Hi, I'm Zor. Welcome to Inizor Education. We will continue talking about Euler's formula, which basically defines a complex exponential. Now, I was explaining in the previous lecture certain considerations, basically, certain reasoning behind this formula. I didn't prove this. So basically, I would like to take this formula as a definition of complex exponent. And to prove that this particular definition makes sense, I would like to go through regular properties of exponent and basically prove that all these properties are held for this definition. That would kind of confirm the validity of all this. So let's just go through the properties of exponents and see if everything is really reasonable according to the rules of exponential functions. All right, now the first is, remember, we had this rule. Now, what if the exponent is complex? Well, in our case, we are talking about the exponent, about complex exponent, but only imaginary part of it, because the real part is just a factor in this particular case. So let's take e to the power of e times zero. Now, what that would be according to this definition, it's a cosine of an angle of zero radians plus i sine. Now, this is zero, this is one, so we have one. So this rule is held. Okay, next. A little bit less trivial. Now, less trivial rule, which is basically one of the fundamental rules of exponents, is this one. Some of the exponent is basically a product of separate expressions for the same base and each exponent is used separately, and then we'll multiply the results. All right, now, is this held for this particular definition? Well, let's try. e to the power i x plus y equals to cosine of x plus y plus i sine of x plus y, according to the definition, right? Now, e to the power i x times e to the power i y, so that's basically the product of this, right? It's equal to this times the same with y, right?  Now, that's the real part. Now, another real component is sine by sine, because there is an i by i, which is i squared, which is minus one. So it's minus sine x sine y.  So let's compare this expression and this expression. Well, I mean, obviously they are identical because we know that the cosine of a sum of two angles is cosine by cosine minus sine by sine. So this is exactly equals to this and the sum of two angles is sine cosine plus cosine sine. So these are identical formulas. That's why this is equal to this, which proves actually that this rule is held for complex exponents. Next. So, so far this definition seems to be reasonable. That's actually my purpose to prove that this is reasonable. Now another property. Well, this is basically a definition of the negative exponent, right? So the negative exponent is such a number, which if multiplied by the positive exponent would give one, right? That's what it is. So that's how we define negative exponent. It's one over the positive one, right? Well, let's check if this actually is true. Now, e to the power minus i x, I would like to prove that this is one over e to the power of i x, which means multiplied by e to the power of i x, it should be equal to one. Now, is this true? Well, it is because we have already we have already proven that you can add the exponents and if you add them you will get zero and e to the power of zero would be one. So that that rule is also held. What else? The multiplication of the exponents. So e to the power of i x to the power of y is equal to e x y. Okay. Now, how to prove this? Well, this is a little bit more involved and here's the way how I would approach it. First, if y is a natural number n, is this true? Well, let's just think about it. e to the power i x to the power of n is basically a multiplication of e to the power of i x n times, right? n times. Now, we know that if you are multiplying this, you can basically say this is the e and the power will be the exponent will be a sum of these, which means i x plus i x plus etc plus i x n times which is equal to e to the power of i x n, right? So for integer, positive integer n, the formula is true. Well, actually for non-negative because for n is equal to zero, it's also true. Now, for negative n it's also true because we have already proven this. So, if you multiply this to the power of n, that's this to the power of n and obviously n goes to denominator which means that this is equal to e to the power minus i x n, which is necessary to prove, right? So, basically for any integer n, it's true. Now, let's talk about rational n, rational y. That's why we equals to p over q and I'm talking about positive just for sake of the time. Now, what does it mean? Now, you remember that we have actually defined this as such a number which if raised into the power of q gives a to the power of t, right? So, it's a, in other words, it's q's root of a to the power of t. That's how we defined it, basically, right? So, it means that by definition of this rational exponent, I have to basically prove that this raised to the q's degree is equal to e to the i x to the power of t. That's what I have to prove, right? Well, this is definition of I don't have to prove this. This is a definition of p over q used as an exponent. But what I have to prove is that e to the power of i x to the power of p over q equals to e to the power i x p over q. Now, what this means? This means that e to the power i x p over q to the power of q equals e to the power i x p. So, this is definition, this is definition of this thing and this is definition of this thing, right? And I basically have to prove that this is equal to this because I'm raising to the power of q the left part and I'm raising to the power of q this thing. This thing, right? This thing. So, considering I have raised in the power of q and I have exactly the same results because I have already proven that for any integer exponent, this is true. Which means that whatever I was raising into the power of q, which is this thing in this case and this thing in that case, they are equal. So, e to the power i x to the power of p over q is equal to e to the power i x p over q. That actually have been proven because if I'm raising both into the power of q, I get the same results. And these are the same because I have just already proven it for an integer p. So, that proves actually that this is actually true. Again, it follows from the definition of the fractional exponent. Okay, next. Next is something which is not exactly related to properties of the exponential functions, but nevertheless, it's very important for complex exponents. The modular is equal to one. Well, this modulus, or absolute value if you wish, what is this? Well, if you have a complex number represented as a plus i b, this is a, this is b, the length of this is actually the modulus. Let's call it r. And if this is an angle phi, then this is the same as r times cosine phi, because the cosine is a, right? r times cosine a plus i sine phi, right? So, lo and behold, our definition, our definition of e to the power of i x is exactly this graphical representation on the coordinate plane of the complex number. And obviously, r is equal to one in this particular case, because what is r? r squared is equal to a squared plus b squared, right? So, cosine squared x plus sine squared x, which is one. So, that proves that for any x, the modulus or absolute value of e to the power of i x is equal to one. Which means that for any x, all these numbers are on the unit circle. And x is just an angle in regions. So, that's the geometric representation of this. And finally, what I would like to point out is that you remember that whenever you multiply any complex number, wherever it is, z, by number which is represented in polar form, in coordinate form with a modulus and an angle, this is a combination of two different actions. Number one, you multiply the modulus of z by the modulus of this number. And in this case, the modulus is one, so we don't really multiply it on anything. So, z basically retains its length. But then, multiplying by this actually means a rotation of this angle by this. So, the new complex number, which is the result of multiplication of z by this, is just a rotation of this particular vector by an angle x in this case, or whatever the letter is used. So, that's my last property basically. z times e to the i x is a rotation by x regions. Well, that's it. That's all the properties I wanted to talk about when defining my complex exponent. So, these properties are just a confirmation that whatever we have defined is a reasonable definition. Well, that's it. Thanks very much and good luck.


