One thing we like to do in the technology team is look back at things we’ve done, and contemplate what we’ve liked, not liked, learned, and can do. We call this a post-mortem, and after a particularly busy weekend celebrating 100 years of Temple Newsam being owned by the City of Leeds, we’ve got two events to look at!
As always our reviews – especially around stuff which didn’t go quite right – are blameless. No one individual is held responsible, as we believe this is the best way to identify our weaknesses and get them fixed.
The Whitkirk Lecture
This was a lecture held in our Community Centre, for which we provided projection and sound reinforcement, as well as video recording for later release.
Things that we liked
- Having a clicker and presenter display made our presenter more confident, as well as keeping the podium clear
Things that we didn’t like
- Our projector’s VGA input wasn’t compatible with our chosen computer’s VGA adapter, so we had to cobble together an alternative on the fly
- There weren’t many good or unobtrusive places to put our tripods to record the talk
Things we learned
- We don’t have enough power distribution options to get power where we needed it without resorting to a mix of cabling
Things we’re going to do
- Encourage more investment in the Centre as a presentation venue, such as purchasing a proper podium
- Look at the costs involved in purchasing a new projector and screen suitable for the space
- Invest in some more power distribution options for the tech team
The Annual Eucharist
We streamed this service live from Temple Newsam House, as well as relaying it across the building to an overflow space in case the Long Gallery exceeded capacity.
Things that we liked
- Using a dedicated 4G router simplified our setup, meaning we could more confidently use multiple devices
Things that we didn’t like
- Our outbound network speed wasn’t as fast as we predicted, meaning we suffered some drop-outs and loss of quality
- The poor lighting in the room meant some of our shots weren’t as sharp as we would like
- The lack of internal networking in the building meant we were forced into maintaining two entirely separate mobile network connections
Things we learned
- Our internal network’s performance was impacted by the sheer volume of people when stood
- The mobile signal in the Long Gallery, despite our router having much larger antennas than a phone, still isn’t great
Things we’re going to do
- In future, make sure our hotspot is lifted above the crowd on a tripod
- Investigate an external antenna (or two) to let us maximise our external connectivity