## [Tips for Web Coordinators]{.underline}

## [*Cindy Renkas*](mailto:cindy.renkas@noaa.gov)

## Random tips, in no particular order:

## \*Find out from the Web team who the "Ask an Explorer" contact is. Prior to departure, send that person your at-sea e-mail address. "Ask an Explorer" questions will be sent to the land-based contact person, then he/she will send the questions on to you after determining if they are appropriate. Please return the answers as soon as possible to this contact person, [not]{.underline} to the Web team. This contact person will compile the question and answer in an appropriate online format, and then send it to the Web team for immediate posting.

## \*Ask your web team contact person (OE Site Manager for your mission) to send you a "received" message for every piece of communication you send to the team from sea. This is to help avoid those situations when the Web Coordinator sends logs, images, and videos from sea, only to find out days/weeks later, upon return to land and an internet connection to check the website, that information sent from sea was not received by the Web team.

## \*Ask for a Web Coordinator packing list before you depart. Review it so you know what to expect in your kit and check it off item by item as you open your materials onboard. Additional items to ask for, if they are not initially included in your supplies: stapler with an extra small box of staples, staple remover, rubberbands, roll of packing tape, Post-It sticky notes, return-addressed pre-paid FedEx labels for every OE container/box sent to the ship, and OE "Explore" stickers (the ones with the octopus logo are often very popular among ship and science crew alike and they're great to distribute to everyone so they have the OE website address; take at least 50 per expedition)

## \*Work with the ship and science crews to obtain permission and a good shipboard location for posting hard copy text versions of the daily logs which you send out for the website. Since the shipboard personnel have no internet access (usually), they have no way to see what is being sent back, and they are often very interested in reading the logs. (this may help with motivating potential log authors, as well)

## \*Don't use colons or slashes in your file names -- the files won't open later. Dashes and underscores are okay.

\*Location, location, location -- try to arrive early aboard the ship so
you can set up next to the Data Manager (one of the WC's best friends).
Both of you should be set up where all the action is -- i.e., in the
area where most of the scientists have set up their computers,
microscopes, and where they will be hanging out most of the time.

\*Contact the PI a couple weeks prior to the departure to ask how he/she
wants to handle log assignments (this will have been mentioned during
the Web Planning conference call, but it's best to check back in before
departure). Offer to send out an e-mail -- or see if the PI wants to
send it out -- letting the science crew know about the website and the
daily logs. Tell them that the purpose of the website is to tell the
story of the expedition, and that each of them is part of that story.
Tell them you will likely be asking them to write a log to tell their
part of the story, and perhaps they would like to include background
information/data/images which they want to gather prior to departure and
bring with them when they board the ship (since internet access will be
limited/nonexistent -- surprisingly, many in the science crew are not
aware that they will not have internet access aboard the ship).

\*Photos of animals and scientific operations should predominate in the
logs; photos of humans at their computers, standing/sitting around on
the ship should be used very sparingly, if at all.

\*Bring hard copies of the expedition's background essays, all explorer
biographies, and maybe the project proposal to sea for reference
purposes.

\*Bring a hard copy of any e-mail addresses you'll want -- you won't
have access to your online address books.

***How To's***

Don't ever send full-size video clips or high resolution images via
e-mail. **SAVE** the high res. images and original-size videos, though,
to give to the web team when you return to land.

**To Compress Movies for e-mailing:**

1)  File to Share

2)  Choose Quick Time \> CD ROM

**To Resize Still Images for e-mailing:**

1)  Highlight the picture

2)  File to Open in PhotoShop

3)  Go to Image \> Image Size

4)  Retype Resolution to 72 dpi, do [not]{.underline} click OK

5)  Retype Width to about 600 x 450 or so, then click OK

6)  File to Save for Web

7)  Choose jpg. Medium

8)  Click "Don't Save" when you close the original picture, so you keep
    it in its original higher resolution form

**To Record Clamshell to Clamshell: (mini DV to mini DV)**

1)  Turn on both clamshell units

2)  Press Eject to make open; slide original tape into one unit and new
    tape into other unit

3)  Close lids, wait a few seconds (to "engage" tapes)

4)  REWIND original tape

5)  Press "Record" buttons

6)  Press "Play" on unit with original tape

**To Export Video from Computer back to DV tape in Videocamera:**

1)  Connect camera just as when you are importing from the camera to the
    computer (same camera setting)

2)  Open the movie

3)  File \> Share

4)  Videocamera \> Share