[trefl44]

There is no doubt that bbo vugraphs are the greatest thing under the sun for everyone. Unfortunately, there is only one thing that occasionally drives me nuts. I am talking about commentators, their level of expertize and the quality of their comments. I have quite a few favorites, among them fred (obviously ), larry, michael, gavin, but on my other (black) list there is also a (small) number of "favorites". I have nothing against a modest/limited "color commenting". I am talking especially about these comments that state the obvious (even for an average/novice player). They add nothing to the show, quite opposite and their frequency is clearly above average, as a result they they raise the noise distract heavily from watching the game.

There are my questions: Is there any selection process in place? Is it enough to put a "world class" skill level in your profile and be accepted? Is commentator's performance evaluated somehow? Can i be coached? Could i be fired?

Andrzej Kolinski

[TMorris]

Just mark them as "enemies" and you don't have to see their comments - that's what I do.

[gnasher]

Or volunteer to commentate yourself - I'm sure Roland would be delighted to hear from you.

[paulg]

trefl44, on 2011-September-20, 05:54, said:

There are my questions: Is there any selection process in place? Is it enough to put a "world class" skill level in your profile and be accepted? Is commentator's performance evaluated somehow? Can i be coached? Could i be fired?

This is all as far as I know - Roland and others are the experts.

You have to be invited to be a commentator. Traditionally this has meant either asking Roland if you can do it or via a recommendation from an existing commentator. Do not underestimate the number of potential commentators that are required these days - you need to be able to cover events around the clock around the globe; many broadcasts will clash with local events that will prevent a large number of commentators from being available, especially at weekends, etc., which means that the quality will only be as good as the commentators who are available.

I will add that it is not easy to commentate. Some are naturally talented but for the vast majority it is a whirlwind of hands, comments, interruptions from kibs - you have to analyse and type before the player does something and also 'beat' your fellow commentators. Try it and see!

All the commentators receive a guide on how to commentate. Some of them even read it.

I don't think we can be fired, but the invitations to commentate might stop appearing.

Jacki at BBO is taking over the organisation of written commentary teams while Roland focuses on the voice commentary. If you have complaints about specific commentators, then they are the people to contact and I'm sure that they will handle it with discretion. But please cut them some slack!

[Aberlour10]

trefl44, on 2011-September-20, 05:54, said:

There are my questions: Is there any selection process in place? Is it enough to put a world class skill level in your profile and be accepted? Is commentator's performance evaluated somehow? Can i be coached? Could i be fired?

If you search a little in sub VUGRAPH ISSUES you will get answers to all this questions and much more ( the issue you discribe has been already discussed several times ). I would recommend to start with the "Guidelines for Commentators" ( pinned above in this sub-forum).