SETT2016 | Chaos as Usual

Home for an hour after the first day at SETT. For us. Tomorrow it starts for real with the first public day and our program. So what did we do today? Why do I have a pounding headache? And did everything go smoothly?

The taxi was booked for 12:00. Since we’ll be away almost the whole week, we had to try to knock off as much work as possible before departure. Everything was packed. Even stuff I was supposed to bring from home. I’d set a bunch of reminders, which went off like crazy this morning so I wouldn’t forget. After stuffing the taxi so full that only Martin Claesson and I fit, Fredrik Carlsson had to take public transport. And thank goodness he did. Twenty minutes into the ride I had a feeling something was missing. The cameras. Sure enough, they weren’t in the car, and after a call to the caretaker Fredrik had to turn back and pick them up. The booth was supposed to be finished by 14:00 (it wasn’t when we left at 20:00), so we thought it’d be good to be there in plenty of time. Setting up our gear takes about 30–60 minutes.

Martin Claesson in charge.

When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised by the booth. Really intimate and cozy. Like a living room. However, there was no sound (speakers), no internet (which is handy when you want to live-stream), and no way to send video to the world’s biggest “jumbotron” that we have. We also discovered that I’d forgotten the TV remote and tape (both of which I later found in a box) and apparently one of the lamp stands was left in the taxi. The lovely Olov Hedtjärn hopped on the commuter train to fetch a replacement. Since it wasn’t really possible to rig everything while things weren’t finished, we tested a bit at a time and ended up improvising a lot ourselves. We borrowed a network cable on the promise we’d return it, and suddenly we had 900 MB/s internet. Our friends at Lärarförbundet provided tape and a bunch of other things and, as usual, contributed with humour and warmth. They’ve also made sure it’s going to be a really nice booth. Until today I only had a pencil sketch to go on, and it’s a whoooole different thing to see it in 3D. True pros!

This is how the pros — and also our friends at Lärarförbundet — work.

Another fun thing about being there the day before is all the acquaintances you run into. Lots of colleagues from Stockholm stad, but also from around the country. Fast-forward a few hours. We’ve got the projector running. The sound is tested — tested in the sense that we know sound comes out of the mixer. And we realise that’s all we can do, so we should test one last thing: the beer in the skybar at Victoria Tower where we’ve planned tomorrow’s AW. That worked too. :) Even though I’m afraid of heights and the 34th floor was a challenge for me. Tired. But satisfied. Everything is chaos. Just as it should be. Just like always. Tomorrow we take the 7:30 train to the fair. Then we’ll fine-tune things. At 10:00 we kick off with the first program item. That’s the moment. We’ll see if I have the energy to write anything tomorrow. Expecting at least a 15-hour workday. But gosh how fun we’re going to have. And gosh how great it will be to see everyone. See you!

The whole series - SETT2016

Part 1 | Here we go again

Part 2 | A long day and communication

Part 3 | Both digital and analog work

Part 4 | Into the last minute

Part 5 | Chaos as usual

Part 6 | Thanks and a bow