Category: Financial

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Broadcast Standards: Agile Methodologies & the Stakeholders They Effect

 Agile methodologies are a set of practices that help teams to be more flexible and responsive to change. They emphasize the importance of frequent communication, collaboration, and continuous delivery of working software. 

Agile methodologies include, but are not limited to:

1. Scrum: Scrum is an Agile methodology that focuses on delivering a potentially releasable product increment at the end of each iteration. It is based on an empirical process framework with predefined roles, ceremonies, and artifacts.

2. Kanban: Kanban is an Agile methodology that emphasizes flow efficiency and not delivery speed. It is based on a visual management system that helps team members visualize work items, track progress, and reduce waste.

3. Lean: Lean is an Agile methodology that emphasizes delivering customer value with the minimum possible waste. It is based on the concepts of eliminating waste, continuous improvement, and creating pull-based systems.

4. Extreme Programming (XP): XP is an Agile methodology that emphasizes software engineering best practices to enable teams to deliver high-quality software. It is based on the practices of test-driven development, pair programming, continuous integration, and frequent releases.

5. Crystal: Crystal is an Agile methodology that is based on the philosophy of adapting to the needs of the project at hand. It is designed to be lightweight and flexible, and focuses on communication and collaboration between team members.

6. Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM): DSDM is an Agile methodology that is based on a project framework that emphasizes collaboration, iterative development, and continual business involvement.

7. Feature-Driven Development (FDD): FDD is an Agile methodology that focuses on delivering tangible, working software features. It is based on five iterative and incremental processes, which include developing an overall model, building a feature list, planning by feature, designing by feature, and building by feature.

8. Adaptive Software Development (ASD): ASD is an Agile methodology that focuses on continuous refinement, cooperation, and communication between the development team and the stakeholders. It is based on the principles of collaboration, self-organization, and rapid adaptation.

9. Rapid Application Development (RAD): RAD is an Agile methodology that emphasizes speedy development and prototyping. It is based on the principles of iterative development, continuous user involvement, and rapid feedback.

10. Agile Unified Process (AUP): AUP is an Agile methodology that is based on the principles of simplicity, agility, and adaptability. It is a hybrid methodology that combines the principles of Agile development with best practices from the Unified Process.

11. Agile Modelling (AM): AM is an Agile methodology that emphasizes collaboration and communication between developers, stakeholders, and users. It is based on the principles of iterative development, frequent feedback, and frequent releases.

12. Scrumban: Scrumban is a hybrid Agile methodology that combines the principles of Scrum and Kanban. It is designed to help teams transition from Scrum to Kanban, or to combine the best practices of both methodologies. It is based on visualizing work, limiting work in progress, and continuously improving the process.

• Different methodologies can be used for different teams in the same company.

The goal of Agile is to help teams deliver high-quality software that meets the customer’s needs, while at the same time adapting to changing requirements and priorities. Agile methodologies promote a culture of continuous improvement, where teams strive to deliver better software with each iteration.

Agile processes in broadcast television refer to the application of Agile methodologies in the production and delivery of TV shows and programs. 

These processes involve breaking down the production process into smaller, more manageable tasks called “sprints,” each of which is completed within a set period of time. 

During these sprints, cross-functional teams of writers, producers, editors, and others collaborate closely to create and refine content, incorporating feedback from stakeholders and viewers along the way. 

This approach emphasizes flexibility and adaptability, allowing teams to make adjustments as needed throughout the production process. It also helps to prioritize the most important features or elements in a show, ensuring that they are delivered on time and within budget. 

Overall, Agile processes can help broadcast television teams work more efficiently and effectively, producing high-quality content that meets the needs of viewers and stakeholders alike.

Who are the stakeholders?

The stakeholders in broadcasting can vary depending on the type of broadcasting organization and its business model. However, in general, the following groups are typically considered stakeholders in broadcasting:

1. Audience: The people who use and consume broadcast content, including TV and radio viewers and listeners, website and app users, and social media followers.

2. Advertisers and sponsors: Companies and organizations that pay to advertise or sponsor content on broadcast media.

3. Government regulators: Organizations that regulate broadcasting operations and programming content, such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States and Ofcom in the United Kingdom.