Hello everybody. Thanks for watching. We're going to be talking playwriting and dramaturgy and how plays are made with the amazing Martine Green Rogers. Hi, Martine. Thanks for being here. Thank you for having me. I'm super excited. Likewise. It's going to be great fun, everybody. So the short version of why I wanted to do this with Martine is she's brilliant. She's amazing. She's hilarious. She's a fabulous person. But she's also the president of the literary managers and dramaturgs of America. She has worked as a dramaturg for my play, The Book of Will at Oregon Shakespeare Festival a couple years ago, which is where I got to work with her. And I just think she's the smartest lady out there. Thank you. But truly, the whole point of these series of interviews is to let people in who may be at the start of their careers or mid or wherever to answer the question of how new plays are made, how any play is made. How do we get from the building of a coalition of collaborators to create this thing? How do we understand a new play? How do rewrites work? How do playwrights work with dramaturgs, directors, all of it?  And I want people to know more about what you do, what dramaturgs do, what you particularly do as a dramaturg, what you like about what you do, I don't know, all the things. All the things. Yeah. So do you want to maybe start by telling us a little bit about your background, like how did you come to be a dramaturg, what your all the many positions you are now. How did you, how did you get to do this? That's actually a really good question. So I, in undergrad, I went to Virginia Wesleyan College, which is now Virginia Wesleyan University, and I was a double major in theater in history. And I think I was actually, this sounds really weird and kind of trade, but I think I was actually like born to be a dramaturg because I was that person that would come to rehearsals and undergrad with like a bunch of research I had done about the play, because I was just so excited about like sort of cracking into that world as an actor. And so I, you know, sort of, you know, what we now call the sort of hunting gathering phase of dramaturgy, that was always how I kind of started my process anyway. And so my advisor, who was actually still a Virginia Wesleyan University, her name is Dr. Sally shed, one day sort of sat me down and said, Martin, not that you're not a great actor. But there is this feel called dramaturgy. Have you heard of it? And I was like, no, tell me more. And then she explained what it was. And I was like, that thing. I want that. That sounds awesome. And so then it became this really weird thing where we had a requirement where we had to as undergrads, we had to audition for everything, but I didn't want to audition for anything. I was like, I'm going to dramaturg all the show. She was like, no, Martin, you still have to audition. But if you don't get in the show, you can dramaturg it. So then that just sort of set me on my path. So that and then I went to grad school for that and then just kept going to grad school because I'm going for punishment. And then, and then here we are. Awesome. Oh, that's so great. So it does seem like research and kind of understanding the world of the play is a huge part of what what dramaturgs do.  All the things just kind of did I specifically do or what are what what are all the titles and all the things and all the organizations you usually work with and like OSF and that. Okay, great. I like I don't have any wood to knock on but I'm a knock on it. I am an assistant professor but I'm up for tenure right now. Imagine going up for tenure in these really interesting times and that's me. So an assistant professor at the State University of New York at New Pulse, which is lovely I'm the head of theater studies there. And I am a freelance dramaturg I work at places like the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I work for theater in Chicago, Salt Lake acting company in Salt Lake Utah. Oh, I'm liking lots of places. Oh, the Kennedy Center. Oh yeah. Sorry Kennedy Center I love you. I love places like that. I also am the president of the literary managers and dramaturgs the Americas but I'm actually the outgoing president I have a few months left in my tenure and then I get to move into past president fame. And then our new president Brian Moore will take over at the end of our virtual conference in June. Wow, awesome. Okay. Alright so let's get to the nitty gritty of what a dramaturg does so if you were starting. Okay, I mean there's several categories right there's like what is a dramaturg do on a classic play like Shakespeare what is a dramaturg doing a brand new world premiere play what is a dramaturg doing a workshop or a kind of modern American classic and they're all different things right. Yeah, there's a lot of niche dramaturgy as I like to call it. It's been kind of interesting because we that the field it's become so vast and how dramaturgs are being used. You know like I just did some what I affectionately called music turkey which is not the same as being a musical theater dramaturg, actually dramaturg to piece for the Louisville Orchestra a couple years ago. It's so fun and interesting but it makes perfect sense because music tells a story as well and then if a dramaturg is about helping a group of collaborators tell the best story they can tell. That makes sense. But you know their their classical dramaturgs and that's actually how I got my start I started as a classical dramaturg. Unfortunately I don't get to do as much classical dramaturgy anymore what I've been doing is a lot of what I affectionately call Shakespeare adjacent, like the book of will. I call Shakespeare adjacent about Shakespeare but not Shakespeare. And then there's new play dramaturg which is a whole new skill set and I think that's part of the reason why the field has become slightly more niche is that there are some basic things that you just need to know in order to be a dramaturg but then there are some basic things that you need to know if you're doing other things other skill sets like if you're a musical theater dramaturg it really helps if you can read music. Right and then I think you play musical theater dramaturgy is very different than already established musical dramaturg musical theater dramaturgy. Yeah, it gets really specific. In terms of the kinds of skill sets that you need and I think you know depending on what people who are dramaturgs want to do, you can kind of meld different skill sets and kind of become either someone that branches or goes across lots of different types of musical theater dramaturgy. I think I go across quite a few I do a lot of new musical dramaturgy as well as musical theater dramaturgy as well as new play dramaturgy as well as classical dramaturgy and contemporary African American theater like Wilson is definitely very much in my wheelhouse things like that so yeah. And then you know, there's dance turgy dance turgy. Yeah. Right. I am so I'm and then there are a lot of opera turgs. So, yes, I mean there's just some really fun places where you see drama pop up also notice that drama turds are starting to be hired in art museums. Oh, that's right. Yeah. And because I mean you know back to the same thing even an art museum is attempting to curate a story. Yeah. With someone's work artwork and I see a lot of drama turks starting to move more into sort of producerial, but I think that's also just part of drama turgy like the sort of advocating aspect of it is very But then I think sometimes drama turds also a lot of tend to be go getters. We were just talking about so everyone just before we started talking. I was talking about, I just got a some money to secure a theater study of scholarship at my institution which is super exciting. And that's fun and you know part of that is built out of the desire to to sort of help curate experiences back to telling the story. What does it mean for us to support our theater studies students in the same way that our performance and our design tech people get support. That is, you know, a lot of what we do. Yeah. No, I love it. It's, it's why we're here. This is, it's incredible. I mean, so knowing that there's a lot of playwrights that are watching this and people making new plays directors and such. So how do you, what is let's let's focus on new play drama turgy. And the ones where the playwright is alive and usually next to you. Yeah, they're my favorite. You can actually collaborate with the playwright. Yeah, I mean, I love it. I remember learning what a drama turd was when I was a student at at Emory, and they did a play of mine that was the first kind of one of the first big productions that I'd had that had like just lots of moving pieces and it was that I had a drama and I kind of couldn't believe that I could ask them it was a history play so there was things like, you know, writing, I wrote that there was a chocolate cake in the play and he of course was like well actually at this point in England they drank chocolate they didn't eat it and I was like, wow.  And then there's the kind of the world of the play part the goodness and the and the and the solidness of the story and the playwright's vision and all of that so how do you, how do you do that work, what is your relationship with the playwright knowing that of course each playwright is a different but what are the kind of tenants of new play drama turgy that have worked for you. That's actually a great question. Number one, I just love the fact that you're highlighting something that I think is really important that needs to be said which is that research drama turgy is an important part of the job but it is not the only part of the job. And we are so much more than that. And, and I think sometimes unfortunately people forget that, you know, everyone can use the Google, everyone can get to a library in ways that we once could not and so that function not that it still doesn't have to do many, many, many, many other things now. Yeah, but to answer to really to get to the to your question, I think, you know, part of new play drama turgy is being, you know, you know, essentially that that person that is interested in helping in a room, tell the best story that they can tell. And I think, you know, especially in a new play drama turgy situation it's kind of weird like you're essentially collaborator with your main sort of jobs are both to the playwright but then also to the institution, the organization, the director that you are also working for especially if you're doing both in terms of helping the playwright create the text but then also moving into the rehearsal, because those sometimes that can be two different jobs. Right. And then sometimes drama turks don't always have both jobs like I've, you know, helped people playwrights develop plays but then didn't necessarily go into rehearsal with them. Right. So