How to Produce an Access Grid Event

Jennifer Teig von Hoffman Boston University & National Computational Science Alliance

What We’ll Cover Today

How much planning is needed?How can I attract participants?What do I need to do before my event?How much staff will I need during my event?How can I evaluate my event?

Today’s Focus

Big, polished AG events require plenty of planning and preparationInformal AG events require minimal preparation – there’s not much there to talk about from an event planner’s point of view

Questions

Please jump in at any time with questions or comments

Primary Reference

Access Grid-in-a-box tutorial, How to Produce an Access Grid Event: An Elementary Guide for Technical Users http://webct.ncsa.uiuc.edu:8900/

public/AGIB/

A Sound Beginning

Today’s seminar will introduce you to general concepts, giving you a good starting place for planning eventsAs technology changes, best practices in planning change 1999 -> the present -> the future

Introductions

At each site, please tell us Your name Your experience with the Access Grid Your role in Access Grid events

Getting Started

How “Real Life” Translates into Life on the Access Grid

Common Sense

The technology is revolutionary, but (for now at least) the planning skills are mostly common senseHowever, the distributed nature of the AG means that the consequences of poor planning can be more disruptive

What is an AG Event?

Anytime people get together on the AGEach AG event takes place in a Virtual Venue Virtual Venue = virtual conference

room Some Venues require reservations

Some Need Lots of Planning

SC GlobalPACS Training WorkshopsVirtual Conference on Genomics and Bioinformatics)Demonstration for Governor of Illinois

Some Need Little Planning

Planning meeting with Mary and AriellaU. Australia management meetingsSC Global planning meetingsFirst Annual Access Grid Symposium on Beerology

Be Minimalist When You Can

Planning your first few events will help you learn where and how you can minimize preparationsUnnecessarily rigid or excessive preparation requirements can discourage sites from participating

Factors to Consider

Tolerance for interruptionsPotential consequences of failureNew technologies and/or new operators

Interruptions

Ask yourself: could you pause for: Audio adjustments? Loading presentation files? Other unforeseen circumstances?

The larger the number of participating sites, the higher the likelihood of interruptions

Consequences of Failure

If the meeting doesn’t go smoothly Would critical work go unfinished or

be unacceptably delayed? Would a public relations or political

problem result?

New Tech or Operators

Are there new nodes at any critical participating sites?Have you recently upgraded hardware or software?Any changes in your networking?Are any of the participating sites being managed by new operators?

Marketing Your Event

How to Attract Participants and Participating Sites

Recruiting Participating Sites

Network within the AG community to find interested sites, asking for their commitment to participate before announcing the eventOr, require participants to ensure they have appropriate access to an AG nodeConsider who your audience is

Get the Word Out

AG mailing lists ag-tech@mcs.anl.gov – must be

subscribed to post accessgrid@mcs.anl.gov

Any other mailing lists to which your event would be relevant

Choose Words Carefully

NOT: “Attend at any of the AG locations listed on the AG web site [link]”INSTEAD: “Attend at any of the following AG locations: [list of participating sites].”OR: “Participants are responsible for ensuring they have use of a well-functioning AG node.”

Time Zones Matter

Always list local time zone and GMTConsider non-US participants Multiple sessions

in staggered time zones?

Managing Registration

Central registration One registration form, including list of

participating sites Forward participant data to

participating sites as appropriate

Distributed registration Each participating site has own form Organizer requests data as appropriate

Planning Your Event

Developing Appropriate Strategies

You Need a Good Foundation

Stable, fully debugged multicast networking (which must be monitored over time)The latest release of AG Toolkit softwareAll hardware and software consistent with the AG specification or requirementsTechnical staff with sufficient time available to keep their skills current and the node well-maintained

Make It So

You must ensure that your staff have access to the resources they need Hardware/

software Network support Time

Bare Minimum Preparations

Just reserve a room and show up Node ops may want to arrive a bit

early

Work with your node operator on technical issues as you go along Presentation files Audio adjustments Camera adjustments

