 'on the ground' in London. A hybrid with a foot in both camp is a holy grail and evolving as Producers Pool hybrid attempts invite attendees on the ground to bring laptops or mobile devises. Headphones are suggested. To start the events the attendees all arrive. The informal welcome is carried out as people come into the building or as the Zoom call fills up. 

Whats to see how it works? The next Producers Pool event is Tuesday 26th April

Is Producers Pool for you? Are you thinking internationally about your projects and productions? Producers Pool meetings are a chance to make connections, explore Fringe and Off-Off-Broadway opportunities in the UK, USA and beyond.

Producers' Pool is a UK started gathering of aspiring and emerging producers who come together to make connections and explore two questions - "what do I need?" which someone in this room might be able to help with, and "What can I offer?" to someone else in this room in terms of time, talent and even treasure. Mainly focussed on live theatre and musical theatre, the group has grown over Zoom in lockdown to 600+ people.

On Tuesday 26th April 1pm EST & 6pm UK time, NY based Producers and creative SPAs (self producing artists) are gathering to meet at Arts on Site at 12 St Marks Place, Manhattan hosted ‘on the ground’ by New York Producer, Writer & CGO alumna Megan Schadler. www.meganschadler.com Producers Pool’s Chris Grady www.chrisgrady.org/chris-grady is joining her while visiting the Big Apple taking in some shows. This NewYork hosted event is in association with US based organisation TRU (Theatre Resources Unlimited)

This is not a Broadway meets West End gathering - it is more Fringe and Off-off-Broadway local, national and international discussion. If you are elsewhere in the World NOT in New York, this is where the hybrid comes in and able to join us, there is a Zoom presence is hosted from the UK by yours truly, Caron Lyon @pcmvcreative

Attendees on the ground are encouraged to bring laptops or mobile devices with headphones to enable the hybrid overlap to take place for part of the meet up.

All Producers Pool events are a great place to find partners and take an idea forward.

 So if you'd like to join me 'in the cloud' or Megan, Chris and the guys from TRU 'on the ground' grab ya tickets.

On the Ground (New York) TICKET paid in $$
https://buytickets.at/chrisgradyorg/684378
In the Cloud (via Zoom) TICKET paid in ££
https://buytickets.at/chrisgradyorg/684350

My Silent Scream

The prospect of making my own work is daunting but I don’t feel I have any other option when I don’t feel smart enough, clever enough, young enough, experienced enough… just not enough, to be employed to do what I love and what I feel I’m really good at.

Its all knowledge and insight and skill that no one seems to want yet I continually enter conversations where employers can’t find employable candidates.

I can’t do all I can do at once but no one wants any part of me it seems. Lack of disposable income to make work makes me less prolific than I’m capable of being.

If I was well funded and prolific I wouldn’t be needing a job. I’d actually like a job and be part of a team. Producing and consulting is a lonely pursuit.

There lies my inner sense of failure

Perhaps I’m just not very good and any sense of value to others I have is self deluded.


My Silent Scream

The prospect of making my own work is daunting but I don’t feel I have any other option when I don’t feel smart enough, clever enough, young enough, experienced enough… just not enough, to be employed to do what I love and what I feel I’m really good at.

Its all knowledge and insight and skill that no one seems to want yet I continually enter conversations where employers can’t find employable candidates.

I can’t do all I can do at once but no one wants any part of me it seems. Lack of disposable income to make work makes me less prolific than I’m capable of being.

If I was well funded and prolific I wouldn’t be needing a job. I’d actually like a job and be part of a team. Producing and consulting is a lonely pursuit.

There lies my inner sense of failure

Perhaps I’m just not very good and any sense of value to others I have is self deluded.


Zoom does Dial In

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Conference Calls, those audio broadcast boxes delivering disembodied voices to the meeting table seem to be a thing of the past since covid introduced everyone to video meetings and webinars.

It is important to remember that not everyone has the luxury of adequate bandwidth to attend video meetings or webinars.

I always reiterate to people when I talk about video event platforms that I am a reluctant Zoom user. A zoom power use I might add as mastery of the settings extend the functionality of Zoom in some extraordinary ways.

This post is to bring attention a much overlook feature of Zoom. Its capacity to offer landline dial in access to those with no internet at all.

The pure audio experience with a receiver tucked in tightly to your ear or in these times of tech, perhaps hands free, sat back in an arm chair!

As I’m Zoom prepping for the Royal Historical Society I recalled how the last lecture did indeed have several dialled in attendees.

I want to encourage this more.

There are many reasons why your attendees might prefer the off screen, audio only experience.

Its time to step up the accessibility announcement in the continuity script I prepare for hosts.

The what I fondly refer to as the ‘hair and flair’ self described welcome for the partially signed and blind members of the audience. Those who have no use for the closed captions but do appreciate an added dimension of vocally expressed enrichment for their experience.

Audio Description of the lecture slides is a consideration in need of thought. During the first lockdown I had the joy of consulting and zoom controlling for theatre company, NotNowCollective. This was first time working directly with an audience description author.

The art of saying everything with very little!
This isn’t a post about AD but needs to be a future post.
Comment if you agree.

So don’t forget dial in is an option for Zoom especially if you want to reach a wider audience.

Care Homes for instance. If anyone would like to talk about how I’d be happy to share further thoughts on extending audience and suggest technical provision. The Royal Historical Society and the Society for Study of French History both use my services to host their Zoom lecture series. There lectures are free to attend.

The dial in details are often omitted on the assumption they aren’t required but.. if you want to join a zoom and don’t have internet remember you can request the dial in details.

RHS Events Programme, 2022

 


03 - SubShifter: ONLY what it says on the tin.

5C69F01E-4A95-4961-BF8E-18CE9E5E1CFBBack on my toolbar. Prepping videos for this years SparkArts for Children festival. I’m providing video hosting and embeds codes along with top and tail edits to insert bumper branding.


This app is essential. The caption files I’m provided with when uploaded to facilitate captioning being visible or hidden line up to the start of the film. With the branding bumper inserted the film doesn’t start until the bumper has played. Sublititle files .srt are time coded text files. To insert a time period each consequent time code has to be amended.

In a nutshell that is what this app does. Full stop!

App Store for Mobile and MAC desktop

Restricted time length on the free version

Browser Based

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