Yaika! at Almedalsveckan

Now you get to read a bit about what the Yaika! team did at the political conference Almedalsveckan. It took place in July on the island of Gotland, which is situated just east of Sweden. Our team was there with an exclusive right to broadcast live feeds.

The weather was quite dreadful, but as the conference took place indoors, it didn't really affect anything :)

The first day (and a bit of the night, too) was for setting up all the equipment and making sure that everything worked as it should have. There were a few technical difficulties, but the team worked around the clock and by the morning everything was working flawlessly.

While the others were fixing the equipment, Yaika! CEO Valentin Ivanov attended the opening party of Almedalsveckan 2008. In his words it was something similar to a Hollywood movie premiere. There were more than 700 people, security everywhere and even a red carpet, so everyone would feel like a real celebrity.

The first live feed was on the next day in the afternoon (it was filmed with four cameras). Unfortunately the quality was a bit shabby. After a while our team switched cameras and the new equipment proved to be worth it's cost as the quality improved drastically.

There were other broadcasting teams as well. We met with the people from Bambuser.com - a somewhat similar website as our own Yaika! with the big difference being that they mostly film events of all kinds, while Yaika! aims to give everybody the opportunity to broadcast anything they want. Bambuser.com originates from Sweden. A noteworthy fact is that Yaika! was given the permission to film in the main hall, while Bambuser (being 4 years old and local) wasn't :)

During the last days of the conference our team roamed around Visby and recorded a lot of shows. The was partly for testing the upcoming recording feature. We did encounter a problem with the multiple camera setup, but after a lengthy discussion a permanent fix was found.

In general, our team at Almedalsveckan was very pleased with how it turned out to be. There was always something going on and lot's of people to meet. You were also able to enjoy the festivities of the local nightlife. It was fun to see the same serious politicians, how gave speeches during the day, having a great time in the clubs surrounded by beautiful women.

Until next time!