Big Events as Proving Grounds

It’s not unusual for a new (and possibly temporary) node to be set up for a big eventIf you’re the main site, and setting up a new node, double your prep time Networking Audio

When You Need More Polish

Amount of necessary preparation varies widely depending on several factorsSome is prep you need to do anyway Developing and finalizing agendas Coordinating with presenters Marketing and registration Evaluation

Getting Started

Determine approximate number of presenters, participants, and participating sitesDevelop a draft agendaDevelop marketing and evaluation plansMeet immediately with your technical team leader

On Your Draft Agenda

Order and physical location of speakersList of all participating sitesWork with your technical team leader to include info on issues including Presentation software and media Backup/contingency plans Appropriate redundancy or breaks for

tech staff

Practicing for Your Event

Test Cruises and Content Rehearsals

Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse

The bigger and more formal the event, the more rehearsals you needTwo types of rehearsal: Test cruise Dry run

Test Cruises

Ideally, should be planned and led by your technical team leaderObjective: Ensure that all sites have well-debugged nodes and network and are well-versed in all relevant technologies

How Many Test Cruises?

Your technical team leader should consider: How experienced is your local team? How many participating sites? How many of those sites have new

nodes? How many new or unusual

technologies will be in use?

What to Test in the Cruises

All technologies which may be used in the actual event Standard AG audio, video, and MOO Distributed or Remote PowerPoint? Telephone backup channel? Distributed VR?

Dry Runs

To determine how many to hold, and whose attendance to require or request, ask yourself: Have these presenters spoken over

the AG before? Are they comfortable with the AG? Will they facilitate complicated

interactions?

Holding a Dry Run

Invite speakers to do abbreviated versions of their presentationsRehearse any complicated interactions Music, art, dance? Facilitating group discussion among

large number of people/sites?

Recommended Reading

Tips on Communicating Effectively over the AG http://www.accessgrid.org/agdp/tips/

comm-tips.html

Beginner's Guide to Facilitating Interactive Communications on the Access Grid http://www.accessgrid.org/agdp/guide/

facilitation.html

Final Test Cruise: Pre-flight

Technical staff should arrive at the appropriate virtual venue 30-60 minutes before the event beginsIf participants will be arriving in the node’s physical space early, you and your staff may need to arrive even earlierIdeally, presenters should participate in final audio tests

Staffing Your Event

Roles and Responsibilities

Again, General Guidelines

We’ll discuss one way to divide up the labor – again, your mileage may varyWhen you design your own staffing plans, keep in mind: The strengths and weaknesses of the

people on your team The needs of your particular event

Each Site Has Its Own Staff

Each site participating in a given event is responsible for developing their own staffing plan, and filling the roles appropriatelyYou may wish to work with representatives of each site on their staffing plans

Each Venue Is Different

The size of your physical venue plays a large part in determining the size of your staff

The Bare Minimum

At the main site: Meeting leader (ie, meeting chair) Node operator (might be the meeting

leader)

At all other sites: Node operator, if necessary

Bigger, More Polished Events

Producer of overall event Usually also acts as local Producer too

Technical Director of overall event Usually also operates node in some

capacity

Floor ManagerAdditional node operators/assistants

Producer’s Responsibilities

Manage and support local teamIn many small- or medium-sized events, Producer and Technical Director merge into one role

Producer’s Responsibilities

In collaboration with the Technical Director, develop technical web page for event Also known as Production Plan or

Technical Agenda

During event, determine how/when it is appropriate to deviate from the agenda

Technical Director’s Responsibilities

Provide technical leadership and guidance to the entire team Locally and for the whole event

Collaborate closely with the Producer Test cruises and content rehearsals Technical web page

Technical Director’s Responsibilities

Collect and place online all required files for participating sitesEnsure arrangements are made for technical considerations AG Venue reservation, if necessary Back-up public channel telephone line

