Reader Feedback: What's the best way to televise a large conference?

Italian anarchy

Paul McGoldrick:
Very interesting article on Italian anarchy in the October issue. I didn't completely follow the whole story and wondered if you knew if it had been chronicled anywhere else in more complete form, such as a book or longer article.
Larry Olson
DV3 Productions
Wilmington, NC

Paul McGoldrick responds:
I couldn't find any story in English chronicling the pirate times, but the funny thing is that it is all happening again. That original pirate, Berlusconi, is now regarded as a media mogul by the Italian public, and pirate TV stations are starting up in competition with him! You can watch a short documentary about it at www.archive.org/details/telestreet2.

Televised conference

What's the best way to televise a large conference? Say 250 delegates? I was thinking about using three cameras and a control station for mixing and post production and then distributing the video over the Internet.

It's a research question right now, and any feedback that you can provide would be most appreciated.
Jeremy Phillips
Regina

Dan Stark, CBNT, of Stark Raving Solutions responds:

Jeremy, if you are doing a meeting as a one-time event, I suggest you use an event video production company. It will have all the equipment needed, including cameras, switchers, an intercom, projectors, screens and other video production requirements, as well as qualified technicians and operators.

Several excellent companies are available for this. One of our clients, Big Picture Productions, based in the Kansas City area, travels all over the country for events like this. The costs are difficult to estimate because it depends so much on the production gear and staff requirements, plus the duration of your event. Certainly an issue to discover quickly is how readily available a high-speed Internet connection is in the venue where you plan to hold your event.

If your meeting space requires its own facilities, several quality levels and costs are available. You could easily spend between $25,000 to $500,000, depending on your specific requirements. Selecting the appropriate technology is as complex as figuring out what kind of automobile you might require. Do you need a Geo Metro, a Cadillac or a semi tractor trailer?

September Freezeframe:

Q. The September freezeframe question asked for the proper wiring color-code for an RJ 45.

A. As several readers noted, there are two standards of RJ-45 writing, T-568A and T-568B. The more common is the T-568B, which was the answer we were looking for. However, anyone who submitted the correct writing for the T-568A standard was counted as having submitted a correct response and will receive a T-shirt.

Unfortunately, many readers got the right colors but reversed the nomenclature. Therefore, their answers were incorrect.

The T-568B standard calls for a white wire with an orange stripe to be connected to pin 1. This wire would be designated as white/orange. Pin 7 needs a white wire with a brown stripe, designated as white/brown.

Some readers reversed the their use of the color codes — in this example, designating pin 7 as brown/white. This is incorrect. Wiring practice dictates that the predominate wire color be referenced first, followed by the color of the stripe (or the larger of two stripes if there are two).

Freezeframe winners:

Frank Butler
Tim Costley
Jeff Ebner
Robert Getsla
Dwight Huffman
Richard Kuhn
Dan Kyte
Andrew Levine
Melissa Lowver
Roger Perales
Bob Peticolas
John Proctor
James Scott
Eugene Scott
David Smith
Jeffrey Snell
Robert Sulecki
Cindy Watanabe
Tom White