Meta: Proposal for MGoReaders to help the MGoStaff w/transcripts
Intro
I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but I think the MGoStaff is overwhelmed. They've provided us with subscription-free content for years, so maybe we can give something back. There are already a few guys doing this informally, so this is an effort to organize and prevent redundant efforts and other time-wasting mixups.
Proposal
Here are some proposed steps to accomplishing this:
- ID Important Pressers/Interviews. I'm generally aware of these types of events, but I don't know which ones are important or exactly what date they show up. Maybe someone in the know (or even MGoStaff) can help with this. Or we could even crowdsource this part of the effort.
- ID Sources for Original Info. After we ID interviews, we need to find the sources for people to download and make a transcript or to transfer to YouTube to get a free transcript to correct. Again, maybe someone with experience from the MGoStaff could help with this part.
- Organize People to Help. Volunteers can do as little as 1 minute of a transcript. Maybe we establish some conventions for IDing speakers and have an 'editor' who overlooks the entire thing at the end, etc.
- Have people volunteer in this or another thread (perhaps this one is more to debate the merits of the idea)
- Set deadlines to complete stuff for pressers/interviews
- Create a Google Excel Sheet that assigns people to minutes of a particular transcript and parts of the transcripting process (for example: convert to MP4, Upload to YouTube, generate YouTube transcripts for user correction)
- Create a Google Docs Folder to Order Different Transcripts, where people can add the info simultaneously (while backing up their portion of the transcript to their personal account).
So that's the idea. I look forward to your feedback!
August 16th, 2018 at 10:29 AM ^
I’d be interested. I’m not sure my recent comments will allow for that to happen, but I’d be interested in being of use to the blog.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:44 AM ^
You probably don't want a Russian with nuking capabilities.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^
I'm not sure how much time I'll have, but I'm willing to help when I can.
August 16th, 2018 at 2:00 PM ^
I can. I would like to know the time frame each day so I can plan accordingly. I am generally busy during the work hours 8-5 CST but can check the site periodically.
August 16th, 2018 at 6:25 PM ^
You can add me to the list. Though if it gets in the way of my job search in Fresno, I may be forced to resign. As things stand right now I have loads of time and generally lurk or spout off all day and night, might as well pitch in, if I’m needed.
August 17th, 2018 at 12:30 AM ^
LSA, I am more than happy to help with part time moderating, of course for free.
I've actually volunteered multiple times and been ignored, which is all of you all's loss.
August 16th, 2018 at 8:46 AM ^
Hail Caesar!
or at least thanks for offering a potential solution.
If nothing changes, nothing will change.
August 16th, 2018 at 8:53 AM ^
Did I miss a post about Adam Schnepp leaving the blog? Because he's handled most of the pressers for at least the last year, right?
August 16th, 2018 at 9:17 AM ^
His Twitter bio still references being a writer here. Profile for the website shows no activity since March though.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:29 AM ^
And Alex Cook seems to have disappeared as well. I can't even seem to find an active twitter account for him.
Matt Way has written two or three articles.
But looking at the Draftageddon stuff, it appears that the only active staff are Brian, Ace, Seth, and BiSB.
August 16th, 2018 at 3:44 PM ^
I've been wondering for the last year or two if Brian isn't just going to pull the plug on the whole thing. Just feels a little disengaged and less passionate about it all. Which hey, having a kid will do that to you. Available free time and extra energy goes right out the window those first couple of years. Gotta be extra hard for running a site like this where you have to crank out non-stop content.
August 16th, 2018 at 4:26 PM ^
Yeah, been doing pressers since 2014. I'm not anymore, but I'll be back September 1st. I'll be doing some new things as well as the profiles I've been doing the last couple years.
August 16th, 2018 at 7:54 PM ^
I ended up talking to Seth today about something else and then it got around to you and Alex. He explained what was going on with staffing and what not.
I think the point I was trying to make was that we had gotten used to contributions from people that suddenly weren't around anymore and no one really knew why. I get that people want to maintain some privacy when this isn't their full time job. However, there should be a balance that's relatively easy to reach where we don't know anything about your life that you don't want us to know, but we're still kept in the loop about people not writing here anymore or changing things up. I think it would help to avoid some of the idiocy that we had today.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:08 AM ^
Just go watch the damn presser videos. Much better than reading a transcript.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:16 AM ^
How is it much better?
It takes longer.
It's not as clear because the audio is generally shitty.
I'm limited as to where I can do it.
None of that makes it better.
August 16th, 2018 at 12:17 PM ^
You can read what they said. Or you can hear/see how they said it. No comparison IMO
August 16th, 2018 at 1:43 PM ^
Yours seems to be the minority opinion.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:17 AM ^
Less overall football content and mod presence in conjunction with a poorly handled move to site version 3.0 while football season rapidly approaches.