those are sort of two separate things but I think, you know, especially in a room, my job is really to make sure that whatever it was that the playwrights saw in their own artistic mind is what ends up happening on stage. Yeah, and I think part of the reason why that's so important especially with new play drama turgy is that we're still like sometimes in the process of trying to just figure out what is that thing in the playwright's head what did they see when they wrote it because I think, you know, especially with words like you can write the most detailed stage directions in the entire wide world and still depending on how director sees it, it might not be the same thing. Yeah. And part of where one needs to, and I know it feels like and it sounds but everyone just like just work with me here, it might sound limiting that the thing that we're trying to do is get at what's in the playwright's head. But really the reason why is because if we get there first, then we get to see where it can go. Right. We need to get that thing first, in order to then be able to say, okay, now that we've realized that thing, are there potentialities are there are there are there cracks are there, you know, what are all the things that are sort of left to mine. We haven't been mind yet, but we've got to get there first. Yeah, the playwright's vision. It's both perfect, because it is the universe that gave birth to the universe of the play what's in mind, but it's also imperfect, because it is the collaborative space of creating the play that you go, yes and yes and yes and to all of it and my most successful relationship with dramaturgies have been the one to say, what you have written makes me ask this or makes me question this or makes me want more of this makes me go. So where does this person character go and like it's the saying yes to the playwright's idea means that you have every other question that you can answer to make to your point the play as good as rich as, you know, as it wants to be. You see the wants to be yeah I tell my dramaturgy students that that a dramaturg is an option giver, not an option does take it away. Yeah, because I think, you know, really the question becomes like how does every choice is like that you know that we are butterfly effect thing we're like, you know every choice that you make leads to other options and like, I feel like my job is to say okay we've made this choice and this choice is great. Let's talk through what are all the permutations and which road do we want to go down now that we've gone down this particular block. And then once you know if we turn a corner for the left we go right we go straight doesn't matter the question is like, you know, and then once we get there. The question is then looking at the map that didn't be created that's been created the structure of it all and saying okay this is what we have now this is amazing this beautiful. Like, how can we make this even more amazing and beautiful, or maybe we'll just get to the end and it's perfect and then hey, yeah, I get to go. I enjoy your opening. Yeah. Now, how have you found, I'm trying to get at like if somebody who's never worked with the dramaturge before or kind of knows that at them knows of them knows that from a more removed place or anyway but what is, what can you ask a dramaturg for help with I mean what what are the best ways to use drama to engage with them to bring out your brilliance to make playwrights. Right, you know what I mean. Yeah, I think the thing that we're best utilized for is I think the thing that is also probably the scariest thing for playwright to do, which is to basically say, like, I'm struggling with this help me figure this out. Yeah, right. You know, which I think is always sort of hard for anybody no matter like, you know, I think about my own writing, both as an academic, and then every once in a while, I'll write a play because why not. Because you do because it's a long story but we'll catch up and I'll tell you more about the thing. But, but I think it's that, you know, use a dramaturg to do the thing that is the hardest to do which is to really say like, I'm struggling with this, or not sure what to do with this because I because I mean really, and truly and honestly, any drama that is worth their salt. The only thing that they want to do is help you create the best story you can create. Yeah. So, you know, like, if I'm working with a playwright, all I want to do is help them do whatever whatever conversations whatever questions I need to ask, etc. Those are the things that I'm going to want to ask I'm going to want to poke at so usually even when I just start working with a new play. The first thing I always want to do is I always just have a conversation with the player before I even read it. I don't want to usually I tend to not first unless I don't have a choice. Because I just want to know like who is this person who is this artist, like what are the things that I can, like what is important to them as human being. Because a lot of that you will feel the undertones of that and any work that they create and I want to get a sense of that before I even read the thing.  You know, I know it sounds like a terrible question to ask is actually a really important question asked which is what are the, what do you want an audience to take away from it. Because in the end like I want to I want to see if like what I read on the page is like what they're hearing in their own minds and artistic artistic eye and then you know moving forward from there. I'm, you know, asking questions like okay if someone says that I'm not sure about this character, you know, and I think I'm also there to also be a bit of a cheerleader if that makes any sense because I think sometimes like it's easy.  I've been there when like playwrights have actually managed to get it and then they still don't believe they got it. And so like, you know trust a drama trigger for drama trigger it's like stop touching that thing. Just leave it alone. Cut and print. Exactly just just letting go, you know, trust them, because, you know, back to my, my, my only goal is to help the playwright write the thing they want it to write and so now granted that could always change like if you decided that like this thing or this character or this event or whatever. Isn't quite what you want anymore now that you've got it that's one thing but you know, I think it's always, you know, I say that sometimes what we do is we, you know, we take the keyboard away, like let it go. It's okay. Let's just hear it. Yes, let's hear it. And then talk about it finding ways to talk about the question in the room. I mean, I remember my first plays I wanted to have I thought the playwrights job was to have all the answers. So a question would come up and I would say, well, here's how, right. Here's, here's how I've already answered that in the text that you've been given as opposed to, that is such a great question how can I change the text. If it feels like a valuable note to me, how can I, what does this allow me to think anew. And how do I do it and, and also the critical thing of saying I don't know, learning the power of as a playwright going, that is a great question I have no idea. Right answer. Let's dramaturg. You and I shall go have a drink. About this question. You mentioned that because I actually say that a lot to my students as well as like, you know, our job is not to know all like part of what of what we did we discover it in the room and even then we don't always discover all I'm sure I don't know any playwright that is not like if given an artist who needed to keep tinkering would not like yeah I mean they probably just keep tinkering and tinkering and tinkering. Right. And you know and I think you know, and that's fine, like but then it's not because then you just torture yourself as an artist. So really the question is, where do you leave the space that it can grow into like whatever sort of magical world it can be like I always think one of my favorite things the entire world world is to work on multiple versions of the same thing I know it might sound. That's cool. But like I've done, for example, several tempest I've done several fences, and each one has been really different and it's always amazing to me how these different amazing things can come out of the same text. And that is the lovely space that you want to leave it in where there's just enough, where there's like a brilliant world that can happen that every time it happens it still is the essence, and and very close to the thing that you want but just enough space where like it can be something brilliant and beautiful. The next time around. Yeah, that's so great. And so, in terms of like, we were kind of talking about once a show gets to that premiere and kind of when you're in the room with actors with a director you got a design team all of that, which is amazing. But that's a far distance from from some people just starting out like draft one of the play you got to the end of the script you're like congratulations. Who do I give it to I get that question a lot we people asking me to read their place which is an amazing honor that someone would would ever want me to do that.  Because I always want to talk drama tricks about it so how, how like, if there's just a playwright who would love a relationship with somebody who is a dramaturg or has a dramaturgical background. If you approach that, how would you suggest writers out there who have their first or second or third draft. They want some new eyes on it they want to have a smart conversation about it how would you recommend them finding a drama trick or yeah. There are all sorts of amazing places you can go on the LMDA website there is a find a dramaturg tab that's up at the top. So you can go find one that is locally to you. Yeah, the new play exchange also has a button that you can use in order to find drama tricks who are looking for work and are near you as well. So great. I also think like sometimes word of mouth is great. I think depending on what kind of help you need and like what your ability is to potentially like compensate. Yes, of course. Pay your dramaturgs. Right. Pay everybody. Great. I know pay everybody, including your dramaturgs. Yes. But I think also sometimes like I think I've had friends ask me to do things like, you know, can we give their play a world in my dramaturgy class. You know, and that is a very interesting and free way to get. Some dramaturgical feedback because you know, I think, you know, the process of new play dramaturgy is such like it's hard to teach it until you just do it. You have to do it. And so the easiest way that I found to do it is like to ask playwright friends of mine who are writing things like is there is there something we can work on in my in my dramaturgy class. So I've done that in the past. I didn't get to do it this time around, which made me a little sad but but that was mostly because I just didn't have admittedly I just didn't have the time to like go around skulking around being like, alright, who wants who less who wants to let my team's class have a crack at that. That's such a good I just want to repeat those resources because that's awesome the website, the new play exchange, but all of those websites you should all as writers be familiar with but that is such amazing advice. And like, that is actually who you want reading your play.  