Moderation Rules For All Interviews/Panels

These are guidelines that Phil and Joe use to maintain a good flow and keep on time while hosting.

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All call rules

How to sound good!

• Record in a quite, comfortable room without other people, phones or running appliances. Sign into Skype up to 5 minutes prior to the call. Phone calls are not currently supported.
• Use a strong connection, preferably a broadband LAN connection (cord into the router/modem/wall) or at the very least a very strong, reliable wireless connection.
• Don't call us, we'll call you!
  • At recording time, hosts will connect you to a group text-chat on Skype. We then call out to each panelist one by one.
  • Getting nervous because its one or two minutes after and we haven't connected? Let us know in chat — preferably in the group room with other panelists — but PLEASE DO NOT CALL US. We are most likely late in calling you because we are connecting each participant to the call, one by one.
  • If you call us while a call is in progress, not only will we not be able to answer, but doing so could also throw the other call into hold, and confuse the other participants.
  • This rule also applies if you are accidentally disconnected durring the call. Trust that Joe and I will DEFINITELY notice when you disconnect and we will reconnect as soon as the current speaker has finished talking (we cannot record call while connecting to participant, bug in the system).
• Shut down all other programs on your computer besides Skype, especially chat or messaging programs.
• Avoid conducting other Skype text chat conversations while you're on the call so you don't lose track of OUR text chat window.
• Turn off your notification sounds: see our Skype page to learn how.
• Use a headset mic to cut down on keyboard noise, if you have one.

Rules of thumb

• Besides the actual conversation, expect to be contacted by moderators twice before the call to discuss topics and clarify any needs.
• Please remember that the call will be approximately 15 minutes longer than the actual conversation, because there will be need to go over informaion, do sound-check take breaks and adjust for recording errors. A 15 minute segment will therefore be a 30 minute phone call, a 20 minute segment will be a 35 minute phone call, etc.
• ALL TIMES USED WILL BE EASTERN STANDARD TIME, REGARDLESS OF MODERATORS' OR PANELISTS' TIME ZONES. We will attempt to remind you of the time differences when we set up our calls.

Technical difficulties

• IF YOU ARE ACCIDENTALLY DISCONNECTED, DON'T CALL US, WE'LL CALL YOU! If you call us while we are in the middle of the conference call, not only will we not be able to answer your call but doing so could put that connection in jeopardy.
• Trust that Joe and I will DEFINITELY notice when you disconnect and we will connect you as soon as the current speaker has finished talking (we cannot record the call while connecting to a participant, bug in the system).
• We cannot effectively bring you back on muted, so we need to be able to take a break in the recording to bring you back.
• Avoid losing connection by connecting to broadband internet directly through a router using a LAN cable, or being very near your wireless router, and making sure other users in the house are staying off the internet.

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