# Chat

When it comes to online events, text-based chat is undeniable in its ubiquity.

One big problem I find when attending conferences is that the community chat servers tend to be abandoned after a few days. Understandably so, since the reason we're all there is over!

Which is why I would propose creating/leveraging a community-centered server where we can host multiple events, and also provide announcements.

Now hear me out:

## [Discord](https://discord.com/)

With Discord, we can provide multiple channels, one for each sponsor (a booth channel!), have private channels for organisation/speakers, and have bots (not my expertise, but can look into it) to make things a little more fun/moderate.

I also believe, if one of the demographics we're targeting are students as before, that Discord has a good chance of being a good platform they'd recognise.

And now to answer some questions:

### We already have a Slack channel, why not use that?

Fair point! Here's a few reasons for me:

- Their handling of [certain folks](https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/20/18150129/slack-iran-deactivated-sanctions-license-cuba-crimea) has left a sour taste in my mouth
- Slack, unlike Discord, requires users to make an account **for each server**, which can be annoying
- Discord, unlike Slack, allows you to personally block users

### Isn't Discord a gaming platform? WTM is a serious event!

This is for sure the initial impetus of Discord, but the amount of tech communities on this platform is staggering:

- [QueerJS](https://queerjs.com/)
- [Vue.js](http://vue.land)
- [Women of React](https://womenofreact.com/)
- [Reason ML](https://reasonml.github.io/docs/en/community)

This is just to name a few!

## Moderation

For each place we provide chat, we'll need to have a volunteer moderating the conversations, making sure things don't break the code of conduct.

I would propose having one moderator for Discord, one for Youtube and one for Twitch chat. I believe we can disable YouTube chat, for what it's worth.

# Stream

As previously agreed upon, we'll ask (have asked?) speakers to provide pre-recorded videos.

A few portions will be live, however:
- Emceeing (Right? We can also pre-record it. I've seen it done. Up to our brave volunteer!)
- Panel discussion
- Post-talk interviews

As agreed, we'll be streaming simultaneously to:
- YouTube
- Twitch.tv (TODO: We need a channel!)

## Platform

We have a few options, which I'll describe with pros and cons.

### [OBS](https://obsproject.com/) (Open Source)

This will be our main powerhorse for streaming. In it, we can set up scenes (layouts) for different video types (for example, single video for the emcee, "We'll be right back!" slide, that sorta thing)

It also supports Skype integration, which means we'll provide an easy setup for whoever needs it.

The downside is, it only supports streaming to once service at a time. We'll have to use something like [ReStream](https://restream.io) to do this, which is free.

Another, perhaps bigger downside is that this will require the most "manual" labour, which other platforms can take care of for us. If, for whatever reason, I won't be able to perform my duties as AV, then the [bus factor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_factor) applies.

This is where something like....

### [StreamYard](https://streamyard.com/) (Freemium)

... Would come in handy.

This is a very WYSIWYG approach to streaming, albeit free-ish:

For $25, we can remove all branding, though.

Supports twitch and youtube and more if we want...?

Downside is that guests are limited to 6. Probably not a dealbreaker?

Vue Vienna uses it, and it's a nice experience! It, too, supports integrated video chat. Sharing the pre-recorded videos would have to be done by the tech, though.