I think they would love the opportunity because that's the thing what you know even from the last time I taught dramaturgy where we had a playwright whose play we worked on the students still to this moment still talk about how because we would have the playwright and so we would have conversations about play and and and I think they really just enjoyed a, it was a good learning experience for them I think it was also like, you know, depending on where this person was in their journey in terms of working with dramaturgy is really great for them to because they got to see what it's like to just, you know, watch dramaturgy try to figure out like how to ask a question in a way that doesn't sound like you're accusing them. Which is always important. And, you know, and just watching them formulate those questions but then also just getting all the perspectives and a lot of ways you can get a lot of perspectives really quickly if you're if you're mining something like a dramaturgy class, and especially with like young up and coming artists, I think they're really interested in what people are writing about and want to know more about the process I think it's also just a really fun experiment for everybody that I think, you know, you could always just ask some of the playwrights that have had the unfortunate pleasure of being on the opposite and I'm just kidding I think they actually enjoyed it, but you know, getting getting all these like random questions about their play and I think you know in a lot of ways and I think I tell my students all the time the thing that you have to remember about collaboration that is that is actually collaborative. Like, what a dramaturg says is not law.  Yeah, you know, because, you know, and I even say this even with playwrights that I work with now like the top of a lot of my emails are always just like, please take these if these are useful to you.  Yeah, but sometimes the note even if you don't take it clarifies something clarifies like no that is not right which is help that's helpful to go. I am very sure that that is not the where I want to go but thank you so much for offering it. And I think one of the things that I also talked to sort of, you know, just amongst my own circle, geometry circles, etc. that like, in the end, my job isn't necessarily to like, I'm, I tend to look at plays very logically, as well as emotionally but logic first so the question to you know as always the questions that should be asked like, what is the story have we told the story and then like sort of tapping into the emotion of it, which is why I think most dramaturgs and I think a lot of dramaturgs that could be assuming a lot, because who knows how everybody's brain works but I think in the end we are always looking to make sure that, you know, we are remembering that what's most important is that we are serving the story that is in front of us as opposed to like turning it into anything else. So I would never want you want to take a note that wasn't useful. Yeah. Yeah. No, I love it. I mean, this is because it's such a critical role, dramaturg. But it can be so many things and can kind of shrink and grow depending on the team and the needs of the play that it is a little hard to pin down that's kind of what's amazing about it and and also the most frustrating thing to it makes it frustrating to try and teach sometimes because it's like well, how do you how do you do this thing and I think, you know, especially for me I'm like well there's an artistry to it I think everyone brings a piece of themselves to the art of poetry, like for me, because I would I feel like I'm a sort of sympathetic empathetic person a lot of the place where I live tends to be about really making sure that I am holding up, I'm holding I'm bolstering the work that the playwright that I'm working with is done, while also remembering that, like, you know, you know, sort of pushing while also saying, you know, like, we can get it there. But you know, I'm just rambling now so But so what, no you're not rambling, I didn't mean to be like, yes, yes you are. I'm thinking of like all the things I want to ask you. I mean, so I'd love to know about the kind of interpersonal part of a dramaturg, like working with a writer and a director and actors and kind of how you surf those relationships and and if you consider that's what you do, and to kind of, you know, because working with a lot of people's beings working with a lot of people and different personalities and sometimes they're on the same page and sometimes it's not on the same page. But we all have to get on the same page so how do you, how do you talk or teach that.  I would say and not to be weird and kind of like place any kind of weird gender stereotype on it but I think I practice a lot of mama turdy. In the sense that I just put turdy at the end of everything, but like I'm that person that like, you know, I learned a long time ago during tech sometimes the last thing that a director wants is like a dramaturg poking around and so like I'm there to like hold my playwrights hand and bring some cookies to like, you know, take notes obviously see things, you know, see things and then like once like the hurdle of like that push that 12 out of 12 is over then like, okay, saw these things. Love you here some notes. The interpersonal part I think is probably the hardest part to navigate because really what you're doing is trying. I don't think it's, it's a dramaturg's job to keep anybody happy. I think it is a dramaturg's job to try and make modes of communication as clear as possible. Oh, that's great. Yeah. Yeah, you know, and I think especially in a collaborative art that is visual. Sometimes there are things that people are seeing that aren't necessarily being articulated well I think sometimes become that translator. Oh, that's smart. Yeah, I think safe person to bring something to I mean, you know, back to really no other there's nothing else that I'm trying to do besides help everyone create the best story that we can, we can tell I have no other ulterior motives. So, you know, if I see things brewing if I see things that are, you know, coming in terms of like the proverbial train wreck that might be coming down the road like, I'm also there to have those conversations but I think I haven't had I haven't had that where I need would I keep saying things I'm like I need to, I have a marble table. But I haven't had one of those situations and a really long time. I think the more you progress like in the field. There's less tolerance for that kind of behavior. I hope that's what it is. So I mean, I do think that is one great bit of advice and realistic sensibility about for those out there. I think it does pay to be nice. You don't need to be walked all over that's you're not giving your power away, but to lead with kindness and to lead with the fact that we're all making a thing together and it'll be better. We respect each other lead lead with that. To me it seems like the more hallowed institutions that I get to work with. It's like generally the nicer the people.  Because I think, you know, for me, I'm, I don't, I guess I approach dramaturgy and theater making and art making is that nothing is set in stone until the thing is like open. Yeah, right. And so to me and maybe some of it is just like my demeanor and just like my my humanness that like if I see something like if you know I have a playwright that's really upset about something that's happening I was like, we can we can have a conversation this isn't over yet. Right. Like, let's have a conversation figure out what it is that's not quite going the way you see it and then let's like, let's go together like I will hold your hand we're going to go have a conversation with the director. You know, we'll have a conversation with a producer will have you know whoever it is that we need to have a conversation with but like, that's great, you know until the thing is open there's always room. And, and I think that that outlook has served me well at least person. Well, and it's, and it's true because there's no reason to give up to your point like it's not open until it's open so we can continue having these conversations depending and continue saying I don't know until we know. I mean that's what it is. And you know it's interesting. I think for playwrights for playwrights out there it's also a way to, you can learn to speak the same language as your dramaturg. And for me I'm a very structure based fixer of a story I kind of need to know. I think that the dominoes in the best way and talking in those terms very quickly helps me see how to rewrite how to adjust, you know, how to, how to fix a scene that's not working or an action that's not working and kind of finding a that's part of their, their, their skills but also that I can kind of let them know how I talk. You know, that may be talking to me about like deep character subtext is not the conversation that's going to actually get me the rewrites I need to be like, but plot wise, but dramatic structure wise. That's important. That's, you know, back to why I have a tendency to talk to playwrights first before I even read the play I just want to get a feeling for who they are, what makes them tick like what you know where the places we connect, because I think that gives a lot of clues. As to like, you know, what is it that's going to resonate for them and this is part of the intuitive part the part where like a dramaturg has to really be listening in order to hear, like, like I am not to be weird or anything but I find that I can tell pretty quickly like talking to playwright, you know, I can sort of discern what are their fears. And I don't mean fear. One thing the night but just like about the process like, you know, you know, and some of it's even just like, I try to have conversations in person, you know, or like at least face to face in some way shape or form is possible because you can see that like slight I twitch that happens when you say or you know, those types of things we say okay I can tell that this that is not something that they're really excited about so we're going to try and see if we can steer away from that or if we have to have a do we have to like have them involved with it like I think about that all the time like I work with Great Plains Theater conference. Yeah, and I love them so much because of the