Next studio for HTF Chat? (1 Viewer)

[Dave H]

What studio is next for the HTF chat and when is it?

 

[Matt Butler]

I wouldnty mind a chat with Universal. Please consider it.

Thanks,

Matt

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Actually, guys, there probably aren't

going to be any more live chats.

In fact, the only reason we arranged a chat

with Van Ling is because it was something

that was promised last year before Van's

schedule was tied up.

To be honest, we just don't enjoy holding

these chats anymore because of a few reasons

that include...

1. Members whispering to our guests, often

getting very rude and vulgur. We have been

embarrased many times when we find out that

members privately bother our guests during chats.

2. Members constantly complaining that we

skipped their turn, despite the fact that we

announce the fact that server lag times cause

the name order to show up differently on all screens.

You will not believe the arguments that I get into

with members over this.

3. With regards to the above, members whispering

and complaining to me about their turns when I am

trying to Moderate a chat.

4. Members not reading the chat rules and disrupting

the chats by either calling questions out of turn

or using nicknames.

5. Despite the fact that a major studio has kindly

agreed to do a chat with us, some members piss all

over that studio the next day in threads posted to

the forum just because they didn't like the answer.

In short, it's the few members that consistently

ruin each and every chat we hold by being rude and

obnoxious that made us not want to do these chats

anymore.

I need to stress that this is not a reflection

of the membership as a whole, but individuals that

are out to ruin what should be a privilidged event

where a studio or individual takes their time to

meet with their fans or consumer base.

Using the IRC is an awful way to hold these chats.

There is very little security that prevents

individuals from causing havoc to the chat. We can't

stop the whispering that goes on with the guests

behind our back, and we can't stop the profanity that

gets posted in ENTRANCE and EXIT taglines.

We hope one day to find a SECURE chat program that

we can control all aspects of what goes on behind

the scenes, but we have yet to find such a program

and we suspect it will be very expensive for us to

purchase.

We all know that the internet is a very unsecure

and unregulated venue. By holding these chats, we

have the door open for all kinds of problems that

quite frankly, we don't want to embarrass our guests

with.

 

[MikeSerrano]

That's too bad. :frowning:
I have a suggestion:
In lieu of chats, how about an HTF Q&A?
A thread could be started to find out what is on the minds of the HTF membership concerning a particular studio (future releases, kudos, complaints), and Ron (or someone Ron trusts) could close the thread at a particular date and time, condense the information contained therein, and deliver to the studio representatives to reply by a set date.
Comments?
-Mike

 

[Rain]

Mike, you beat me to it. I was thinking the exact same thing.

It would be unfortunate if we severed all ties regarding communicating with the studios. I think they probably get as much out of it (free market reasearch) as we do.

 

[Ron Dodolak]

What would be an ideal or reasonable price for a moderated chat software package?

 

[Jon_B]

I like Mike's idea. We need to keep in contact with the studios.

I have missed every chat to date due to a conflict with the time the chat has been scheduled. It would be great if were given the opportunity to post to a thread to have a "chance" to have our questions answered.

Please don't let a few bad apples ruin this terrific privilege to communicate with the studios.

Jon

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I like Mike's idea too. We could start it very casually amongst ourselves, and figure out exactly what we want to ask them. There would be less pressure on them to respond immediately, and when they say that they'll have to look into that, they could try and find out something before they reply.

Part of this would certainly include the movies that we want to be released, and this is where the 'lists' of movies that we'd like to see on DVD come in. I know we had that one thread going last year where we all chimed in on what we wanted for one studio, and we have others out now, but I know that the task of 'studio-izing' them will not be an easy one.

They might like this way of doing it a lot better.

Glenn

 

[TomF]

If you wanted to keep it live, how about if the questions are submitted ahead of time (as suggested above), and then during the chat, only Ron could ask the questions. The rest of us would merely observe and learn.

 

[Adam Tyner]

...or what if someone cobbled together something Slashcode style where users could submit questions/comments and vote on what others have submitted? Then Ron or someone could look through the most popular entries and pass them along to the studio.

 

[Greg_Y]

No more live chats would stink. Especially since, from my viewpoint at least, they were ran so well. I can see how the behind-the-scenes messaging could be quite bothersome though.
:frowning:

 

[Dave H]

If a secure chat isn't possible, then some sort of Q & A would be great. I do look forward to hearing future releases and info.

 

[PhilipG]

So, from the best ideas above, how about:
1. Thread set up over one day so members can submit questions. Members can post to the thread but cannot see the contents (to keep the "chat" live).
2. Questions collated and ordered by popularity/diversity by the mods.
3. Chat goes ahead. Everyone is locked out of talking/whispering except for Ron and the chat guest. Ron asks the questions one-by-one. The guest, of course, has no way of knowing what will be asked.
( 4. Anyone who bitches the next day about their question not getting asked gets suspended for a week. )

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Philip,

All I can say to you is....we'll see.

