Taking Long Night Online Part 4: Choosing Technology and Managing Logistics
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Part 4: Choosing Technology and Managing Logistics
A significant part of Virtual LNAP is the digital platform and the finicky details that bring your vision to life. This blog discusses the platforms that worked best for us and what you need to consider technically and logistically when making formatting choices.
Southwestern University | Dr. Jennifer Marciniak
The most substantial logistical challenge Southwestern had with moving online was how to translate the new vision of the event into a virtual environment. The coordinators could see it playing out, but it looked different in each mind’s eye. However, one thing was certain -- we needed students to feel comfortable. And to do that, we needed to keep it simple. Ironically, simple is sometimes more complicated than you initially imagine.
Choosing the Right Online Platform
The coordinators made a list of what we wanted students to be able to do during the event. This included breakout sessions, private rooms, and a main room or “Commons” area. Even though the students were familiar with Google Meet, we chose Zoom as it provided the options we needed. “The Zoom breakouts allowed students to choose a workshop or writing consultation to attend while the 'main room' remained open and active with staff and peers,” said research librarian and SU LNAP coordinator Theresa Zelasko. While Zoom had a learning curve for the coordinators and the students, it was a tiny one. In addition, learning how to use Zoom also provided a resume-building skill for students.
Schedule Accessibility
Since we wanted the design to be accessible to students, we recruited a writing consultant to participate in the discussion and draft out the schedule in Canva. From there, the coordinators started to see how the students interpreted what we were trying to stylize. “Always collaborate with any student helpers that will work the event,” says Theresa. “They can provide valuable information and feedback on any ideas or workshops you want to offer.” This valuable information includes stylistic ideas that collaborators might not consider. After several drafts, we ended up with a consultant-created schedule of all the breakout rooms with clickable session descriptions.
Image: Consultant-created schedule in Canva
Conduct a Dry Run
Two days before the event, the coordinators and our students gathered together online to conduct a practice run. As Zoom was new to the coordinators and the students, especially how to create and close break-out rooms, a lot of time was used practicing these movements. Practice allowed us to see our strengths and weaknesses with our programming and technology before the actual event. “It's one thing to talk about how to theoretically host a virtual event, but another to actually do it,” Theresa said. “You'll be glad you did.”
Event Day Tweaks
Even though we were constantly working with our students on the event, we saw even more areas of improvement on the day of the event. For example, while we practiced using the Commons room with our own students, it was awkward when students we did not know stayed in the Commons room while others were in sessions. After the first hour, a student asked us to create a separate “study room” for others who wanted silent accountability. This study room turned out to be the most popular room of the event. I asked one of the writing consultants who hung out in the room if they were actually studying. She said they were all studying with minimal chatter. The moral is to embrace change on the day of the event. The gloriousness of working in a virtual environment is you can just add a room with the tap of a key and not worry about having to find a physical space on campus that meets your needs.
Nevada State College | Dr. Rachel Herzl-Betz, Veronica Hernandez, Brittany Cox, and Eimy Vasquez
Our technical and logistical challenges revolved around two key areas: the digital program on our canvas page and staff scheduling for the event. Our Events leaders wanted the program to serve as a starting point for every aspect of the event.
Building the One-Stop Shop
Our Technology Team leader, Veronica Hernandez, and the Events Team leaders, Brittany Cox and Hannah Guenthoer, took the lead in planning the layout and look of the canvas page. Like a well-planned paper, Brittany wanted the page to “make sense linguistically and have a nice flow.” Together, they decided to position the registration link as early as possible, since checking in is often the first thing participants did at our physical events. Official registration provided the link to our live stream, writing support, and info on the library’s resources, thereby counting everyone who took part. Further movement down the page led to our "One-Stop Shop for All You May Need". This included info on citation and formatting, along with tips to combat writer's block. Finally, our last section was dedicated to self care. Here we added reminders to take breaks and drink water, as well as info on mindfulness and meditation.
