Please read through our Frequently Asked Questions before contacting technical support.
Click on the Question to reveal the Answer.
Q: What is a Webcast?
A: A Webcast is the transmission of live audio and video to computers via the Internet.
Q: What payment options are available?
A: Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Card.
Q: What events will be offered via the webcast?
Webcast Schedule
All times listed are in the Eastern Daylight Savings Time (EDT.) Please adjust the times listed to your time zone. Pacific Daylight Savings is three hours earlier than EDT, Central time one hour earlier, etc. We will begin webcasting some sort of information, PSA, or pre-recorded material approximately 30 minutes before the scheduled contest start.
• Newfoundland Daylight Savings Time is 1½ hours later. i.e. 11 AM EDT = 12:30 PM NDT
• Atlantic Daylight Savings Time is 1 hours later. i.e. 11 AM EDT = 12:00 NOON ADT
• Central Daylight Savings Time is 1 hours earlier. i.e. 11 AM EDT = 10:00 AM CDT
• Mountain Daylight Savings Time is 2 hour earlier. i.e. 11 AM EDT = 9:00 AM MDT
• Pacific Daylight Saving Time is 3 hours earlier. i.e. 11 AM EDT = 8:00 AM PD
Tuesday, June 29th
The Bank of America Collegiate Contest, beginning at 6:00 PM
Wednesday, June 30th
Quartet Quarter Finals, beginning at 10:00 AM (There will be a 1.5 hour break between halves, estimated to occur around 3:00 PM EDT)
Thursday, July 1st
Quartet Semi-Finals, beginning at 11:00 AM
Association of International Champions (AIC) Show, beginning at 7:30 PM
Friday, July 2nd
Chorus Contest, first session, beginning at 10:00 AM
Chorus Contest, second session, beginning at 4:00 PM
Saturday, July 3rd
Quartet Finals, beginning at 6:00 PM
Q: How do I know my computer will work with the webcast?
A: The easiest way is to watch our test video. If the video plays good and looks good then your computer meets the minimum requirements and you are ready to sign up. If not then visit our support page. If you have dial-up then Audio only will be your only choice.
Q: Can I record or playback the webcast at a later time.
A: The webcast is a copyrighted program and should not be recorded. Any videos posted to YouTube or other public site will be flagged for copyright infringement. Since posting copyrighted material is contrary to YouTube’s Terms of Use, the poster’s account will likely be closed.
Q: What if I sign up on my computer at the office and then want to watch the webcast on my home PC?
A: You can now access the webcast from multiple computers, at different times, by using the login that you created during the purchase process. It will work great for people who use different computers regularly for their internet access. However, we monitor for account sharing so please don't abuse this privilege.
Q: Can I watch the webcast using my wireless LAN at home?
A: We strongly recommend using a WIRED connection rather than using Wireless connection.Wireless can cause additional buffering and freezing screen on the video.
Q: What pricing options are available?
A: More than ever before and something in everyone’s price range.
Pricing will be as follows:
The AIC show is NOT included in any package and must be purchased separately.
Superband Video
LIVE All-Week - $99.00 (Incudes Delayed Viewing All-Week)
DELAYED VIEWING All-Week - $65.00
DELAYED VIEWING All-Week - 2010 Int’l Competitor & Convention Attendees - $32.50
Individual Sessions
Superband Video
LIVE Tuesday - Bank of America Collegiate Quartet Contest & Quartet Finals - $40.00
DELAYED VIEWING - Bank of America Collegiate Quartet Contest & Quartet Finals - $30.00
DELAYED VIEWING - 2010 Int’l Competitor & Convention Attendees - $15.00
LIVE Wednesday - Quartet Quarter-Finals - $30.00
DELAYED VIEWING - Quartet Quarter-Finals - $20.00
DELAYED VIEWING - 2010 Int’l Competitor & Convention Attendees - $10.00
LIVE Thursday - Quartet Semi-Finals - $35.00
DELAYED VIEWING - Quartet Semi-Finals Round - $25.00
DELAYED VIEWING - 2010 Int’l Competitor & Convention Attendees - $12.50
LIVE Thursday - AIC Show - $25.00 (Does not include DELAYED VIEWING)
DELAYED VIEWING – AIC Show - $25.00 (Only available as a separate purchase)
LIVE Friday - Chorus Finals, Sessions 1 & 2 - $40.00
DELAYED VIEWING - Chorus Finals, Sessions 1 & 2 - $30.00
DELAYED VIEWING - 2010 Int’l Competitor & Convention Attendees - $15.00
LIVE Saturday - Quartet Finals - $50.00
DELAYED VIEWING - Quartet Finals - $40.00
DELAYED VIEWING - 2010 Int’l Competitor & Convention Attendees - $20.00
Audio Only – $10 (recommended for slower, dial-up connections) No delayed listening will be available.
