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| Video link is below!! This is not my favorite screengrab, but that's what YouTube picked... |
In March, I was scheduled to speak at the Code for America Summit about the “Tectonic Speed of Government,” which is my metaphor that Government change happens slowly (after the exertion of a lot of force with no visible result), but when it does happen it can be disruptive.
Then the Pandemic hit, the conference was canceled, and… we went through a Tectonic Shift (to a remote workplace).
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Disclaimer: All of the ideas expressed in this article are my personal statements and opinions, and do not reflect the opinions/statements of the City of Urbana.
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In March, like many of my peers I was too busy dealing with the Shift to have time for much else. However, in April and May, I had a little more time and some new perspective so I re-wrote my presentation (cutting it in half, for the Internet) and now planned it as a video.
One thing that I kept was the PechaKucha format. We have a PechaKucha night here in Urbana-Champaign, like many cities around the world. (The last one was just before the lockdown!) PechaKucha is a presentation format that gives the speaker 20 images for 20 seconds each, for a 6:40 presentation. I modified the format, so originally my live speech was going to be 50 images for 50 seconds (for the 45-minute version), but for the video I went with 50 x 25, so 20:50. I’m glad, because some editing always makes things better. There was some “filler” in the 50-slide version.
Many hours of rehearsal and video-editing later, here it is for your viewing pleasure. Some annotations appear below the video.
About the recording: I did three takes of the whole speech and this was the second of three. I had a timer and an outline of the speech that I could see, but only an outline – so my phrasing changed every time. This is important in PechaKucha, because sometimes you need to stretch it out (or cut on the fly) when the slides advance automatically.
1:45 - This was the only take where I pointed to my shirt, and I got the wrong side because I was looking at the camera’s viewscreen, which was reversed!
2:40 – This is one of three sets of three in the speech. I’m a believer in the rule that three points is the right amount of information – but sometimes I overdo it. Later I talk about the impact of CyberSecurity on three aspects, and then give my three rules on personal CyberSecurity. A screen shot from that part was even selected as the YouTube image!
6:35 – Ironically, I had extra time while covering the Time slide! Notice how I had to drag it out at the end.
7:20 – a Simpsons reference (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euGVZA_zZe0) that’s always been a favorite, although I made it more direct since the original “I’m looking in your direction” would be too subtle. (I dropped it in this post, too: https://blog.tectonicspeed.com/2015/08/how-to-watch-movie-at-art-or-anywhere.html) Seriously, though – Java upgrades are a constant hassle.
18:00 – the “also, also” line is a Monty Python reference to the Holy Grail credits (https://youtu.be/79TVMn_d_Pk?t=45) and no, not the llamas part.
Final note: a warning for anyone else trying to do this in PowerPoint. Believe it or not, PowerPoint has a known defect with slide timing! (When in PowerPoint show mode, it will not accurately advance the slides on the timing: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/advance-slide-timing-is-very-inconsistent/17cee37a-fc73-4ba1-85b8-87b760965e59) The solution I used was to render a video file from PowerPoint, which is accurate. So that’s how you need to do it. Blecch!