4. Shareholders and investors: Individuals or organizations that own a stake in the broadcasting company, including stockholders and venture capitalists.

5. Employees and talent: Those who work for the broadcasting company, including executives, producers, directors, writers, actors, and technicians.

6. Independent producers and studios: Production companies or studios that sell content to the broadcasting company.

7. Industry partners: Partners and suppliers who contribute to the creation and distribution of broadcast content, including equipment manufacturers, technology companies, and distributors.

Please reach out with any questions, and like if you found this information useful.

Career, Employment, Financial, Mentoring, Technology

Check out why PTP is significant for financial trading, control systems and telecommunications

There are several PTP (Precision Time Protocol) protocols, also known as IEEE 1588. The most commonly used are:

  1. PTPv1: The original version of the Precision Time Protocol specified in IEEE 1588-2002.
  2. PTPv2: The updated version of PTP that is widely used today, specified in IEEE 1588-2008. It introduced several new features and improvements over the original version.
  3. PTPv2.1: An extension to PTPv2 that provides more reliable and secure time synchronization, specified in IEEE 1588-2019.
  4. PTPv3: A revision of PTP that is currently under development by the IEEE. It aims to further improve the protocol’s accuracy, reliability, and security.

The main differences between these protocols lie in their features and capabilities, such as the accuracy and precision of the time synchronization they provide, the types of hardware they can support, and the security mechanisms they include.

PTP can be used to distribute precise time from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite receiver that has a PTP-enabled network interface. This allows for accurate time synchronization across distributed systems.

GPS satellites provide accurate time information through atomic clocks that are synchronized to GPS time, which is based on International Atomic Time (TAI). The GPS receiver on the ground uses this information to determine its location, velocity, and precise timing information.

PTP-compatible GPS receivers can output PTP timestamps by converting the GPS time information into PTP format through a specialized PTP adapter or GPS receiver module that has been designed to support this function. The GPS receiver provides the PTP grandmaster clock with its original GPS time and this clock can then synchronize other PTP-compatible devices on a network.

Since GPS signals travel at the speed of light, the propagation delay between the satellites and the GPS receiver can be accurately measured and accounted for by the GPS receiver. This allows PTP-compatible GPS receivers to provide accurate timestamps that can be used for time synchronization across a network.

PTP can be used in conjunction with GPS receivers to provide accurate time synchronization, enabling organizations such as telecommunications providers and financial traders to synchronize their operations and services across distributed systems.

The Leader clock is a clock that is responsible for generating and distributing time to follower and boundary clocks in the network, while a Follower clock is a clock that is synchronized to the Leader clock.

The Leader clock sends periodic synchronization messages called Sync messages to the Follower clocks in the network, which allows the Follower clocks to establish their own clocks and set their own internal time to match that of the Leader clock. The Follower clocks periodically send messages to the Leader to estimate network delay and adjust their own clocks’ rate accordingly.

The goal of PTP is to achieve sub-microsecond accuracy in network clock synchronization, which is critical for time-sensitive applications such as financial trading, industrial control systems, and telecommunications. Leader and Follower clocks are an essential part of PTP implementation, enabling precise time synchronization across multiple edge devices in a network.

The hardware supported by each version of PTP can vary depending on the implementation, but in general:

  1. PTPv1: This version of PTP supports Ethernet networks and devices with hardware timestamps, which were implemented in some network interface cards (NICs) and switches.
  2. PTPv2: This version of PTP is widely used and supports Ethernet networks and devices with hardware timestamps, which are now more commonly available in NICs and switches. It also extends support to Wi-Fi networks and wireless devices.
  3. PTPv2.1: This version of PTP builds on PTPv2 and adds new features to improve security, resiliency, and scalability. It supports the same hardware as PTPv2.
  4. PTPv3: This version of PTP is still under development, but it aims to extend the protocol’s support to new hardware, such as low-power devices and embedded systems. It also aims to add support for more advanced timing functions, including time-sensitive networking (TSN) and coexistence with existing synchronization protocols.

I hope this helps you under PTP on a basic level. Reach out if you have any questions.

You can leave comments too!

