The Voynich Ninja

I can help with any of these 'chores'...

The VM Research Presentation Submissions are now open. Deadline is 8 April. A Google Form has been created for submissions and is now active and posted. Thanks to Rene and Andrew for helping review the form for me and for volunteering to help review the submissions we receive.

For more information, click here to view on the site calendar: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

The link to the related discussion thread and the Google Form responder link can be found in the calendar link.

Stay tuned for more updates once the activity poll closes after 29 February.

Per Koen in the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.:

(23-02-2024, 06:03 PM)Koen G Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I do wonder though, wouldn't it be more convenient to host a single event with a single login, and then allot time slots to people wishing to present? Like they did with the Malta conference? Like that it will feel like more of a unified event and it can be streamlined a bit, plus you'd probably have much greater attendance on all the talks.

Good points for certain and if the Malta Conference was able to set up all its sessions to be run virtually, instead of or in addition to in person attendance, and at no cost, this may work for VM Day as well, not only for the research presentations but also the other virtual activities. But there are some key differences between Malta and VM Day that may present challenges for the latter. First, Malta occurred over two days and VM Day is only one day. Second, Malta was one programming track and very likely VM Day will need to be at least two, possibly three or four (hopefully not more than that), tracks of scheduled live programming running simultaneously and that isn't counting the activities that will be offered on demand or through discussion threads. Third, VM Day is currently set to have multiple types of activities and not just talks. Fourth, I don't know how much attendance Malta received, both in person and virtual, but Voynich Ninja does have nearly 2,000 registered members. While I realize only a fraction of them are likely to participate in VM Day, if enough people attend, there will need to be enough activities so everyone gets something out of it as well as there being options in case some activities reach capacity. It all depends on how many submissions are received for the research presentations plus the scheduling of any other live activities as to what will work best, which is why we're asking for presenters to bring their own webinar. Making the event unified and streamlined may be more a matter of coordinated communication and scheduling, making sure all information is easy to find and well-organized. As planning gets underway for all the live events, it is likely I will have schedule grids created that will be filled in as activities are confirmed and finalized. In the end VM Day is likely be more like a virtual mini media convention than simply a scholarly conference. If all goes according to plan. It's a little too early to tell how this will all play out.

If someone can tell me, I would like to know how many attended Malta and how the virtual aspects were handled. Any key takeaways from Malta that can be applied to VM Day would be helpful.

Sorry for the delay updating this thread. Voynich Ninja has been extremely active lately and it was all I could do to keep up with reading all the new posts.

Updated Activities (in order based on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. results):

• State of the Voynich - Koen (this activity was preselected and not included in the activities poll; member poll in July and results on VM Day; will circle back with Koen in June)
  
• Individual VM Research Paper Presentations (#1 selection in activities poll with 9 votes; this was originally a peer review but we changed it; submission form active that is a questionnaire about what will be presented but doesn't ask for presentation upload at this time; deadline is tomorrow 8 April but there has only been 1 submission so far plus 1 other interest expressed but no submission yet (not counting Rene's and Andrew's test submissions that haven't been deleted yet); other details TBD; should we extend the deadline?)
  
• Individual guest talks (VM topics and related sciences) (#2 selection in activities poll with 6 votes; live timed events by webinar on a variety of VM themes and various related sciences presented by experts and others who are knowledgeable; I need help getting guests lined up and am thinking of starting a discussion thread to ask members what guests they would like to see; this is a separate activity from the next one below)
  
• Live video interviews and audience Q&A with experts (#3 selection in activities poll with 5 votes; live timed events; I envision one expert per live interview and we'll need someone to interview each expert; I think Koen has something planned for this and need an update from him; depending on Koen's update, I may need help getting more experts lined up, in which case, it might not be a bad idea to start a discussion thread and ask members what experts they would like to see)
  
• VM-Themed Live Music (#4 selection in activities poll with 3 votes; previously called VM Music Programming Track; live timed events; so far we only have 1 music performance lined up that will be 1 song not performed live; originally intended this activity to be live performances by audio or video on VM Day, no live recordings (unless the artist permits) but artists can later share links to audio/video recordings; I'm open to suggestions and assistance in expanding this content)
  
• New member welcome (tied for #5 in activities poll with 2 votes; live timed event; audio/video webinar; 8 April through 28 July thread for all new members in the last 12 months to RSVP; moderator needed)
  
• VM Art Show (tied for #5 in activities poll with 2 votes; discussion thread where artists can post images of VM-themed art they have created between 15 April and 3 August, including works they have available for sale and links to where they can be purchased; separate poll between 28 July and 3 August for best work submitted by 21 July in each of several categories (TBD, should include an AI one) with results presented on VM Day)
  
• Create your own VM folio (tied for #6 in activities poll with 1 vote; all submissions must be in the style of a VM folio (images and indecipherable text) but be an original work, submissions 22 April through 21 July, multiple choice poll to select the top 3 between 28 July and 3 August, results summarized on VM Day)
  