way that they approach new play dramaturgy, but we know they you playwright have options. Yeah, they can have a talk back not have a talk back they can have a public one a private one all sorts of stuff and and I just enjoy so much watching the things, but I also feel like part of my job is to poke a little bit like it's the reason why you don't want a public talk back because you're scared what people are saying, or is it because like you just don't feel like it's at that point where you're you know what what are those things because I think sometimes and not that I'm like about talking people out of things they want but you know that it's back to like, you know, is it at a place where it needs to hear what besides you and me think about it. And then even finding ways around that like can I just collect all that information from people and then it's given to you in a format that like makes you feel better about sorting through it like I'm happy to do all those things because back to no ulterior motive but to help you the best thing that you can create. And you know I do think there is a blend of some of the original thing we're talking about the research component of what a drama shirt does and how incredibly helpful that is for actors and directors and designer I mean to have that free flow of information and to be able to ask a question, and have somebody be able to say, I know where to find that piece of information, should it be useful. But it's also interesting because I read a lot of history plays as you know book of wills history play so there was times when the research part is the new play part you know where like, we need to figure out what the hell who was king in this exact year of this country at this moment and how can I make a joke about that or not. So it's interesting like how quickly you have you must have to kind of switch hats as you go along. And I think that's probably another thing that you know a lot of dramaturgs have to do and I think you know obviously like back to pros and cons some dramaturgs do that better than others. I actually enjoy that but I think you know as my my spouse says I have a bit of a squirrel brain. So, and not squirrel brain is in like side but like if I see a shiny object I'm over here so sometime and that actually having multiple things running around in my brain at the same time sounds it sounds really weird but it actually helps me focus. Interesting yeah. You know, so I don't, I'm very much that person who like can be watching something and then someone asked a question I don't know the answer but then I can like keep an ear out while also like looking for that thing and it, I don't know there's just been something strange about my brain that allows me to do. I'm actually weird or when I only have one thing to focus on. Which probably makes me a very strange human being. No, you sound like honestly you sound like a lady. I think we have to be able to be like, at least it reminds me of my mom brain of going, get the Lego fix the thing make the dinner, still thinking about my play and act to all the things somehow managed to settle into some arrangement. The only time I can have anything else going on in my head is when I'm reading that only thing happening in my head. That's great about it. It really doesn't make you zero. How do you work with actors and designers and kind of the other people we've talked about directors and we've talked about writers but how do you work with the other people. I love it. This is actually my, it's, you know, all of it's my favorite part, I should, I should not discriminate but I'm actually in the process of finishing up a book with some back to that scholarly part of my existence with Jesse Portillo who is a lighting designer about the intersections of dramaturgy and design. Oh, and right. It's, I'm excited. We just got to finish up some revisions then we'll hopefully be ready to go. My goal is to be done with that by the summer, but one of the things that I really actually enjoy is talking to designers and part of the reason why is because you know back to for creating a world. Everything in the world matters in terms of how like this the story is coming alive. And so I find myself always whether asked or not in design meetings because I want to hear.  What are the things people are picking what like kernels are people picking up on and running with versus one of the things that maybe they leave behind but not like, you know, in a huge way I want to know those things because, you know, I'm, you know, because usually people will give you clues as to what it is that they heard in the story. That really sparked their visual interest and I think that's part of it I'm very visually oriented as a human being like small known fact about Martin. I used to be and still am on occasion and visual artist. Oh, wonderful. So I think that just part of that was always interesting to me. How these worlds are coming alive visually and so I spend a lot of time doing two things as a dramaturg one talking to directors like one of my favorite directors to work with besides Chris Moore, is Ronald J. person based out of Chicago and he like we have conversations sometimes before he's even talked to any designers about the world of the play because and then he had tendency to like fold me into those conversations because he has ideas about things that he think and he's like, okay, and he's that he's such an amazingly dramaturg friendly director because he's just like, I want to make sure that what I'm saying is rooted in the text. And Chris is, you know, Chris Moore is very similar in that just want to be rooted in the text, same thing with Timothy Douglas that you're just really interested in doing work that's rooted in a text and to do that then means that there has to be some interaction with the dramaturgs and the designers because back to what is this world that the playwright wants to create and like, are there any, for example, gaps in that like is there is some weird is there some space between how like the text is being interpreted. Because these are also important things for a dramaturg to take back to a playwright and say, okay, yeah, there's a space here, and this is what this production is thinking that they're going to do with that, what do you think. Do we need to be do we need to be more specific do we need to clarify something about this world in order so that we don't go there, or do you like that openness. Yeah, that's such a critical question because it really is it feels like, and I think the great teams include the playwright and those design conversations early but sometimes the playwright doesn't quite know. I don't actually know I know what this part of it looks like but I don't know what that looks like, and being asked or shown. Again, you get this like, Oh, not that, whatever it is is not that. Like if we do that but then we lose the this or that you know, it just brings up all the questions which once again it seems like the dramaturg is kind of the carrier of possibility the carrier of questions. Exactly. The job is the question and not necessarily a weird way just now there, I think every text is full of possibilities and I just want to make sure we're mining all of them for the ones that make sense for the world we're trying to create. I love that. So, so for that's so fascinating. So, if you wanted to be a dramaturg, there was a baby Martin out in the world. What would you, what would you tell them to do to get their feet wet to try to, I don't know, right with the advice to them. What's so interesting is that I think there are so many different ways of approaching this thing called dramaturgies so I think maybe the best thing that I would suggest someone to do like if you're if you're college age, you know, or you're in college, you know, take a take a class of when it's because obviously like no better way to sort of start to understand what this world is. I think past that if you know you're out in the world and you're just trying to figure it out.  Or where, who are the dramaturgs that are saying things that make sense to you. Because, you know, unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it dramaturgs are either super quiet or really loud. I will say one way if you're like how do I find a dramaturg that and I agree with them they often one of your jobs is to write those beautiful think pieces and articles and programs are on the websites to kind of dig deeper into the play for audience members because that's another person you work with as the audience, right, you know how do patrons and audience and viewers of this play who want to know more who want to know background who want to know context you want to know a little bit about the history they're going to be dramatized so you you do all that as well which means you got to be the right good writer. Right. Well, yes, yes, but reading those think pieces and going like ooh, that person is smart. Maybe they have an email address, right and that's exactly what I was going to say next is I mean really you know who you know if you happen to find that there's a particular. Just look at who's the dramaturg listed on playbills that shows that you really like and hopefully there is a dramaturg. I'm looking at people who don't hire dramaturgs I see you. But you know who's the dramaturg and then like just reach out because I think one of the things that you'd be surprised discover is that most dramaturgs are used to just not really having their praises song not having any attention. I find that in my life week. In general, the only time anyone ever actually really talks to me about like, you know anyone out of the blue shows up in my inbox I should say is if you know I'm associated with a show that they're upset with. But then the funny thing about it is that I've actually never had that happen it's always been shows that people are like, were you the dramaturg on this because there was no dramaturg listen and I know that you work with them sometimes I'm like, no, no, no, no, nothing to do with that. That's funny. Like, don't don't don't don't don't don't bring this to my doorstep. Right, exactly. It's just funny because I've actually had that happen it happens a lot less now that no longer in Utah, but I think like and you know they're there are other drama would get mad.  