Delayed viewing options will be available from Sunday July 4th through Saturday July 10th.
Q: Will the webcast work with my Mac?
A: Yes. We have chosen flash media player and it works great on Macs. Be sure to watch our test video.
Q: I’d like to buy the Superband All-Week Package but don’t want to miss work. What can I do?
A: This year you can watch the webcast on your time table. Superband All-Week users will be able to watch a rebroadcast of all sessions up to a week after the convention at no extra charge. Customers purchasing individual sessions the week of the contest (including the AIC show) can purchase a rebroadcast at a package or a la carte rate the following week. Each performer/performance/song will be indexed allowing users to go right to the group/song they want to see.
Q: I'm competing in the Philly contest and will be attending the convention. I have already paid for my convention registration. Will I be able to get a reduced price on the delayed viewing option?
A: You sure will, competitors and attendees of the 2010 International Convention in Philly will be able to enjoy delayed viewing at a reduced rate. This reduced rate is 1/3rd of the cost of the Superband All-week rate and ½ of the cost of the Superband delayed viewing option.
Q: Will I be able to watch this year’s webcast in full screen mode?
A: Yes. Full screen is available for both live and delayed viewing video. The fullscreen button is located at the bottom right corner of the video player.
Q: Can I host a webcast watching party this year?
A: Yes.
Q: How does this year’s pricing compare to last year?
A: The pricing has stayed the same this year.
Q: Who are this year’s commentators?
A: Mike Maino, Justin Oxley and Steve Stripling will be this years commentators.
Biographies:
Mike Maino has spent more than 47 years of his life immersed in the world of barbershop singing. He joined the Barbershop Harmony Society at the age of 10, and by 18 had held every major chapter office. Quartetting since his early teens, he’s sung in many popular groups. His NED championship quartets include, The Four Scores, Great Chord Conspiracy, Grandstand Vocal Band, Prime Alliance, and Road Show. Mike also has three NED Senior Championships with RING!, and is now singing with a brand new senior quartet called X-Men. He has competed at International Conventions in 21 quartet contests, 12 chorus contests, with the Narragansett Bay Chorus, and has not missed a BHS International Conventon since 1963. As an MC, his experiences include hundreds of Society, Sweet Adelines, and Harmony Incorporated chapter shows, District, and International contests. His annual MC work for the Sweet Adeline’s Coronet Club, and introductions for all the International contest sessions, has made him known as the “Voice of Sweet Adelines.” For the last five years he has been the host of the video webcast of the BHS International Contests. In his professional life Mike is an announcer on classical radio WCRI, and hosts a weekly show called Conducting Conversations, and this year started a new show, American A Cappella, featuring mostly the barbershop style (both shows available at www.classical959.com). You can find him residing at the historic Music Mansion, in Providence, RI, with his wife, Master Director/choreographer, Gail Jencik.
Justin Oxley grew with barbershop singing since the young age of seven. While attending Bowling Green State University, he sang in the College quartet "The Real Deal," which won the 1994 MBNA College Quartet Competition. This quartet was the launching pad for his barbershop career. After finishing college with a degree in Music Education, Justin and his family moved to San Antonio, Texas. It was there where he began singing baritone in a young and dynamic quartet, "Sterling". "Sterling" entertained international audiences as a three time Top Twenty Quartet (03,04 & 05) at the International level. "Sterling" also performed in front of audiences from Finland to Montreal to San Antonio's very own Alamo. Most recently Justin sang tenor in the International qualifying quartet, "Speakeasy". Justin is married to Amy Oxley, who is also involved with music, directing a very successful music program in San Antonio. They have three awesome children; Brandon, Taylor and Samantha, who are very musically inclined as well.
