any chats scheduled soon? (1 Viewer)

[Megan_A_D]

I looked through all the stuff at the top of the page but I don't see any mention of upcoming chats...

Of course it could be because there are none currently scheduled but I'm not a very frequent visitor (every 2-4 months I show up for a few days) and I was just realizing that Peter Staddon usually shows up in July for a chat based on 2000/2001 so I was wondering if that was true this year too??

Thanks

Megalion

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=64274
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=67581
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=62886
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=39870
-V

 

[Megan_A_D]

ahh thanks Vince for pointing me at the appropriate threads...

well I hope something turns up someday that works.

 

[Michael*K]

Just did a search to see if the chat question had been asked previously. It really pisses me off that a few select assholes have to ruin everything for the rule abiding majority on this forum. Being in the Midwest, I don't get to go to studio events like those held in NY or L.A., so I'm unable to ask questions directly about future and current plans. I hope someday a more effective software solution can be found so we can continue these informative chats that I so looked forward to in the past.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

They are a great place to hear new developements and release dates...but, Ron is right...it got totally out of hand and some people were just abusing the priveledge. What they want in Chat software, however, is probably not going to be feasible. As far as I know, there is no way to block whispers or taglines. Having something like that custom programmed would be pretty costly. Too bad because although I didn't ask questions, I did like the chats.

Bruce

 

[Nigel McN]

maybe it is time to make one of these threads sticky

 

[Joe Bernardi]

Have the moderators considered an alternative to chats?

You could have a thread asking the membership what questions they would ask a particular studio rep or other individual.

A moderator (or designee) could then take the appropriate questions and either have a one-on-one chat or interview the individual, then post the chat or interview results later.

 

[David Lambert]

Joe, Ron's standard response to a suggestion of the type you have made is that the "questionaire" interviews just do not work for him because it is not spontaneous, and that when the person asked has time to consider the answer, they also consider whether they should answer...and then frequently don't answer at all. It's ineffectual compared to a chat, because in the heat of the moment they give away much more information than they would otherwise.

I have made this suggestion before, but I will make it again now. I urge Ron to consider it, because there is, at this time, definately no chats going on, and this is (in my mind) the best alternative to a chat (other than "no chats", which is what we've got now):

1) A "chat" (note the use of quotes) is announced with a particular person or studio to be held on a certain date at least a month in advance.
2) All HTF members are invited to submit questions direct to Ron in advance...any question goes. There is no guarantee that your question will get asked, though.
3) Ron (or whoever he designates) goes through and decides what the questions will be. It can be on whatever basis he considers best: most-frequently submitted, "oh...that's a good one!", most likely to generate a response, whatever.
4) The questions are NOT shared with the target of the chat prior to the night of the chat.
5) On the night of the chat, noone is allowed to talk openly except for Ron and the guest.
6) Whispers to Ron or the guest are forbidden. The chat is over the second the first whisper occurs. Even if its from an intruding, non-HTF member who just stumbled into that IRC room. This is assuming that whispers can't be turned off by the moderator, which I don't think they can.
7) The reason to have an audience at all is to ensure that the guest feels obliged to answer questions. Otherwise, it's just a regular interview, right?
8) The results are published as a chat transcript where everyone can enjoy it, even if they couldn't attend that night.
9) For a REAL spontaneous experience, Ron could designate someone (like Packy or Vince) to accept "on-the-fly" follow-up questions from the audience in the form of e-mails. That recipient would have sole discretion as to whether the question is "important" enough to pass on to Ron in the middle of the chat, so Ron can get it in before it's over. For instance: Ron asks STUDIO when FILM is coming out, and STUDIO replies "March 2003". MEMBER sends, say, Vince an e-mail that asks "FILM is a love story; shouldn't STUDIO put it out in time for Valentine's Day?"...Vince decides whether Ron should be made aware of the question to ask STUDIO as a follow-up.
10) For "the next day", the inevitable thread which discusses the results of the chat will exist. There are three options: A) Discuss this with guest beforehand and see if they are "mature" enough to appreciate the honest feedback about their answers to the chat questions...if they are worth talking to at all, they SHOULD appreciate bona fide input and reaction. If they don't, then B) don't allow such a thread at all, and lock such threads as they form (make sure in advance that moderators are avialable to monitor for these), or C) allow such a thread, but warn all HTF members that negative feedback is forbidden, as these are our guests, and that their membership is jeopardized by way of making any criticism of the guests or their responses.