Bold strategy.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:57 AM ^
Ouch. Unfortunately sad but largely true. The decline in content is very disappointing and worrisome. As a long time regular and grateful visitor to this site I hope the recent troubles and decline can be reversed. The OP’s idea of crowded sourcing transcripts, while well-intentioned no doubt, just highlights the cracks in the foundation around here.
I sincerely hope I will be proven wrong in the months to come.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:06 AM ^
Completely agree. Feels like the blog is mailing it in harder than Lloyd with a 3 point 4th quarter lead.
I'm desperately hoping for a surprise 2008 Citrus Bowl v Florida type gameplan.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:17 AM ^
That joke made me laugh...then feel sad.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:41 PM ^
The deepest of burns for a Michigan fan/blog.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:00 AM ^
I think if you went back to previous years, early camp (particularly under Harbaugh) was fairly light on content, b/c there's little news (none of the daily update videos that used to come out under Hoke) and b/c the staff was working up the content for the preview week (which has run about 40,000 words, the length of a short novel).
The pressers are the main things that are missing this year, along with some of the recruiting roundups that Ace wrote up and Draftageddon, but it's not like the first few weeks of camp were some kind of wave of content in years' past. If we see noticeably shorter previews, then we'll know there's been a decline in overall content.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:07 AM ^
Eh, we would still get regular unverified voracity posts, which should be especially easy to push out right now with all the controversies within the conference.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:44 PM ^
The UV’s are what’s missing for me. While I do try and read content all of the place, it’s easy to miss things. And Brian was always great at picking out the good bits and adding his own spin to it. Feels like those have been almost non-existent the month of August.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:06 AM ^
I enjoy the blog as well, but I find this entire post and the responses to be odd. This is a for profit site (yes, I appreciate that it’s free) and the users are going to volunteer their time and effort (yes, I appreciate it’s minimal)? Seems like Brian should find a solution.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:16 AM ^
For profit until HUEL straight robbed them.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:38 AM ^
Ugh. This sounds like...work.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:47 AM ^
Where are the presser audio files? A couple commenters have mentioned youtube transcription, that looks to be free, but there's also a Google Cloud service that will to speech to text for low cost.
https://cloud.google.com/speech-to-text/
Probably the same tech that runs the youtube service.
I'd be happy to give it a whirl once or twice to see if the quality is ok while the staff is MIA
August 16th, 2018 at 11:11 AM ^
Even with Ace out there are still 3 people who write for this place and they only post about 5-6 blogs/week.
I don’t think they’re overwhelmed with the writing obligation.
August 16th, 2018 at 12:29 PM ^
Is this a joke?
Anyone feel like doing my job for free, too? I have quite a bit of work that the MGoBlog community could surely help on... I'll be sure to keep collecting paychecks and will even provide snarky comments to you all if you disagree with anything I may say or suggest!
August 16th, 2018 at 3:58 PM ^
I will clarify that this has nothing to do with a comment on how MGoBlog chooses to employ Ace. If a company is willing to support an employee through health struggles, then I applaud them, truly. I think more companies*** should follow suit. I know that many, many, many people on this board would be SOL if they faced chronic health issues.
I only wish Ace the best and hope to see him around here more often as his health improves (fingers crossed). But, I also think it is a company's obligation to find solutions for their employee's absence, not the site member, who is almost entirely driving the company's revenues.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:34 PM ^
This is the most fun I've had on this site in a long time. How are these two conversations co-existing and carrying on like this? I am amazed.
August 16th, 2018 at 1:28 PM ^
I used to do Sam Webb''s transcription back a few years ago. My experience is that people are not reliable enough to do what you are asking and it would take a ton of coordination to make this work.
Problem is quality of the audio can really make you bang your head when trying to get out quality work.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:47 PM ^
I’ve done more than my fair share of transcribing over the years too and I’m pretty sure the people volunteering to transcribe have never actually transcribed before. It is THE WORST. Especially when you have to be super accurate.
August 17th, 2018 at 12:43 AM ^
^This, Burgers.
Some years ago I signed up to transcribe for a nonprofit whose mission I supported, and it was a difficult and time consuming assignment. Thought I did a good job for them, and was thanked profusely. Never heard from them again.
August 16th, 2018 at 2:57 PM ^
I say we just get Alum96 back and call it even.
August 17th, 2018 at 2:38 AM ^
After going through the thread, I saw 3 volunteers, which I think is too few. I'll continue to do the stuff I've been doing, but I think the idea is pretty much dead for now.
Not that anyone is reading this, but I just wanted to say that I didn't intend for some of the side conversations that erupted on here.