First of all, thank you very much for the positive comments regarding the webcast - and I think that there were a number of positives, not least that we had a "go", as it were.

We now have a group of young people in Edinburgh who have each got some experience in handling a video camera on a tripod and all of whom now know that filming a game of curling - especially from behind slightly tinted glass, is anything but easy!  Some were even let loose on the "mixing" board - in other words, they chose which camera picture it was that you saw.

It is as well that I give you the names of all of the members of the young curlers club who gave their time to the project: Samantha Mooney, Andrew Mooney, Scott Baird, Mhairi Anderson, Clare Lang, Struan Wood, Stuart Dodds, Colin Mouat and Bruce Mouat.  If I have missed anyone, I apologise.  They were on a steep learning curve (as were we all) throughout the weekend, but I think that they really enjoyed the feeling of being an integral "part of the action", so that can only be positive.

To be honest, we had problems with the sound.  Each night, I came home to a barrage of abuse from the lady whose name I could not possibly give you for fear of giving away my closely-guarded anonymity on the board.  Sometimes, the mikes worked; sometimes one worked; sometimes the other worked; and sometimes neither worked.  Eventually, we realised that if we held the mikes slightly away from our mouths, it was better.  What Lois (oops) did say was that the best sound was on the early Sunday morning session (when no one else was listening!) and we have surmised that the crowd noise had a lot to do with things.

In any case, I asked Kenny Edwards (and boy, was it good to see Kenny in an ice rink again), Bob Kelly, Keith MacLennan and Mairi Milne to take a few shifts each and they each agreed to help out.  Many thanks to them all for bringing their knowledge to the party.

Then there was what we said!  Apparently, again according to the anonymous Lois, I was a tad overbearing and spoke too much.  She was very complimentary about everyone else!  I think it fair to say that we tried to pitch the commentary as if the listener had a vague idea about the game, so we did not feel the need to go down the road of explaining  the difference between a hit and a roll (a question that Archie McPherson asked on air of Richard Harding back in the 1980's!) and felt more able to debate the different options open to the players.  It was also a great platform for airing our various prejudices and opinions as well as occasionally lapsing into "reminisce" mode.

jjk made an observation about keeping the audience up-to-date with the other games, so latterly we tried to bring that into things as well - even to the extent of causing Alex Mitchell multiple problems by asking "for an overhead on sheet four" - a task that was easier in the saying than the doing.

Bob Cowan made some observations about the importance of presenting the sport to the outside world.  The truth is that although dark blue, for example, looks great on the ice, it actually comes out as just one shade removed from black by the time the picture reaches your screens.  If we really want to get serious about webcasting, then the yellow of Neeleman's team, or the orange of Dave Edward's team is the way to go.

If we REALLY want to get serious about webcasting some major Scottish events from Scotland, we need to enjoy the post-coital cigarette for the moment, but then take on some constructive criticism from those of you who took the time and trouble to watch the event on the web.  It was genuinely heartening to receive your support, but what is needed now is a cool appraisal of what was produced and honest words about what needs to be done to take the coverage up to the next level.

It would be good to hear therefore your views on:
the picture quality
the angles of the cameras
the commentary / the commentators
what worked
what did not work.
and anything else that you feel needs improved to bring the game up to the next level.

Alex Mitchell is obviously a member of the forum as well, so will read all your posts.  If you want to make your point, but worry about appearing over-critical, you can always "private" Alex (or me) through the site. 

I have noticed some people having a pop at the RCCC for NOT doing something similar for the Scottish Championships, both ladies and men.  Let us not underestimate the costs involved in this - both in volunteer manpower and indeed the financial costs of providing the service.  If the potential audience for such coverage is small and the Mother Club invested (say) a five figure sum in the provision of an essentially free service, I imagine that mops and pails would be needed to clean up the blood from the floor of the AGM in July - especially when the subscription has to go up another 50p per member!  They will probably only want to enter the fray when the product is really up to scratch, so I think that the criticism is perhaps a tad unfair at this point.

What will also be interesting, mind you, will be a review of the number of hits and the number of people who actually watched the coverage.

Work-in-progress, I think.

Well yes John - thee and me may very well feel that (say) 50p per person is fully justified.  If only ten people watch the service though, I think that the other 13950 members may take a different view!

I do not think that the RCCC contribute to the costs of the elite - that money comes from different sources and will be ring-fenced for that purpose alone.  The RCCC will not be able to syphon funds from a resource that they do not control it and is not their money to play with.

Commentary on a webcast like that is a big plus, i think that i would personally lose interest quite quickly if there was not any. But that may just be me.

Also, would it be feesible to get right behind the sheet the game was played on everytime? Or is there just to much stuff to move around?

Very good job anyway

I've heard all this stuff, G83. It is up to the RCCC to convince their financial overlords that this is a worthy investment. How else can they get good publicity for curling? They've been trying for decades and I'm sorry, a live webcast beats the BBC version of a final on Monday 2330 any day!

the picture quality
the angles of the cameras
the commentary / the commentators
what worked
what did not work.
and anything else that you feel needs improved to bring the game up to the next level.

The picture quality was very good but was unfortunately let down by being a bit dark.  Shouldn't be a big problem to resolve - well it wasn't when I drove a BBC OB camera (unpaid - only did it to get free entry!)

The camera angles were generally good - if you want perfect angles then the coaches and public would have to go somewhere else - not a lot of chance methinks.

The commentary/commentators were generally good and some better than that - Eurosport should have been watching/listening/headhunting.  The audio on day one was disappointing and by the end was almost excellent.  I don't think that the commentators had a dummy run and then a replay to see/hear what it was like.  Sorry if I'm wrong but it seemed like that.

What I would like to see next is a chat board at the side of the screen  for interactive chat, like Curlingkanalen, rather than using SCF which did work but is also a bit slower.

I watched 2 games on CurlTV immediately afterwards and would have to suggest that the biggest differences are that they have consistent brightness, on ice cameras and a large budget.

I would happily pay something to allow Alex and his merry gang to be able to produce a better product 'cos I don't see why he should have to foot the not inconsiderable bill.

If any of the above reads like criticism then I unreservedly apologise - I had a brilliant weekend and hope everyone else watching and associated with it had the same.

Thanks team - looking forward to the next one.

Did not hear every commentator but all tried well. Its not an easy job. You got to have conviction, knowledge of the sport and the players names. Also likeBBC you need some backgroung info on the players, like age jobs and years curling. It adds to the Interest.

A couple of years ago watched CurlTV  The world Juniors and the World seniors final. The latter was a great final with a terrible commentary whilst during the WJC the commentary was enlightened, knowledgeable with out being intrussive (is that the right word!
 
Great effort from Murrayfield from the juniors helpers and the rest of the technical and commentating team. Its a starter for ten and despite technical probs I'd give it a nine. With more practice and experience it can only improve. We certainly did not learn to curl competively in a day, so dont expect a top profesional broadcast on the first weekend.

Thanks guys (and Dolls)

Out of interest what does the system need technically to improve -- other than brighter curling Gear!

Perhaps it's time for a young upstart to raise it as a point at the AGM...

Many club curlers in Scotland feel the club doesn't do much to help them. One possible way of making the club look like it is doing more for it's members would be a webcast...

Although, as I have recently discovered, club development grants are offa good too...