Again, it's not perfect. But it's better than no chat at all. I miss getting the in-depth info from these things. I'd take one, even in the form I just described.

 

[Joe McKeown]

While I havn't attended any of the chats live. I must say that I very much enjoyed reading the transcripts of the chats. and would very much hate to see them the victim of "a few bad apples." (Never let the bastards win!)

By my count there are 27,972 forum members who are probably smarter than I am. Perhaps one of them knows of an affordable non-IRC chat software.

Perhaps the software engineering subset of Forum members could work an Open Source package "HTFChat" that Ron could control more securely. It could even address the queue order problem the users of different chat clients percieve.

As I recall Sun was working on a whole P2P API that might suit nocely...

Joe

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

I would suggest to anyone hurting for chats to go out and look for a chat application the HTF could run on their own server. I have written a few ASP simple chat rooms (nothing that could handle the volume of a HTF chat)-- so I assume someone wrote an application similar to UBB/Vbulletin that allows sites to have their own chat room engine.

If you find a well regarded, hearty piece of software that the HTF might be able to get- bring it to the attention of the staff. Given the size and visibility of the site, I'd bet there would be one or two development companies who would be willing to hook the HTF up at a sweet price... Heck maybe someone will write something that can read from the Vbulletin DB so that users have to be registered to log onto the chat and ask questions (everyone else would be silent visitors)...

Someone just has to do the research and find out what programs exist.

-V

 

[Parker Clack]

I have looked a bunch of the software packages out there and non have met the following criteria. This is what we need the software to do.

1)Be able to be accessed with javascript and IRC

2)Able to turn of whispering any other member in the chat. The only ones that would be able to do so would be the sysops of the chat only.

3)I would prefer that it be run locally on our own server.

Parker

 

[John Thomas]

Michael*K echos my situation and sentiments. However, perhaps a interview would work better until software that meets Parker's specifications can be found. A specific section could be created or even just s sticky thread in the Studio section where forum members could be appraised of the next chat and suggest questions to be reviewed by Ron and Parker.
Well, after re-reading, I noticed David said what I did (with Max. Verbosity) - I'd think that would work and it would bring back the feel of being in-touch with the studios.

 

[David Lambert]

Hey, I'm nothing if not detailed and specific! :wink:

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Parker,

Just out of curiosity, why does it have to run through IRC? By bypassing IRC completely you easily remove all the problems you have with the protocol (whispering, user registration).

It seems you'd better off using a completely localized chat engine run 100% on your server and only accessible through this protocol.

Is there some specific reason it has to still operate through IRC and thereby using IRC protocol rules?

-Vince

 

[Nigel McN]

I suspect he means for it to be usable with normal irc software, like mIRC, so the chats can be easy to get into for everyone involved.

 

[JonZ]

I guess this is the area for this question as it relates to DVDs and releases.
I was wondering why we havent seen any chats with the studios for some time.Warner,MGM,New Line used to get involved but that seems ot have stopped.

I was wondering if someone could tell me why and if there are any plans for future chats with any of the studios.

 

[Jeffrey Gray]

Well, I don't know the real reason, but I presume that it is partly due to the incessant studio-bashing and mean-spirited negative criticism on this forum...just my belief.

 

[Robert Crawford]

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...t=studio+chats

 

[Patrick McCart]

It would really help if all questions were submitted to moderators first to keep questions from being repeated and also rude comments from being said.

That way, there wouldn't be 10 questions about why ____ doesn't have DTS or when will snappers be gone...and allow questions which can actually benifit from being asked to be asked.

The past chats were lots of fun and it would be neat to have them again granted that a little bit more respect is given to the guest. After all, it's a great gesture from a studio to agree to participate in a HTF chat.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Actually, after some deep thought and several
discussions with my partner, we are going to hold
the first of three chats in the next two
weeks.
One chat will involve a studio, another chat
will involve someone involved in DVD production, and
the third will involve a very famous Hollywood
Director.
We will announce the lineup shortly.
I will warn this now --- I don't want to read
any badmouthing the day after the chat towards
individuals that gave up their time to spend with us.
If taht kind of stuff happens again, we'll just go
back to not doing these chats.