Employment, Financial, Life Choices, Mentoring, Technology

The Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Tournament

The 5th Green at Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage, CA

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.“
– Albert Einstein

If you read my post on “How it all started: My First Unpaid Production Runner Experience in Sports Broadcasting”, this is my first paid job for sports broadcasting. I was directly asked “Do you want to do golf”? Of course I did! But, I had no real idea what that really meant yet, but there was travel and adventure ahead! I kept in touch with the Senior Production Manager at the alphabet company via a pay phone for the entire floor in my dorm, not easy when my peers would tie it up for hours talking to family, friends, boyfriends and girlfriends. I didn’t have email yet, no in-room phone, much less a cell phone (brick) yet. I called between classes during business hours to check in about every week. Most of the time I was leaving voicemails because I didn’t realize at that time that the SPM would be traveling to remote sites, and not at his desk most of the time. So I just kept checking in. Hmmmm, maybe I’ve been forgotten already. I didn’t even hear back from the more junior PM.

Then finally one afternoon, someone picked up the phone. The secretary to the Sports team, she put me through to the junior PM (who is now the VP of Operations at a Giant Baseball network). We spoke for a few minutes setting up a plan of action, and what was expected of me, and how I could plan to “make this work”. I was booked to fly to California to the Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Tournament during my spring break. I would miss some classes because of it, so I approached all my professors and let them know I wouldn’t be in class the days after spring break and why. All where just fine with it, except for my chemistry teacher since one was a lab day. I made it up though. So, off I went, excited, nervous, what do I pack? OK, a White collared shirt and khakis, no jeans. Pens, paper, and an old school personal handwritten phone book with my family, friend’s, and now business contacts information in it.

My first time on an airplane. A friend drove me to the airport, Trembling with enthusiasm I checked in, checked my bag, I was going to be there for 12 days after all not really knowing most of the 60 person crew. Hours later I landed in California, right on time. As instructed, I picked up a rental car that was set aside for me, and off I went to check into the hotel. Wow! What a beautiful place sunny, warm, expansive, then I looked up at the nearby mountains and there was snow, yes snow on their caps, it was unreal. I got to stay in a five star hotel in Indian Wells, CA! I shared the suite with 4 other young women production assistants. There were 2 beds, a roll-away bed, and a sleeper sofa. Hmmm, that’s 4, since the hotel only allowed 1 roll-away bed, and I was the newest member of this crew, so I just put the cushions from the sleeper sofa on the floor and slept there. I did just that every night, and even when I was a more senior member of the crew in the coming years, I still slept on the sofa cushions on the floor. All was set, we all unpacked and went to the work site.

What a beautiful worksite it was in Rancho Mirage, CA. I GET to “work” here for almost 2 weeks, this is a dream I thought. And, it was.

We took care of the golf carts, helped the tech managers track equipment and cabling, learned more about wiring from some of the Tech Managers, and then the tech records folks came in to onboard the crew and track hours. My first paid Sports Broadcasting job, I was paid $50/day and worked about 16 hours a day, no overtime but I didn’t care. It wasn’t hard work, I started to learn the union rules, and was told to make sure I knew about meal breaks, what was required for them, and to ensure every piece of the contract was fulfilled. The SPM left that to me, and luckily the junior PM was the same one from the NYC marathon so I knew how they operated, at least a little bit by then. I poured over the rules, showed up early, stayed late to ensure all the rules were followed including driving back to 2 other hotels to make sure the crew schedules were posted in-time for the next day.

Socializing. I didn’t go out with the crew of other production assistants after work, they were all a couple years older than me, they went to the bar, I went to the luxurious hotel gym. They did that every night, and so did I. I wasn’t old enough to drink legally, and I didn’t wish to either, but that didn’t win me any friends with some of the staff.

A few days into prepping the event, one of the young female production assistants accused me of stealing her favorite T-Shirts. She went to the SPM and JPM with her accusation. She made sure I was in the production truck when the accusation was announced, I had no idea what she was talking about. But, by this time, I had already proven myself to both managers, and both began to laugh at the statements being made against me. They both said “You don’t know who you’re talking about, she wouldn’t even take a pencil off-site”. Absolutely true.

