Friday, May 11, 2007

More on the Hearing Logistics

We have some video information from the company providing the pool, and arrangements info from the USOC.

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The video pool will be provided by Court Video Network, a division of Courtroomconnect.com. There are 12 taps available for media. If someone wants a feed for a webcast, it costs $200/day, and we don't have the logistics of funds to to it directly for TBV. If there are other webcasts, we'll have links.

The USOC by way of Peggy Manter has given us the following info, also available from their site.

MEDIA ADVISORY

May 11, 2007

MEDIA INFORMATION FOR LANDIS HEARING

QUICK FACTS

The hearing begins Monday, May 14 and is expected to conclude Wednesday, May 23. Sunday is an off day. Details about a schedule for Saturday, May 12 will follow.

The exact start time for Monday, May 14 has yet to be determined. If the time is determined before 5:00 PM (MDT) today, an email will be sent to all registered media. Otherwise, registered media should consult www.usocpressbox.org <http://www.usocpressbox.org/> for the schedule. It is likely the hearing could begin at 9 AM or 10 AM (PDT) local time. A daily schedule that includes a list of the next day's witness will be produced and distributed on site.

The hearing is on the Malibu campus of Pepperdine University at the School of Law building, in the trial courtroom. Entrance to the building is on the second floor. The courtroom is on the first floor. There is no access to this building prior to Monday.

Free parking is available in the lot directly across the street (Seaver Dr.) from the law school. Media must stop at the guard gate at the campus entrance and declare their name, media affiliation and destination in order to be admitted to campus.

For a map and directions to the Pepperdine campus and School of Law: http://law.pepperdine.edu/welcome/visitor_information/map.html.

For information on area hotels and restaurants: http://law.pepperdine.edu/welcome/visitor_information/hotels.html.

(The Malibu Beach Inn is closed for renovations.)

Approved media may pick up their press accreditation at the press table in the School of Law. Press accreditation must be worn on campus at all times.

A press workroom with wireless access and a live feed of the hearing will be in first-floor Classroom F.

The Pepperdine cafeteria will be open the week of May 14, but with a limited menu. There are several local restaurants available for breakfast, lunch and dinner within a five minute drive from campus.

Because this is a legal proceeding, protocol is different from other events you may have covered.

Interviews are not permitted in the hearing room or immediately outside the hearing room during recess in the proceedings. Panels and arbitrators do not comment on current cases.

Legal proceedings are concerned about disturbances, distractions and noise. For that reason, laptops and other electronic devices such as cell phones, cell phone cameras and personal video cameras or other recording equipment are not permitted in the trial room.

Those seated in the trial room must stay seated for the duration of each session. This includes still photographers. (The only time you can leave the room is during a recess.)

Only one still photographer is permitted in the trial room at a time. Cameras may not use flash attachments, extra lights, tripods or motor drives. A photo rotation system will be implemented. See Susan Polakoff on site for details.

Only 15 seats in the trial courtroom are for reserved for media. There will be one seat in the trial room per media outlet. A priority pool system, based on International Olympic Committee Press Commission standards, will be implemented if there are not enough open seats in the trial courtroom. As a reminder, a live feed of the hearing will be in the media workroom.

www.usocpressbox.org <http://www.usocpressbox.org/>

Documents and updates for the media will be loaded onto the U.S. Olympic Committee's website, http://www.usocpressbox.org. Click"NEWS" then "USOC News and Releases." It is possible that a separate category called "Floyd Landis Hearing" will be created. If that does not happen, all releases pertaining to the hearing will be titled: FLOYD LANDIS HEARING/Title of Release.

Courtroom View Network

Courtroom View Network (CVN) has been secured to be the uplink provider for the hearing and will provide the pool feed. Thus, CVN cameras will be the only video cameras permitted in the trial courtroom. Local affiliates and other broadcasters wishing to take advantage of this service should contact CVN at: support@courtroomconnect.com

6 comments:

Thomas A. Fine said...

Will you be able to record audio at the hearings? Almost as useful as video and much easier to download.

tom

Cheryl from Maryland said...

AV types have told me that one can separate the audio track from the video track, so you don't need two recorders. Now, what expertise and software one needs for that is beyond my ken.

Anonymous said...

15 nedua seats? Must be a smaller moot courroom than I thought. Likely that the major media will be at the head of the line (NY Times, Wahington Post, networks, VeloNews?) rather than the bulk of the cycling press and bloggers. On the oher hand, the classroom better be large and lots of power outlets for all the laptops. Might actually be an advantage to be there - at least you could take a bathroom break. The ground rules are more strict than we have in Alaska for state Supreme Court arguments, in terms of sit, stay at least. But then we have a very mobile population with a lot of turnover.
pcrosby

Anonymous said...

I would be willing to chip in along with others (up to, say, $20/day for a few days) to access the feed if there is some way to accomplish that from a logistical standpoint. Of course, it would be better if it was just available for free from an established media outlet.

Anonymous said...

ORG here ...

I would be willing to chip-in as well. But chip-in to whom?

Do you know if anyone is considering streaming the hearing? How about Floyd on his website?

Thomas A. Fine said...

I suspect the $200/day is the least of the problems. It sounds like this merely purchases a feed, and no distribution infrastructure. blogspot.com almost certainly does not have any support for streaming video. Because of the amount of data involved, you need a very expensive network in place, or you need to pay someone that has such a network a lot of money.

tom