Image: Self-care resources housed in the LNAP “One-Stop Shop”
Veronica has been the center’s go-to expert for web work, but the process still required time-consuming research, troubleshooting, and experimentation. Don’t underestimate the work that goes into creating an appealing, and accessible space, even on a platform that is relatively familiar. Small choices in sizing, alignment, spacing, and order can have an outsized impact on a participant’s experience during a remote event. For example, adding multiple pictures on one page (with the necessary captions and links) can help create a welcoming online space, but it can also overwhelm the reader with too much information and too many paths through the page. Leave time for a communal learning curve and bring your technological experts in on the planning process as early as possible. The frustration of tech work is often invisible to event participants, so think about ways to make that labor more legible for the public.
Scheduling the Team
While the web spaces were being built and tested, our Events Team members were working on scheduling logistics. Eimy Vasquez sent out an email to the full team to check 1) if they were available to work during the event, 2) when they preferred to work, and 3) what roles they preferred to play. She used the responses to create a color-coded excel spreadsheet, which included pre and post-event labor.
Image: screenshot of LNAP internal schedule
Most of the scheduling steps seem identical to those we took for face-to-face events, but differences appeared in question #3. The Writing Center Directors expected the specialists to feel less comfortable taking on newer LNAP roles, such as participating in the livestream or offering technical support. However, we saw the reverse. The specialists expressed a greater willingness to play multiple roles and try on new responsibilities.
I can only speculate about why our team was more comfortable with flexibility in what seems like a less familiar context. Perhaps the pandemic inspired a sense of urgency. Perhaps our more tech-savvy specialists are also more comfortable moving between roles. Or perhaps, as we’ve explored in earlier posts, the need for community felt more important than the anxiety or frustration that is often inspired by large events. In other words, maybe that connection seemed worth the work.
Conclusion
While Southwestern and Nevada State experienced distinct technological and logistical challenges, we landed on three similar take-aways from the processes: 1) involve students and student workers in every step of the process, 2) do a run through on every technological element of the event, and 3) give those taking the technological reigns as much support as possible. Their work won’t be visible to most event participants, so it’s vital that the planners honor that invisible labor.
What technological options will be available for your Long Night event? What student involvement makes sense on your campus? What IT resources on campus can help your team feel comfortable as they provide remote support?
Author Bios
Dr. Jennifer Marciniak is the Director of the Debby Ellis Writing Center at Southwestern University. She earned her PhD in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of Louisville and began her writing center career at Berea College. She is from South Texas, and her research interests focus on oil and gas worker literacy practices. She was a first generation college student, and has personal and professional interests in working-class studies.
Dr. Rachel Herzl-Betz is the Writing Center Assistant Director and English Instructor at Nevada State College. She earned her PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and began her writing center career at Carleton College. She’s originally from northern Wisconsin, and her research focuses on the intersections between disability, writing center studies, and educational access.
Brittany Cox is an undergraduate student as well as a peer tutor within the Writing Center at Nevada State College. She is currently working on completing her Bachelor's in Criminal Justice with minors in both Psychology and Counseling. She was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, and has been employed by the NSC Writing Center for just over a year now! Her interests are in queer studies, anti-racist work, and social justice issues.
Veronica Hernandez is a first gen, undergraduate student concentrating in Visual Media with an emphasis in Digital Cinema and a minor in Creative Writing. She has been working in the Writing Center since early 2018. She was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada and plans to graduate in Spring 2021. Veronica is still planning to pursue a career in her interest that best fits her interests.
Eimy Vasquez is a first gen, undergraduate student in Psychology with a minor in counseling at Nevada State College. She has been employed by the NSC writing center for just over a year. Her interests are in the importance of self-care among student workers. She has presented her research at the 2020 SoCal tutor conference. She was born in Guadalajara Jalisco, but moved to Las Vegas shortly after she was born.