Later that evening after we all returned to the hotel. The young woman who accused me of stealing from her found her favorite T-Shirt in a drawer she forgot she used. She never actually apologized, but we were on ok terms again. I let the whole thing go knowing I did nothing wrong, and also knowing holding onto that kind of grudge would never create a fluid working environment. I never even worried about the accusation, because I knew I didn’t do anything wrong. So, instead of insisting on an apology, and knowing I was “in the right”, I decided to be happy instead. I didn’t need to be right, I knew I was, the bosses knew I was, and all was well in my first dream Golf-tastic job.

Yes, $50/day wasn’t much but, they paid my airfare, car rental, we had gas cards, they fed us meals, we were trusted with petty cash, turning in receipts and change, charging the golf carts, making hundreds of copies (sorry trees), and then making sure all the union rules were followed so work would start and continue on-time throughout the day.

We had one day off during the event, so we went to the pool, ate free apples from the spa, and went to the gym. I was finally really hanging out with all the other production assistants, yes All of them including my accuser, and we had a great, fun, and relaxing day together. It was back to work as usual the next day, but no matter what we had that day together. Thank you Universe!

When it was tournament time we faxed directions to the Execs coming, greeted them at the airport, and made sure everything they needed was in-place when they arrived, and it was. We got to the final day and wrapped, bringing in thousands of yards of tri-ax cable, packed up trailers, then we all departed the next day. “Until the next one, see you soon” was heard over and over again. It was an amazing experience with an amazing group of people. I had already learned so much, and I was thirsty for more. More was to come in many other golf and a multitude of other sporting events which I will share in future posts.

I returned to the University, studying all they way back on the plane so I could make up that chemistry lab, which I got a 98 on, so all was well in the world. I told my broadcasting professors about the experience, and low and behold I made a co-op out of it. By graduation I had gotten paid to work in the industry I wanted to work in and gained 16 credits as well for the experience and writing it all up in a few papers. A win-win!

So, anyone looking to break into broadcasting, I say go for it! Be persistent but not stalker, don’t give up on your dream. Be curious, honest, humble, and willing to take on tasks outside of your “job description”. To this day, I will still be the first one in, last one out, sweep the floor, and take out the garbage whenever I need to, I will never be so “big” that something is below me.

What’s next Football…

Financial

The “F” Bomb

It’s no longer a dirty word and it can save you money.
When home values, investments, lifestyles were flying high it was the economic “f” bomb everyone avoided.
Frugal is no longer the f word, now it’s a way of life.
People have turned to frugal ways of behaving and found it’s actually not so bad.
Yahoo Finance Columnist Laura Rowley, author of Money and Happiness, says one way people are becoming frugal is by “trading down.”
“Trading up was very fashionable a few years ago so from brewed coffee to gourmet coffee from fast food to casual dining now its the opposite. The main reason is people know they can trade down without greatly affecting their lifestyle. Maybe have that coffee once a week instead of three times a week. Maybe use that affordable shampoo like Pantene instead of a luxury salon brand, said Rowley.
Another way is to use pricing power now you have it.
“Consumers can actually walk into an established retailer and negotiate prices. That we hadn’t seen for a really long time a lot of retailers will now match a price you bring in from somebody else. Or you can ask them to throw in something else. I’m going to buy the iPod I want the charger that goes on the wall. Established retailers never did that before but now they are in survival mode,” Rowley said.
Rowley says she negotiated the price of her vacation condo on Key Biscayne
She also sees a more seismic trend.  A “downshift in social spending “… People changing who they hang out with because they can’t keep up with the Jones’.”
I think people are realizing that if they have a reference group that makes a lot more money than they do they have to change their reference group because they just cant afford to keep up with that group. Maybe they kept up with them in the past using easy credit. They can’t do that anymore. You see people starting to look for reference groups of the same income level,” said Rowley.
Rowley says cost-saving basics like coupons, cheaper cell phone plans, programmable thermostats, are good ways to start dealing with the “f” word.
Also do more “free” things that make you happy — like spending time with friends and family.
Those “f” words may not be so scary after all.
“The silver lining is that the economic crisis is gonna help people to face their finances. When you do get control of your money, when you do know where you’re spending is going, when you do know what you’re invested in, you feel more confident you feel more at peace,” Rowley said.