 

[David Lambert]

Ron, just wanted to add in my 2¢ here:
When I first got a DVD player, I found - on my own - sites like The Digital Bits and DVD File, etc. (via search engines, mostly).
I first found out about HTF because of chat transcripts posted at The Bits.
Reading the transcripts gave me great info about the discs that were in-the-works, but it also let me see great questions asked and great trains of thought by what I thought were some pretty cool and into-DVD guys.
That lead me to lurking, for well over a year, before I finally joined and started yakking it up (bet you wish I'd shut up sometimes, eh? ).
The way I see it, the chats are part of what sets this place apart from everyone else. Like the studio tours, and the HTF Meets, and other kinds of "get-togethers" - on or off line - it shows how we are really a bunch of HT enthusiasts who talk to and with each other, instead of just swimming through seas of the latest gossip.
It also means that the studios who will chat with us and meet with us seem to have a measure of respect for us, for our questions and opinions. It gives HTF part of it's credibility. It's part of who we are.
I understand that you are getting really tired of the chats and what crap goes on...a lot of which we don't see. I recall at the Warner Chat I accidently whispered something to you that probably was distracting. I was then and still am sincerely sorry for that; it really WAS an accident (it was aimed at another member, Gord Lacey to be specific...for some reason I got confused and hit your button instead).
As for the studios getting pissed at after-chat threads in which they get bashed, I'll say this: do they want honest feedback or not? If some (or many) of us are feeling negative, should we hide it? Or do they want to know so they can gauge it as a sample of the response from the much bigger world out there? I'd say that they ought to be warned going in that such a thread is likely to start the next day, explain what I just said about getting honest to God feedback, and if they can't take it then suggest that maybe it's not a good idea to go through with the chat. In their shoes, I'd be *interested* to see what the reaction was. As was pointed out, it's FREE market research!
For the sake of the HTF, I would encourage you to find some method to preserve the chats. Thank you,

 

[Nigel McN]

you will never get the level of security desired using IRC, thats for sure, I think that you can be guarenteed that a few of use will now be looking around for alternatives.

Don't forget that probably the most 'abusive' comments were probably from when we've been blatently lied to *cough*warner*cough*.

 

[PhilipG]

Ron,
Thank you. I'm sure there's a way to have our cake and eat it, i.e. have the chats, keep them live and spontaneous, and not let any minority of the membership spoil it for everybody else. David Lambert (as usual) makes several good points... the chat transcripts were what brought me to the HTF in the first place also.

 

[Rain]

As for the studios getting pissed at after-chat threads in which they get bashed, I'll say this: do they want honest feedback or not? If some (or many) of us are feeling negative, should we hide it?

I hope I'm corrected if I'm wrong about this, but my interpretation was that Ron's concern was not so much about negative feedback as about the way it is presented.

There is a world of difference between objectivity/constructive criticism and just being rude and hurling insults and profanity around.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Rain,

This is correct.

I was really embarrased to see members

bashing the studios the day after a chat.

You guys have to remember something....

Getting the studios to do these chats are a

big todo. You have no idea what a risk it

is for a studio rep to publicly do a live chat.

What happens if that rep gets mobbed with

insults? That stuff gets printed all over the

internet and it looks bad for the studio.

Why do the studios want to broadcast all their

release secrets all over the internet? By doing

such, other studios would plan THEIR strategies

around what gets broadcast.

Consider ourselves lucky when we get a Peter

Staddon (Fox) or Michael Felsher (Anchor Bay) in

a chat who don't mind talking about what is up

their sleeve.

At the same time, respect studios like Warner

and Paramount who don't want to let very secure

release information out until the time is right.

It just irks me that instead of *some* of members

being grateful that these studio people showed up at

all, they get nasty about the way the studio held

back information.

I think this forum was the PIONEER in getting

LIVE studio chats on the web. I am very proud of

the fact that HTF was recognized as a professional

enough venue that the studios respected us and

agreed to such groundbreaking chats.

You can see why it's an embarrasement to me when

the next day members are throwing insults at the

studio. You have no idea how difficult it gets to

then approach a studio and ask them to do it all

again a year later.

Look, this is part of human nature. We have

23,000 members, and I accept the fact that there

will always be those that ruin it for everyone else.

Do I want to do scripted chats? Not really.

I loved the LIVE chats. It was fun. I don't feel

the need to do the same kind of stuff other websites

are doing by conducting interviews or submitting

member questions.

I'd rather wait until we can find a secure chat

program and then try to do this all over again.

Thanks, guys!

 

[Nate Anderson]

Ron-

It's good to hear that you haven't given up on the idea of live chats completely.

I love the fact that we have studios that are willing to come and have chats, and we can ask them what's coming and what's not, and hopefully nudge them in the right direction (i.e: Release our movie first!) But I also realize they release what they want or what they can (Most of their library titles probably need to be restored/remastered in some form.)

And I do prefer quality over quantity. I just think it's an invaluable resource, for both the studios and us. A person mentions a title, and a bunch of others say they want that too, they suddenly discover there's a market there that they didn't know of.

I don't know if these are any valid points. Maybe I'm pretending I know what I'm talking about.

-Nate