Video Call Preppers

[rcnederveld]

What are the steps you take before getting on a "professional" video call?
I close my wardrobe which is directly behind, make sure the bottom half of the bed is very sharply made, that the top draw on my dresser is closed, and my closet door is closed in case in my constant re-poisitioning it gets in the frame.

I had to put my desk in my room for The Times so pretty early on I also hung art and rearranged plants in my room for the calls, with the most prominent being [w0lf]'s 2020 calendar.

[alex]

What is w0lfs calendar?

I have a NSFW painting in my office, so mostly I just try to make sure that it is out of frame (I check like every 30 seconds during calls even though nothing has changed? I should probably move it), and then general just de-cluttering.

[yourfriendclaire]

I close my office door, remove the binoculars and Polaroid camera that I have hanging on a hook on the back of the door, set my laptop on an elevated stand, angle it so that my impressive bookshelves impressively muscle into frame, and check the face/hair/lighting using Apple’s Photo Booth software.

[yourfriendclaire]

But also: what is the NSFW painting??

[m o l l y]

I want to see the NSFW painting. I also want to know about [mention]w0lf[/mention]'s 2020 calendar.

I do my best to avoid professional zoom calls. I have a system: being a teacher of teens, we do it my way and few questions are asked.

[ritchey]

I do nothing. I just zoom from my normal spot at my normal desk with my computer in its normal place. By sheer accident this placement puts me right in front of a piano and a nice plant. It's fine. I never think about the background otherwise, I guess I should??

But also "professional" in my world is v different from in the outer world I think (academics are famous slobs who can't use computers anyway)

I want to see the painting and the calendar, AND I would love some snapshots of Teaching Teens Online

[Evan.V.N.S.J.]

I have to do an elaborate psychic preparation to teach online but in terms of physical stuff I basically just close my closet and point the computer away from the moving box that I have not finished unpacking for like 6 months

[alexshred420]

"academics are famous slobs who can't use computers anyway" I've watched a few Zizek zoom calls or whatever during quar and OMG.

I did do this during a work "happy hour" zoom (we were supposed to put icing on these cookies that got delivered to our homes but I put it on my face instead, because it's the only way I could #resist)

[ritchey]

Hahahaha

[alex]

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[m o l l y]

Yeeha!

[yourfriendclaire]

HORNY

[alex]

It has to come down when children are around

[yourfriendclaire]

I have to do an elaborate psychic preparation to teach online

I want to know your coping strategies!

I've recently reverted to pre-adolescent-levels of phone anxiety. I had to interview someone for a story I'm working on and I did something I haven't done since I was 12, which was to literally write out a script for myself to read just in case I panic & freeze, down to the, "hi there, is this [redacted]? Have I reached you at a convenient time?" opening gambit

Professional journalist

[ritchey]

lol relatable
VERY

[freddy]

There is a giant Jake Longstreth painting of Forkner eating a cheeseburger that is visible behind my right shoulder on every Zoom meeting. It's not, like, inapprope, but it is very distracting. I should probably move it...

[Evan.V.N.S.J.]

I have to do an elaborate psychic preparation to teach online

I want to know your coping strategies!

Oh gosh if I had a routine that I felt really worked I would definitely share it. I mostly just obsessively look at my notes. One thing that does put my mind at rest a bit is just to like, meticulously close every computer program that isn't directly related to what I'm about to do, so I don't have to worry about accidentally screen sharing a random picture of a canada goose standing in front of a mechanic's garage or whatever.

I am trying to think more constructively though about how to mentally prepare myself for facing the outside world even though I'm still just sitting at my desk. I think just taking like 5 minutes of quiet meditation in between preparing for class and starting to teach has helped a little.

[ritchey]

I’ve had to do two “invited guest lecturer” things over zoom and found them both totally harrowing. Like ice cold clammy hands heart pounding levels of terror. I do NOT feel this way when guesting somewhere in person. It’s so weird! I guess it takes a normal healthy amount of understandable nerves before performing/engaging w students you don’t know and adds pants-shitting levels of tech anxiety (omg what if the WiFi goes out what if I don’t notice someone has “raised their hand” etc)? I’m still not sure that captures precisely why I find it so dreadful though.

[rcnederveld]

I wonder if some of y'all's stress about the calls is anxiety related to "zoom fatigue" etc.

[w0lf]'s calendar:

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(The color is real fucked up for some reason)

[rcnederveld]

There is a giant Jake Longstreth painting of Forkner eating a cheeseburger that is visible behind my right shoulder on every Zoom meeting. It's not, like, inapprope, but it is very distracting. I should probably move it...

picture please!!

[infopetal]

[mention]rcnederveld[/mention] I have this calendar, too! <3 until yesterday it was hanging behind my desk, but I'm now rearranging my workspace and haven't yet decided on its new home. fun fact: in the photo grid on row 14 there are some pictures from [mention]w0lf[/mention] and my (unfortunately very wet) adventure to Catalina Island for my birthday last year.