I had nothing to do with that what you talk about. And literally had nothing to do with that show. Like, just because I'm in town doesn't mean I'm the only person around. Have you been a literary manager or literary director as well. I have it's like, you know, it's been it's been a while I was the literary manager for the classical theater company which is a small theater company down in Houston that still exists. I did that for a couple of years, and that was fun. And what is that job kind of entail that's a lot of reading of plays, I imagine. There's also a lot of sort of administrative shenanigans to it, depending on where you work sometimes the literary manager is responsible for hiring outside dramaturgs. I think sometimes part of their job is to dramaturg things while also doing, you know, while also hiring other dramaturgs, they tend to do a lot more season planning than just a freelance drama. Even sometimes resident dramaturgs at a place so if there's a literary manager and a resident dramaturg usually that sort of administrative part of curating seasons there. Sometimes they run new play competitions a lot of times it's a lot of reading or figuring out the system by which plays get read. And, you know, there's usually a lot of connection between literary managers and education. So the sort of administrative part of it is like where the places of intersection between education at a theater and literary management. Also a lot of literary managers deal with and work closely with development folk, etc. And not that dramaturgs don't do this too because a lot of it also just depends on structure like I've, you know, like a court the resident dramaturg does a lot of the same functions that you would assign to the literary manager they kind of straddle both worlds. So it really just depends on the place but like when I was at classical theater company my job is really to have conversations with the managing director and artistic director about what the next season was. What's the next slide. And I heard from, you know, was Julie Duvener who basically was saying that I mean, dramaturgs know each other and literary managers know each other so for playwrights out there. Even if even if one theater says no thank you we loved this play but we can't do it. Oftentimes that mean that there's a literary manager out there that has already emailed it to five of her or his colleagues to say you should read this we couldn't find a place for it but I love this but you know, the idea of the advocates that you may not even know you have as a playwright. And one of the things that I would also just advocate for playwrights to say it's like let's say, you know, you submitted in a to a to a theater in a theater like yeah, love this but not not now, not not not here right now. You know, feel free to ask the question do you know a place that might be interested like passing it on or like, you know, do you mind helping like me make a connection with that other dramaturg that other literary manager. Like if a play is really speaks to a dramaturg I don't know any dramaturg that's like okay I love this thing even though we can't program it here I'm just gonna pretend like it doesn't exist like we want plays to be done. Yeah. And in the end like I have, you know, numerous times for numerous playwrights that I've worked with said okay like, I like, you know, especially since I'm not attached to a theater, like a lot of times I will rethink some like okay here the places that I think might be really interested in and then I'm always happy to do an intro. Because what do I have to lose if it's a play that I like like what's the worst that can happen they get produced somewhere sounds like sounds pretty good to me. It's like a win and a win and another win. Exactly. That's awesome. We're closing in on our hour so. Oh my god. So I don't know if there is there any other thing that you want to talk about or what you would say to the wide world. I mean, I feel like this doesn't this needs to be said. And I'm looking forward to the day when it doesn't need to be said but like hire a dramaturg.  But if you really if you if you bet your dramaturgs get yourself a good one that's good for you and for like the thing you're trying to do I can promise you will never regret it. Yeah, like amazing amazing relationships with playwrights that I've worked with in the past including you. I just think those are some of the most amazing artistic collaborations that you can find out there and they're rewarding.  I mean I've worked with in the past when I'm stuck on a thing. I can reach out to them and say I am stuck on this thing. I've been told anybody even written this yet but would you.  Yeah, talk about it. And that's the thing that dramaturgs really do actually like to do we'd love to we'd love to come back to people that we've worked with before in the past and like continue to just see what they're what they're up to and what they're doing. So yeah so like always feel free like obviously like if you're busy you're busy but right but like if you can find find a dramaturg that really speaks to your aesthetic. Find one that really seems to understand the soul of the thing that that you're trying to write. And then like don't be afraid to reach out don't be afraid to ask for recommendations like yeah you know I think a lot of my work has been a recommendation word of mouth and that's great and that's fine. I feel like that means I'm doing something right if people are still like wanting to actually say my name in a positive way once that's done with me. But you know just don't be afraid of dramaturgs are really excited and like I said if if we're worth our salt we are just there to help.  It's always weird to me people like I don't know about work with a drama. Why do you not know like we love the best friend you haven't met yet. Cookies. Yes. Oh yes and some of them make cookies. So it's great. Well you're the first person I thought of when I thought we need a dramaturg to the world that dramaturgy so thank you for all that you do and I will say that my very highest commitment for a director and actor designer is to say that they have a dramaturgical mind. So dramaturgs are your people dramaturgs are all of our people if you believe in new plays if you believe in great storytelling. You love dramaturgs already. Exactly. And if you can think about donating to literary managers and dramaturgs America.  And all the other organizations that are taking care of the artists not just the institutions so thanks for all of that and thank you so much Martin you're the greatest. Thank you. And real hugs one day when they're very very soon very soon. All right thank you again and I'm I'll go through the comments and see if there's anything I can offer and maybe I'll wrote Martin and if there's a. Yeah, I'm very happy to answer any questions and you know people can feel free to find me on on Twitter like at martin key or through the MD website or never like I'm happy to answer question. Yeah, all right thank you and thank you to how around for. Yes, thank you testing this and thanks everybody.


Thanks for checking out this video. So this is the announcement for the next live stream event that I'm gonna be doing We had a few people on for the last one that was scheduled. We talked about the platform It was a really good time if you want to see what was done. It's a little over two hours total Check it out. It's on my channel. Every time I do a live stream The recording of it is gonna be available right after it's done So people can go back and watch it or you know, if you're doing things around the house or whatever Just listen to it because that's really what matters most to be honest But it was a good time some really cool people showing up Marshall Marshall boy Newbie to to the live stream newbie to the channel, but had a lot of really cool stuff to say so awesome Thank you for showing up. I I hope you show up to the next one. Heather Santos. Thank you very much for showing up She's been watching stuff on my channel for a while and she showed up So it's always cool, you know when the people you're familiar with show up to the live streams Uncle Pete, of course blue room, of course My buddy rich Smith. Thank you for showing up there Hopefully I didn't forget anyone those were the main people who showed up I think someone had like jumped in jumped out. I don't remember but anyway, we're here to talk about what the next one is We talked about it a little bit on live stream. So the next one is going to be Saturday, April 25th 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time is the same time as the last live stream now the film We're gonna touch on for this one is the cabin in the woods, which is one of my favorite horror films I love that film. So I'm gonna I'm gonna have a lot of fun doing this So watch the film before the live stream or if you've already watched it You can you know just show up But I would recommend rewatching it because you want to have the best conversation you can have I will say the conversation we had for the platform was really good And it actually some of the things that other other people said I hadn't thought about and it led All of us involved to some really cool Realizations about that film and the themes involved and some of the metaphors and everything so It's a good time. You get out what you put in basically so show up prepared I know actually like uncle Pete he took notes. So he was ready to roll on that one So you don't necessarily have to take notes though, but at least watch the film So it'll be a good time once again Saturday, April 25th 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time I will sign on probably five to ten minutes ahead of time just to you know, make sure everything's working Okay, and then we'll get things rolling. We'll talk about the film for probably about the first hour for sure If it ends up going a little bit longer, that's fine And then we'll hang out after we're done talking about the film for just random whatever So if anyone wants to talk about, you know, mainly just whatever and you don't want to talk about the cabin in the woods Maybe show up at about eight Might be a good time to show up and then we'll talk about whatever you want to talk about Random films or other horror stuff non horror stuff, whatever, you know, we'll just be chilling But thanks everyone for checking this out real quick Hope to see you there you put some comments down there and say I'll be there I won't be there so then I can call you out. If you don't I wouldn't do that. Oh Eric Butts I'm sorry actual youtuber not me not like me actual youtuber who has subscribed who has like a ton of subscribers The Eric Butts was on there for a little bit. So thank you Eric for showing up cool guy So yeah, but anyway, hope to see everyone there Saturday April 25th 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time I know it's the day after Joe Bob Briggs premieres. So hopefully you won't be hungover and or too tired So anyway, thanks everyone for checking this out until next time. Keep it brutal


