(The following description and discussion agenda was created by Cassius)
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The Way Things Are - Planning Session - 08/05/24
In August of 2024 our First Monday meeting will be a special session to discuss planning of a new regular "live-stream" project. The intent here is to open the EpicureanFriends project to a wider group of people who might not be at the point of wanting to sign up for an EpicureanFriends account, but who would like to ask questions in a live chat to which members of the forum can respond to in real time. The format would likely be 2-3 of our regular members "live" (likely by voice only, with the screen occupied by graphics and/or icons of the speakers) in a format of mostly responding to questions, both pre-selected and according to those that come in through the chat window.
The working title for the livestream for the moment is "The Way Things Are," and the regular programming will be somewhat like Godfrey suggested in a recent discussion: Without discussing politics or the "political" reasons for the turmoil that exists in the world today, we can discuss how people can use Epicurean philosophy to respond intelligently to life in the modern world both (1) as individuals, and (2) how groups can work together locally and on internet. This theme allows us to shift the focus from politics to the parallels between life today and life in the late ancient world, when turmoil of all kinds was beginning to make it more difficult for the school to survive and for individuals to identify as Epicureans. An alternative title is "What Would Epicurus Do?" in the sense of "What would Epicurus have done for his school and his supporters if he had been alive in, say, 200 AD?" We can of course cite Diogenes of Oinoanda's reference to people around him catching a disease like sheep, and we may be able to mine some of Lucian's dialogs for material too.
Our August meeting will be a discussion of how we might implement this project, including:
1. Technology - What platforms and software will work best? Right now I see how to do a single person webcam stream on Youtube, but we need the ability for at least two people to speak, as in a skype or zoom call. I expect we will want a minimum of two people, but not more than three or four, to "carry" the discussion online live, while most everyone else participates by typing into the live chat. OBS Studio software appears to be free and used by a lot of people, but the best way to get 2 or 3 people signed on "live" (likely by voice only) into the chat is not yet apparent.
2. Programming - Selection of episode discussion themes and pre-selected questions.
3. Timing - How often and when (day of week and time) would work best for this. The key to making it successful over time will be a regular date and time people can add to their calendar. We also need to set a duration - I presume something around or just over an hour but to some extent depending on number of questions received online.
4. Structure - How we can produce both an interesting and quality program. A main feature of the live-stream would be allow for people to ask questions "live" using the chat box, and we can discuss how to manage that format on a spectrum from selecting live questioners who deserve responses to selecting live questioners to ban or remove from the chat. One way to do that will be to rotate graphics during the stream which keep the focus on the main themes we want to discuss, for example as below.
In this first session we will not try to duplicate a sample session, but we will set that as a goal for a date and time to be determined.
Once we run a prototype session, we will need to be prepared for very small attendance even if we advertise this on Facebook and Twitter. However we have to start somewhere, and a few sparsely-attended episodes will allow us some practice and set the stage for expansion later.
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If you have not previously attended a First Monday Zoom, but are interested in attending, please let us know here in this thread so we can add you to the list (or you can send a private message to Cassius or me).
The link and reminder message will be sent out via private message (link will be same as last month).