Master of Ceremonies’ Responsibilities

Introduce presenters and keep them on scheduleManage audience in case of any disruptions to event May give brief explanation of any

pauses May use opportunity to share anecdotes

Manage flow of questions

Floor Manager’s Responsibilities

Ensure all presenters arrive at the podium on timeKeep track of time, and let MC know if presenters need to be nudged alongMay support MC by communicating with presenters using cue cards “5 Minutes Left,” “Time’s Up”

Other Operators/Assistants

Monitor outgoing and incoming audioManage front display wallMonitor outgoing video streamsManage microphonesManage podium laptop with presentation tools

Essential Communications

Use the MOO, the official Access Grid back-channel Communicate among staff at all

participating sites Communicate among staff at local site

Optionally, use telephone back-channelOptionally, use headset radios within the room

Evaluating AG Events

Learning from Your Experience

Special Considerations

Participants geographically distributed – so event experience may vary significantly from site to site Quality of audio system? Appropriate size of room and screen? Effective and efficient management of

front display screen?

Areas to Evaluate

The content of the event You can adapt your current evaluation

form for AG events

The technology and how well it supports the content Audio, video, presentation materials

clear? Communications among sites work

smoothly?

A Suggested Strategy

Web-based evaluation form with no required fieldsAnnounce URL of evaluation form during eventFollow-up email to participants the next day, including URL

Share Your Results

Understanding how and why AG events succeeded, as well as failed, helps us all

Case Studies

Case Study: SC Global 2001

A component of Supercomputing 2001 (Denver, 11/01)Volunteer planning committee, representing many organizations

Dancing Beyond Boundaries, Presented by U. of Florida

As Viewed from University of Manchester, United Kingdom

An Unprecedented Event

Very structured, high-visibility, and technically-risky 40+ participating sites, some

contributing content, some just “lurking”

100+ participants at many locations Four days of content, often in four or

more concurrent tracks

Diverse Content

Visual artsMusic and danceTechnology demonstrationsTechnical PapersPanelsBirds of a Feather sessions

Unprecedented Preparations

Application process winter/spring 2001 Separate proposal processes for

presenting sessions and participating as a Constellation Site

Test cruises twice a week, July – November 2001

Required Training for All Sites

Production Institute, September 2001 Production-oriented training for staff

at all sites contributing content

Mega-cruise, October 8 Dry runs of (most) all content

SC Global Successes

Innovative sessions a big hitMany successful new AG deployments, both before and after SC GlobalEnabled people to interactively participate in SC01 conference who would not otherwise been able to do so, both as presenters and as audience

SC Global Lessons Learned

Never underestimate the importance of adequate lead time for new AG installations, especially with regard to network debuggingCreate redundancy in staffing and equipmentPrepare evaluation strategy well before the eventBring more widgets than you need

SC Global Lessons Learned

Practice pays off Some of the most successful sessions

were also the most practiced, in some cases because they were innovative AG uses

Calculated risks are worth takingAs always, your staff is your most important asset

Sneak Preview: SC Global ‘03

Phoenix Arizona, November 2003One physical venue in PhoenixProposal process tightly integrated with SC03 Technical ProgramStrong preference for sessions featuring technical advances in advanced collaboration environments

Case Study: MPI Workshop

Report on March 28 & 29, 2001, MPI Workshop over the Access Grid, Leslie Southern, Ohio Supercomputer Center, April 2001 http://alliance.osc.edu/mpi/report.pdf

Excellent overview of preparation for and evaluation of the event

In Closing. . .

Recommended Reading

Access Grid Documentation Projecthttp://www.accessgrid.org/agdp/ As you gain expertise and confidence,

please consider writing documents to submit to the AGDP

Practicing What We Preach

Please fill out our evaluation form http://scv.bu.edu/accessgrid/

seminars/eval.html

Ideas for other seminars? Please let me know