On a point of order, on Tuesday this week, the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution was asked by my colleague Oliver Mundell in the chamber what the proposed date would be for his party's illegal skexit referendum. He declined to give a specific answer, even though he knew full well that he was proposing to hold it in October 2023, as he revealed in a media interview the next day. In fact, it was on Good Morning Scotland, on BBC Radio Scotland. I have lost count of the number of times you have asked the Scottish Government to make significant announcements to the Parliament in the first instance and not to the media. At the Minister for Parliamentary Business's conclusion that Tuesday's last-minute referendum announcement was not significant, it contained a very significant policy announcement. Indeed, the Scottish Government has made it their normal practice to willfully ignore Parliament and choose instead to run the country through media appearances and spend. Do you view this as being in order? If not, what can we do as parliamentarians to heighten scrutiny on a Government that does not even attempt to disguise the disrespect and disregard that it has for the Scottish Parliament? I thank the member for his point of order. It is the case that announcements on important matters should be made to the Parliament before they are released to the media. The intended date of a referendum is, of course, a matter of interest to this Parliament. Members will be aware that the First Minister has indicated that she will provide an update to the Parliament before recess, and I hope that no further information appears elsewhere before this update is provided. I would now like to move on to the next item of business, which is Scottish parliamentary corporate body questions. Should any member wish to ask a supplementary question, they should press the request to speak buttons during the relevant question or enter the letter R in the chat function. To sync questions and answers would be much appreciated. I call question 1, Mark Ruskell. To ask the Scottish Parliament corporate body, as an employer located in the zone, how it will help to meet the objectives of the Edinburgh low emissions zone. Mark Ruskell, for that question. The Edinburgh low emissions zone was introduced by the Edinburgh Council in May 2022. Those travelling to the Parliament will go through the LEZ. The objectives of the LEZ are cleaner air, healthier people and active travel options. The Scottish Parliament has a sustainable travel plan, which encourages active travel and lower carbon emissions from community business and visitor travel to the Scottish Parliament building. Walking, cycling and public transport are all encouraged and over 80 per cent of regular building users use one of these as their main mode of transport. We do provide secure bike storage and changing facilities interest-free bike loans, which includes for electric bikes and bike maintenance facilities. We have plans in place to encourage more car sharing rather than individual journeys and we are investing in electric charging points in our car park. We currently have 16 and we have plans to increase this. Mark Ruskell. I thank the Member for that response. Today is obviously clean air day and it is really important that the Parliament as an institution takes the lead on tackling what is a huge public health crisis that is killing thousands of people every year. I really welcome what the Member has laid out in terms of the work that the Parliament is doing as a cycle-friendly employer. Would the SPCB also look at the allowance system? For example, should it be right that the Parliament should reimburse mileage claims for journeys within low-emission zones that are taken in cars that are actually banned under the regulations that this very Parliament has approved? I thank Mark Ruskell for that supplementary. I think that is an interesting idea and especially something that we should be considering given our net zero ambitions. It is something that the corporate body and Parliament as a whole can certainly consider. We currently base reimbursement on HMRC rates set out in legislation, so we would need to see what is possible and what changes could be made, if any, to our scheme. I undertake to raise that at forthcoming corporate body meetings and consider whether we can incentivise members to shift away from using carbon emitting vehicles, including those that would be charged under the LEZ scheme. To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when it last reviewed the requirements for members to access legal services funded through the member's expense scheme in order to ascertain whether the current criteria are fit for purpose. I thank Brian Whittle for his question. I begin by acknowledging that I understand the particular circumstance that he has been facing as an MSP and the discussions he has had with me and the corporate body, and that they remain on-going. In general terms, I say that the corporate body reviews the reimbursement of members' expense scheme each parliamentary session to ensure that it remains fit for purpose. We last reviewed the scheme in 2019 and there were revisions to the scheme introduced at the beginning of this session. In addition, the corporate body also has a legal advice scheme for members, which is separate to the member's expense scheme, and it was last reviewed in 2016. Neither review highlighted any need for a change to the underlying principles or criteria for access to legal services. The operation of both schemes has demonstrated that its scope is sufficient to address the needs of a high majority of members, while we understand and accept that particular circumstances can arise where the corporate body scheme does not. There are opportunities for members to consider one-off applications to the corporate body in those circumstances. Brian Whittle I thank Jackson Carlaw for that answer. As he alluded to, he is aware of the situation that I have been facing. It comes to my attention that the current legal services provision for members is only available to defend a member if a legal action is taken against them and does not support a member taking legal action to recover funds paid to a third party through the scheme if a dispute occurs. This effectively means that, in the event of a landlord not returning a deposit or a contractor failing to rectify an issue with a product after it has been paid for, a member cannot, if necessary, pursue a court action to recover public funds. I wonder whether the corporate body believes that this is an acceptable situation and, if not, will it agree to review the position on the future provision of legal services? Jackson Carlaw I am sympathetic, as are the corporate body, to the particular situation in which the member has found himself. However, it is, we understand, the only time that such an experience has been felt or circumstance by a member. Therefore, there is not a view in the corporate body at the moment that there needs to be a much wider review of the scheme in consequence. However, as I said earlier, there is the opportunity for an exceptional application to be made to the corporate body where that is felt to be appropriate. Jim Fairlie Excuse me. I would like to ask the Scottish corporate body what steps it has taken to ensure the availability of Scottish produce on the menu in the Scottish Parliament. Maggie Chapman I thank Jim Fairlie for that question. The catering services at the Scottish Parliament are provided through our contract with Sodexo. We monitor the percentage of fresh Scottish produce used in our services and, last year, approximately 60 per cent of fresh produce was used by our services and that was produced in Scotland. We invite many of our suppliers in to showcase their produce on site and to speak to members and staff directly. This is perhaps most notable during Scottish food and drink fortnight, which we participate in annually. We regularly support and organise events on site that promote Scottish produce. Last month we held our Scotland in Spring dining evening in the Holyrood room, showcasing seasonal produce such as accredited Scottish lamb, locally grown berries and asparagus. Jim Fairlie I would like to thank you for that answer. Can I ask the Scottish Parliament the corporate body how it is monitoring the carbon footprint, including food miles from its sourcing and product supply? Maggie Chapman I thank Jim Fairlie for that information. We have carbon auditing and carbon monitoring as part of all of our Scottish Parliament operations. I will undertake to write to the member with more details about the specific processes for our food and drink. Elena Wism To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether an assessment has been made of the chairs and the MSP block for use by members and staff in relation to occupational health and the later standards. Christine Grahame Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I thank the member for a question. Our office furniture contracts require suppliers to ensure that chairs meet all relevant standards in force at the time of purchase. We inspect chairs at regular intervals to make sure that they remain in safe condition and replace them when they reach the end of life. If a member of staff feels that they require support for a particular health concern, they can contact the People and Culture Office, formerly HR, for support. If necessary, a workplace assessment can be arranged with our occupational health provider. Christine Grahame I thank the member for the supplementary question. I do not have to hand the date of actual purchase. I do not need to know if they were all purchased at the same time. I will endeavour to find this out and to write to the member advising. In the meantime, chairs are replaced if they do not pass an inspection. This is in line with our environmental policy. I am sure that we will be able to do that. I am sure that we will be able to do that. I am sure that we will be able to do that. I am sure that we will be able to do that. I am sure that we will be able to do that. Natalie Don I ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide an update on the re-opening of the Scottish Parliament case. Maggie Chapman I thank Natalie Don for that question. In March of this year, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body agreed to procure a new provider to re-establish and run the on-site crash facility here at Holyrood. The decision was taken in order to maintain our commitment to to accessibility and continue to provide childcare for visitors and pass holders to the building who have young children. Officials have completed all the procurement requirements and are ready to go out to market later this month. A corporate body expects to award the contract in October this year, October 22. In line with Care Inspectorate guidance, we have allowed for a six month mobilisation period and intend the new service therefore to open in spring 2023. As the corporate body is aware, the provision of a high-quality care service in the building allows MSPs, parliamentary staff and visitors the childcare facilities they require to perform their duties. As we return from a long