Recently we’ve been working on reducing bus factor for the london live coding scene - that is, how dependent are we on one or two people and if they were to leave town (on a bus) how much would grind to a halt?
what I do and why
Although I’ve covered this I thought it would be good to go over in terms of AlgoRhythms specifically, and with more detail.
First off, none of this is rocket science (thankfully, we’re not at the forefront of ending imperialism here) - I’m not doing anything that requires any expertise, just a steady hand at the tiller.
why
I love creative expression, music especially. I love community and working together with people. I also love nerding out - maths, computers, etc. So I feel really lucky to have found a scene that encapsulates all of those.
There’s another reason, I want to play gigs. There’s no chance I’d ever make it into a clique, so it makes sense to keep it as open as humanly possible.
the process
everything starts with an email or two to the venue, confirming things, sharing event pages etc.
This is very simple really.
I feel its also one of the hardest things to open up. I think it could be quite confusing for a venue to be dealing with multiple people who are potentially saying contradictory things.
However, this feels a bit controlling on my part nonetheless. There isn’t much to be decided except dates for events, and building a relationship which works well for all.
I think as time goes on I might ask someone to be a kinda ‘intern’ and follow the email CC, with a view to taking on duties at least for some events at some point. Please discuss this further if you have input on this.
other considerations
in the run up to events, I generally do the following:
- do the accounts for previous event, this is fairly straightforward, just some spreadsheet fun (who doesn’t love a good speadsheet?) The hardest part is checking no mistakes
- ask someone to do a poster
- put up event pages on luma and RA if no one else has done and forward the links to venue
- arrange a visiting artist (this has been roughly alternating events this year and more or less involves sending one email or message)
on the day
One of the projectors is supplied by the venue plus both screens. They don’t charge us for this, but would do normally (projectors eventually need replacing which costs money).
This means I need to bring the projector that was kindly donated by a member of the community. By the way, if anyone needs one for an algo event you’d be welcome to use it!
I thought the other day that I could ask the venue if I could keep it there between events, but then we might need it for algoravioli and it might be tricky arranging to pick it up, plus the guilt with The Greyhound is a competitor venue…
I also bring the small mackie mixer. Originally this was because I was using it as a soundcard, as it has a usb in/out. This year I’ve been using my secondhand macbook air to perform with, but the usb functionality has been handy to supply a feed to the streaming setup.
It’s also really handy to be able to handle levels and provide a range of connections including a microphone (which is supplied by venue).
Because I always have the intention of performing (if I get a slot) I bring my laptop too. I used to bring my secondhand thinkpad, but last time I winged it on the mac (has a better cpu too).
And I bring a few cables, which the venue generally has plenty of, but doesn’t harm to have back up.
So all in, that’s:
- projector
- mixer
- laptop
- cables
- ribbons etc
This could be distributed among others, say if someone took possession of the projector and brought it down (ideally by 5-6pm), I’d prefer to keep hold of the mixer, but we could get another one which someone else could look after. This is more of a nice-to-have than anything else, but I might fall prey to Gear Acquisition Syndrome and get one of these for eighty quid. That one has the additional benefit of a built-in mp3 player which would be nifty for changeover music. We don’t really need another one, but if we did it would reduce bus factor.
setting up
This is quite easy but always takes longer than you think. Basically take out and plug in all the above equipment, put the projectors up in their trays, plus make sure we have a mic, sign outside the front door, PA up and lights down, stream started, stamp and zettle ready for attendees. Usually takes a couple of hours but could be done in half that time with a bit of efficiency. This is something a volunteer could help with, no
additionally
We need to start getting all the extra cables for streaming tidy so it’s not a huge confusing mess. I usually put coloured tape on the ends of the audio and hdmi leads, but this has a habit of sliding off so we need something better.
show time
Scanning tickets and stamping people for the first two hours (most people have arrived by then) is something that could be shared among a few people if we have volunteers? Mike and Brandon did a great job last time.
Co-ordinating the meetup part is something usually done by others, it’s nice to ensure that people get to say hi and introduce themselves, newbies are welcomed, ribbons are distributed, etc.
One of the things I’ve seen which was really cool was people splitting into groups and doing mini-workshops and/or talking about projects/ideas.
There is also the obligatory sign-up sheet.
I got the impression that the lineup of audio performers was quite male-dominated at the May event, personally I think we should do something about this. Perhaps we could start a tradition of deferring your slot until the signup sheet has been passed round once if you are a man? At No Edits when they had open decks they would have two queues one for white men and one for everyone else, the latter queue getting priority. I know I’m woke af, but this important to me, sorry not sorry.
The rest is helping with any troubleshooting of audio and hdmi connections, introducing artists, keeping an eye on time, and checking in with attendees and performers. These are all things done by several people well, so keep up the good work!
A special shoutout goes to Jane who has been doing an amazing job at running the stream.
We also need to pay more attention to ribbons and other crafting somehow.
this is the end
Once everything is over, it’s just a matter of unplugging everything and packing it up. This takes about thirty minutes if done quickly. Which also means I can make the last train home.
other considerations
The venue has a business to run, they’ve been incredibly supportive of us so far but we need to keep them happy.
We’re paying a hire fee which helps, but we need to keep the numbers up too. Any ideas on how to do this beyond the usual would be helpful.
Personally I would be fine with a dozen or so people having a good time, but to keep the venue sweet we need to be doing 40-60 at least. Plus, it’s nice to be bringing such an awesome community event to more people too.
That’s all I can think of for now, might revisit this in future :)
I feel so lucky to be surrounded by such lovely people bring great energy to the scene. Although I do a lot of the above, without all you lot it would be absolutely nothing, and don’t underestimate how much you do already!