The project notebook is a practical tool for communication and coordination, serving as a memory aid for both artistic and technical staff involved in a telepresence project. Such a notebook can include two sections: one addressing more artistic concepts and the other technical considerations. Nevertheless, sharing this document among all participants provides a centralized space where all relevant information about the project can be found.
In the technical section of this notebook, you can include, for example: any technical specifications related to the spaces used or representing the artists’ needs; a contact directory gathering everyone’s information (name, phone number, email, etc.) to facilitate communication among team members; a notebook for recording any particularity or specific need for the project; a diagram of connections and flows to be transmitted; a stage plan; a technical preparation calendar (internet connection test, technical trials, rehearsals, etc.); or any other relevant technical content. The fact that all technical team members have access to the same resources and share this information is crucial in a telepresence production context where teams are split across different locations. Such a notebook aims to foster the continuous development of good practices, both technically and in terms of communication and coordination. It serves notably to:
Create a shared technical notes document, in which you can keep track of important or unique technical issues raised after a meeting or otherwise.
These notes can be used to: remember and follow up on specific tasks to be performed; note missing equipment to acquire, rent, or borrow; record any questions raised during a meeting that need answers; list a series of tests to be performed to address them; or any other particular consideration.
Integrate the plans created according to the event’s needs, so that technical staff have a common reference for the equipment and where to install them during setup.
For more ambitious and complex telepresence projects involving multiple locations transmitting numerous audio, video, and data streams, creating a flow table to be shared among the technical teams of those locations becomes an essential tool for properly noting and planning each transmission. Such a table can take different forms, but should ideally allow technical staff to understand the path and quality of each transmitted stream, including:
Finally, such a table can also be presented in two ways: an overview, relevant for sharing information among technical teams at different locations; and a per-location view, more detailed, mainly useful for local production as a memory aid for the specific setup at each location.
For relatively complex events or projects involving a number of technical or artistic participants, it becomes essential to establish the chronology of their implementation (a cue-to-cue). This scenario of the event’s progress will then be followed to the minute, or even the second, during the dress rehearsal and the event.
The person designated for general coordination (stage manager) will be responsible for tracking this cue sheet: he/she will verbally indicate to the technical team members when to move to the next cue, using the designated telecommunication tool for the event (ClearCom, DISCORD, etc.). The stage manager will thus be in charge of advancing the event, one technical cue at a time. A copy of this sequence must be given to each operator involved in executing this series of actions.
From the first technical meeting of a project, technical coordination is responsible for developing a calendar to be shared with the rest of the production team, so that everyone can agree on important dates for conducting tests or technical trials in preparation for an event. Technically, it is imperative to schedule connection periods between locations, in order to carry out, in order:
Whether during planning, tests, trials, rehearsals, or the event itself, it is essential to maintain good communication between technical teams at different locations. This is why it is strongly recommended to create a shared contact directory, starting from the first meeting between the various people involved in a project. This directory can include the name of each member of the artistic, technical, and coordination teams, as well as phone numbers, email addresses, and any other relevant contact information.
Additionally, it is suggested that each group (artistic or technical) agree in advance on the preferred means of communication (cell phone, text messaging, email, videoconference, etc.), even to the point of determining the use of a particular tool (SMS, Messenger, DISCORD, Zoom, Jitsi Meet, etc.). Ideally, for technical purposes, the adopted tool should work on a mobile device and allow communication independently (in parallel) from the telematic control (event stream transmission). Indeed, communication between technical teams must remain possible at all times, whether on the move or when the telematic control is not operational.
For projects involving different locations where several people in charge of technical aspects must establish connections, interaction between individuals can easily become chaotic and difficult to maintain if a good parallel communication strategy is not set up in advance. In such cases, the preferred communication tool must be adapted to these conditions: when communication is only between two people, a phone call can work very well; but when more than two people need to communicate, a more versatile tool—like DISCORD—will greatly facilitate conversation by centralizing several modes of communication (voice, video, and chat) in one place, as well as making it easier to identify each member. Although this type of more complex tool sometimes requires some configuration, it nevertheless helps limit future loss of time and energy, potentially caused by misunderstandings, communication incidents, miscommunication, errors about the person, etc. It also allows keeping a textual record (for chat) of past discussions and makes it easier to extract or share certain information.