period of hybrid working, we need to ensure that staff and members are supported fully with this transition. As a new member and a mother to young children, the care service has not been in use since I was elected over 12 months ago. Can the corporate body advise what efforts have been made to prioritise the re-implementation of the service? Can I thank Natalie Donne for her supplementary question? We have had detailed conversations about this at corporate body and one of the challenges we had was because of lockdown and because of the closure of the Parliament at the start of the pandemic, the crash service was ceased. Changes to Care Inspectorate guidance means that we have had to change as well how the crash operates, which is why we need to go out to retender for that. I understand and appreciate the difficulties that that has caused and perhaps some other members as well in the last year or so, but we are hoping to have a contract approved in October this year and the crash up and running by spring next year. To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it has explored the possibility of creating apps for parliamentary functions. Maggie Chapman. I thank Stephen Kerr for that question. The Parliament already provides a few mobile friendly applications and services to support members in their roles and to support parliamentary business. Examples of these include the questions and motions mobile application, which allows members to raise questions and to raise and support motions at any time and from any location on any device with a browser and internet connection. Also, the digital voting application was developed and delivered along with other aspects of the hybrid Parliament in response to the pandemic to ensure that members could continue to participate in parliamentary business using mobile devices from wherever they had internet access. Officials are in the early stages of work to understand how we can improve the digital delivery of information and services to members and input from members has been and will continue to be sought to ensure that this work is a success. Stephen Kerr. When I'm talking about his actual apps, I'm supposed to put money in a jar whenever I mention Westminster. According to my staff, there should be quite a lot of money in that jar, I can do it, but down south there are excellent standalone apps, actual apps, which enhance the functions of Parliament. We should have this too at the Scottish Parliament. Business papers, spice briefings, broadcast footage, questions and motions, voting records and even division bell push notifications could be included as features in such a set of apps. Sadly, our current reliance on web apps or email notifications is outdated and they are simply not as effective of standalone apps. Does the corporate body accept that moves in this direction would make Parliament more accessible for both Holyrood staff and, more importantly, the voters who keep us here and are they open to looking into the proposal further? I thank Stephen Kerr for his supplementary. We are more than open to input from members and others as we start to look at exactly what information members need to carry out their business and what information should be available and in what forms for members of the public. Traditionally, we have produced apps that can run on any device rather than specific apps for Apple or Android devices. There are significant cost-saving reasons for this. Being able to run apps' applications off a web-based platform means that we don't need to maintain relationships with individual app providers and tendering of those individual apps can be significantly expensive—much more costly than a web-based version. We will take the member's comments on board and we will include them as part of our conversations as we discuss how we further develop the support that we provide.


Bow, what's up everybody? Once again, it is Friday, which means I got to talk about a music resource tool or strategy And today is a little special because today We got to talk about what OG Lava said in one of my videos Branding is actually a part of marketing branding is a subcategory of marketing marketing entails all activities Promotion is the act of creating awareness marketing entails research branding analysis placement and even sales that is right some of it is wrong slash Arguable, so let's talk about it first. Let's talk about marketing Well, have you taken any kind of marketing class the primary thing they always say is the four p's and the first p is product So what is product product is your music product is maybe you the artist or product is a book product is Whatever kind of food it is product is the item that's being Exchanged and the next thing is price which is pretty straightforward, right? It cost however much it costs some people won't be able to afford certain things and some people will be able to afford certain prices And you're trying to match a price with whoever your demographic is and what they are willing to pay for it And now for promotion. This is where OG Lava corrected me and said promotion is a part of marketing I don't know if I mentioned that in the video that promotion wasn't a part of marketing But if I did thanks for correcting me, OG Lava promotion for all intents and purposes If you want to go buy a textbook is just creating awareness and anything that's creating awareness is promotion But I'm not going to get into my own thoughts about promotion right now Just because I want to go do this straight and narrow in the last piece place Which is making sure basically your stuff is in the right place now This one could be a little bit of confusing but think about making sure whatever your product is is in a place that makes sense For the audience whoever you're trying to get often times when people say making sure it's in the right place at the right time For instance when you have gum at the checkout that's placement If you for example feel bees to ride a school bus with me and I remember what he started going out to do some Performances just hearing about it because I was too young ago I matter of fact I think he was too young to be performing in some of the places he was performing But one thing that I remember one story that sticks out is I remember when he went to a club and Performed with a guitar on stage and trust me the club that he went to I can't remember the name of it right now The club that he went to let's just say he was performing in front of the wrong audience Right. We're talking about a time where like people running around still doing all this he had a guitar on stage They didn't know what to do with that music, but the placement was off He was something different So there were other audiences that would have been more receptive and there's a lot of artists in general who are performing in front of the wrong crowds when they go to these open mics or some of these Showcases that's pretty much marketing in a nutshell from an academic standpoint and any time you get, you know Purely academic things kind of get left out, but that's neither here nor there now The big thing is saying that branding is a part of marketing branding is not a part of marketing That's arguable. Some people might want to say that it is but branding is not a part of marketing Marketing is all of those activities that I mentioned those four Ps branding is something that informs your marketing That's what helps you decide where you're gonna place a product.  It's the same thing when you look at a company like Apple and them wanting to be a higher tier in terms of their pricing They want to be considered something luxury the product itself is the daggone Mac or it's the iPhone and Because of the brand to receive value and brand they want to have which is that extra stuff is why Mac puts a certain price tag because a certain price tag helps it be perceived as a luxury and if you go under it He will start to see it as something else It ruins the brand it's why and sales is completely separate as well sales is that exchange of the product It's getting to buy getting the clothes. They are not the same things marketing branding and sales are not the same thing and People fail to do them well when they treat them as such and each one of those has their own research that goes into it And you look at it like a triangle having a strong brand gives you something to have better marketing with and the better your marketing and branding the easier it is to sell and Then you kind of create a vicious cycle in that way right because when you sell a product also if the product is great It makes the marketing easier because once somebody has it they start to spread word for you word of mouth that triangle It's supposed to work together up Illuminati I'll go into deeper details and some really interesting examples of each specific area and another video But for now I just wanted to put it out there just so we can have that general discussion and Understanding for people who don't and also if you disagree with what I said and you want to challenge it go ahead and do that in The comments, let's get this conversation going and other than that if you like this video You might as well hit that like button if you like it your minds well share it, but if you're not subscribed You know what to do Hit that subscribe button


Everybody forced here ripping a box of 2022 luminance football hobby for Ruben. Why thank you Ruben best of luck Boxing let's see a big year one auto pick it or pick ins or a London, maybe a lot of other guys we'd like to see even like a Shorter printed year one like a green ink or a red ink There we go. All right start off with a Jalen Petrie Malik Willis Khalil Shakir Falcons AJ Turrell 31 of 35 That's Odell Beckham jr. 8 of 149 First auto Titans Hassan Haskins rookie Numbered 47 of 349 Hassan Haskins rookie auto And a savage DK Metcalf all right rookies Tyler Linderbaum that is a Johan Dotson Romeo Dobbs Jetsauce Gardner rookie gold 135 of 249 Bernie Kosar jersey card non-number of the vintage jersey and vestige Mark Andrews rookies Kyle or Kyron Williams Sameer White Tariq Wolven There's a Najee Harris second-year greens 6 or 85 of 99 Points card six hundred points and a sheesh Cordray L. Patterson Last one come on big auto come on Russ is a Bronco rookies George Pickens Jordan Davis Kyle Hamilton God Dallas Goddard gold numbered 175 of 249 Texans John Mechie rookie auto 126 of 299 John Mechie the third infusion Nick Chubb and that'll do it. Thank you very much Ruben. We'll get those cards right out to you


Here for the ILO Free Software Day I want to thank the TuxCast team because games is always fun and TuxCast is also fun and whenever I have a bit of spare time when traveling for example I'm picking out my mobile and doing the TuxCast and this is a lot of fun and that's why I want to thank them for the ILO Free Software Day.