• VM Day Recipes (tied for #6 in activities poll with 1 vote; discussion thread with VM-themed food and beverage recipe submissions 22 April through 28 July, Q&A replies until 3 August (if needed), then presentation photos for those who have made them on VM Day with a separate poll for the top 3 food and top 3 beverage recipes that week)
  
• Your most likely plant identification (cancelled due to zero votes in activities poll)
  
• VM Art Auction (cancelled due to zero votes in activities poll)
  
• Year in Review: VM Blogging (was included in poll thread but not as an option in the poll; keeping this one for now and I will launch a separate discussion thread to sign up participants; could be by discussion thread or by live timed webinar at the discretion of each blogger)
  
• Bulletin Board for local VM Day events and meetups (was included in poll thread but not as an option in the poll; keeping this one because it is easy to set up; discussion thread starting 22 April through 3 August)
  
• Voynich Fools Day (was included in poll thread but not as an option in the poll; keeping this one because it is easy to set up; our version of April Fools Day; discussion thread with submissions on VM Day and separate poll for the best one that week)
  
• Just for fun: Your most absurd VM theory (was included in poll thread but not as an option in the poll; keeping this one because it is easy to set up; discussion thread with submissions on VM Day and poll for the best one that week)
  
• VM-themed panel discussions (cancelling this one due to its similarity to poll selections #2 and #3 above; was included in poll thread but not as an option in the poll)
  

Updated Schedule:

• February 2024:
  • activities poll completed
    
  • research presentation submission form launched
    
• April 2024:
  • 8 April: current deadline for research presentation form submissions
    
  • 8 April: start new member welcome thread for RSVPs
    
  • 15 April: start VM Art Show thread (call for artwork posting submissions)
    
  • 15 April: create threads for expert interviews and guest talk suggestions
    
  • 22 April: create thread for local activities bulletin board
    
  • 22 April: create thread for VM folio submissions
    
  • 22 April: create thread for VM recipe submissions
    
• May 2024:
  • start confirmation of participants for expert interviews and guest talks
    
  • start thread to confirm bloggers for blog year-in-reviews
    
• June 2024:
  • start work on program
    
• July 2024:
  • State of the Voynich poll
    
  • 21 July: all interviewers, moderators, experts, other guests, musicians and bloggers finalized
    
  • 21 July: artists' works submissions due for the Art Show poll
    
  • 21 July: VM folio submissions due
    
  • 21 July: all live event webinar details due so they can be included in the program
    
  • 28 July: start Art Show entry poll
    
  • 28 July: start VM folio poll
    
  • 28 July: VM recipe submissions deadline
    
  • 28 July: new member RSVPs deadline for the new member welcome
    
  • 28 July: program finalized and published to site calendar and discussion VM Day 2024 main thread (separate of this one)
    
• August 2024:
  • 3 August: poll ends for Art Show entries
    
  • 3 August: poll ends for VM folios
    
  • 3 August: deadline for Art Show entries not already submitted for the poll
    
  • 3 August: deadline for local events posted to bulletin board thread
    
  • 3 August: create Voynich Fools Day submission thread
    
  • 3 August: create Absurd VM theory submission thread
    
  • 4 August: VM Day and all related activities and scheduled events
    
  • 5 August - 11 August: post VM Day polls active (Voynich Fools, Absurd VM theory, VM recipes)
    
  • 12 August: post VM Day poll results announced
    
  • Dead dog party - well, no, not really since we're doing this virtually but you catch my drift I'm sure
    

Thank you for the reminder about today's deadline!

My proposal for the paper presentations:

I run a zoom meeting for a preset amount of time during that day - probably in my afternoon since this is the period when both USA and Europe are awake. People who want to present a paper get a time slot. Audience is free to drop in and out whenever. I simply give presentation rights to whomever is to present at that time, audience can always submit questions via chat during the presentation and/or via webcam after.

It seems that the response will be limited anyway, so it might be more appealing if we centralize the whole thing. Like this, people also don't have to setup their own meeting and audience members don't have to juggle different programs/login codes etc.

(08-04-2024, 01:35 PM)Koen G Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.My proposal for the paper presentations:

I run a zoom meeting for a preset amount of time during that day - probably in my afternoon since this is the period when both USA and Europe are awake. People who want to present a paper get a time slot. Audience is free to drop in and out whenever. I simply give presentation rights to whomever is to present at that time, audience can always submit questions via chat during the presentation and/or via webcam after.

It seems that the response will be limited anyway, so it might be more appealing if we centralize the whole thing. Like this, people also don't have to setup their own meeting and audience members don't have to juggle different programs/login codes etc.

I have been giving some thought to this and I was wondering if this would only be for the individual VM research presentations or if we could expand use of your Zoom to other VM Day events. The expert interviews, guest talks, music (if live), new member welcome, plus I imagine your own State of the Voynich, will all need webinar access and it would be helpful if all of them can use a central Zoom account. There is a possibility we will still need multiple programming tracks running simultaneously on VM Day. Too early to tell but it would be good to make sure this is possible.

Alternatively, I was wondering if it might be helpful for the Voynich Ninja to have its own Zoom (or other webinar platform) account, not only for VM Day but for other site-related uses as well. If so, I would suggest one of the Forum Team members establish the site account and that all the members of the Forum Team have administrator access on it. It also occurred to me that it may be useful for this site to have its own Google account that could be used for shared worksheets (like Mark Knowles' plant comparison project) or forms (like the one I created under my account for VM Day researcher presentation submissions) and many other uses. Google apps even has a slide presentation app and we could probably make a Voynich Ninja template accessible (a VN brand, if you will). Access to that Google account could be the same as for the webinar account. I am getting way ahead of myself here but these were just some ideas I had lately (and it helps to get them out of my head periodically, if you know what I mean <wink>).

Yes, one zoom event with a varied programme would be my ideal scenario. I'd be willing to host the session. Of course, others could always join to take over presentation, conduct an interview etc. 

I'd certainly aim for concentration rather than scattering.

Tonight, I launched the VM Day New Member Welcome Invitation and extended it to all new members of Voynich Ninja who joined (or will join) between August 2023 through July 2024. The deadline for RSVPs is 28 July. I also said if anyone who RSVPs attendance has any suggestions that would make this virtual event a better experience for them to let us know when they RSVP.

I have a few thoughts of my own and a few questions as well in preparing for the New Member Welcome:

• What is the maximum participation allowed in Zoom (there are 2,020 registered members but I imagine the new ones are a significantly smaller number)?
  
• Will attendees have to use computer audio or will there also be a dial in (long distance, I presume)?
  
• Will they be able to use a web version of the platform or will they have to do a download and install?
  
• Can I get a volunteer to act as moderator for introducing new members (or a suggestion for someone I should reach out to)?
  
• Can new members introduce themselves by video or only audio?
  
• Will the Zoom support multiple simultaneous attendee webcam video?
  
• Can we include a Q&A (I imagine new members will have a lot of questions)?
  
• In addition to the moderator, could we have one or more members of the Forum Team attend and introduce themselves and help with the Q&A?
  
• Are there other members we should invite to speak in addition to the Forum Team?
  
• Can we and would we want to record the event for new members to view later (I'm a bit iffy on this suggestion)?
  
• Is it possible to have breakout rooms within the main Zoom (i.e. as a way for attendees to mingle in small numbers during the event after introductions and Q&A; I realize there may be some limitations, like breakout rooms can't be recorded, which is probably a good thing)?
  
• Can we add anything fun like VM trivia questions as part of the event?
  
• If we add breakout rooms, and depending on how long we can make the event, perhaps we can add a VM digital scavenger hunt?
  

Meet-and-greets are most often in person events and usually include alcoholic beverages and hors d'oeuvres and a lot of mingling so I'm trying to think of ways to replace those things with ones that are equally entertaining, engaging and interactive. I'm sure others can probably come up with more ideas than I have mentioned here.

The researcher forms submitted by the 8 April deadline have all been reviewed and accepted and I will be reaching out to all of them this week. Scheduling will come next and I will coordinate with Koen on that. The review team felt we can add more presentations and that we should extend the deadline so we did. The new date is 30 April and we will review any additional submissions at that time.

Next week, I have more discussion threads to start:

15 April: start VM Art Show thread (call for artwork posting submissions)
15 April: create threads for expert interviews and guest talk suggestions

The VM Art Show thread will be a call for current member VM artwork to be submitted by thread reply, either as links to external sites or as embedded images and posts can also include information on how to purchase the artwork. For all submissions received by 21 July, they will also be eligible for the member vote best of poll, which, depending on how many submissions received, may be a series of polls broken out by category (site polls are limited to 10 options).

I only know of one VM artist on this site and only 1 or 2 others externally. I could use some help getting the word out. So if anyone reading this knows of anyone who may be interested in sharing their VM artwork, your assisted in contacting them would be greatly appreciated.

Likewise, I will have to put out a call for VM musicians as we only have 1 of those currently. I could use everyone's help with this too.

As for the expert interviews, I know Koen has something in progress and I need an update. But for both this and the guest talks, I need suggestions for additional people who should be invited to be interviewed or to do a talk. Some may be internal to this site but I expect many asked to participate will be external. With the threads I am starting on Monday, I plan to include a poll in each so members can vote on who they would most like to "see" on VM Day from a list of options for whom there is already contact info and to also allow members to suggest others, especially ones they can reach out to for us. We need to start confirming these experts and guests in May and complete them by 21 July.

Again, any and all help from anyone reading this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!