Steve Stripling lives in Anchorage, Alaska, is a 19 year member with the Anchorage Midnight Sons Chorus and sings bass with his quartet, the Frozen Pipes. Steve is actively involved in the barbershop community at the Chapter and District level. A Board member for the Midnight Sons, Steve is VP of Marketing and PR and often writes their shows. He is also on the Evergreen District Communications team and co-hosted the webcast for the Evergreen District’s 2007 Convention in Bellevue, WA. Steve would be more involved at the District level if it were not for the 1,500 mile commute to Seattle! By day, Steve is president of Stripling Advertising providing services to medium-sized businesses. These days you will more often find Steve in studios creating and producing projects from over-the-air-broadcast to YouTube. He produces and co-hosts weekly radio shows including a travel/adventure program: The Big Alaska Show! Steve’s achievements include awards for a number of TV and radio commercials plus awards from the Alaska Broadcast Association for the “2007 Entertaining Radio Show of the Year” and the “2004 Comedy Feature of the Year”- a spoof that ultimately resulted in his brief appearance on the Tonight Show. Steve is married to Amy, an active barbershopper herself joining the Sweet Adelines in 1993.
Q: If I would like to purchase advertising for my group or organization or sponsor an hour of programming or an entire event, who do I contact?
A: Send an e-mail to Dusty Schleier at dschleier@barbershop.org or call (800) 876-7464, ext. 4116.
Q: What companies are producing this year’s webcast?
Q: Where do the proceeds from this webcast go?
A: Your donations help fund Barbershop Harmony Society webcasts in addition to helping the Society keep the whole world singing.
Q: I can't see any video or hear audio. It's cutting in and out. My picture is freezing or skipping.
A: #1 Make sure you have Flash 10 installed on your computer. Go to the Home page on bhs-live.com and click on the Flash Player Test link. At the bottom of the page there is a Get Adobe Flash Player button. Click on that and follow the directions.
A: #2 Make sure that you are not on a wireless network. It's better to use a wired internet connection. Just plug in a network cable into the back of the wireless hub, and then to the computer.
Also, sometimes it just depends on time of day and traffic on the internet if you are using a cable network. For example, there might be more people using the internet on a Friday night rather than Friday afternoon.
A: #3 One thing to consider when viewing live audio video streaming from the Web, is the use of web content filtering software such as McAfee Web Gateway or Symantec 360. These products are designed to protect individuals from malware, identity theft etc., which exists throughout the Internet. We don't in any way suggest that our viewers disable these products (if installed), rather we recommend checking the filter settings in these products to ensure that audio visual content is not being subjected to a "state-full" packet inspection.
We have seen where content of this type can sometimes be flagged as suspect, and the protection software will attempt to safeguard a PC as a result. Once again, we DO NOT recommend disabling these products, just check them to validate if the RTMP protocol is being allowed.
Q: How do I sign up?
A: To sign up for the webcast:
1. Go to http://bhs-live.com/
2. Click the yellow "Sign Up Now" bar.
3. Select the package(s) you wish to see and fill out the information there.
4. Once you click the "Continue" button, your order will be processed and you will be taken to the Member's Area.
5. In the Member's Area you will see your subscriptions. The subscriptions have links to connect you to the webcasts.
Q: I'm having a hard time viewing the test video.
A: Some things you can check:
1. Are you able to view videos on YouTube (www.youtube.com)? YouTube uses Flash and is another way to test.
2. Try Refreshing your browser.
3. Make sure you have the most recent
version of Flash Player http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/
Flash does not support old version of windows. You need to have Windows XP newer to run Flash.
Q: How do I set my video card hardware acceleration?
A:
Right click on the desktop
Go to Properties
Settings tab
Click Advanced
Click on Troubleshoot tab
Make sure the Hardware Acceleration bar is set to full.
Q: My problem is installing the adobe program, they tell me I can't dowload the program unless I'm logged off the internet. I have no idea what to do.
A: What is likely happening is that a compressed file has already been downloaded. This file can only be opened if you exit your web browser. What you need to do is to close the browser and then find the file to open it. It may be in a "downloads" folder, your desktop, or wherever your computer automatically saves files. Once you've found it, click on it. It will then install. Once installed, you will need to restart the computer for it to work.
Q: I got charged twice for the webcast.
A: Email our support team at support@bhs-live.com and notify them of the double charge. They will put in a refund request for you.
Q: I only bought one day, but I want to upgrade to the All Week package. How do I do that?
A: Login to your account, and select the All Week package. After you have gone through the payment process, email the support team, support@bhs-live.com, telling them you wanted to upgrade to the All Week package. They will check your account to see that you purchased the All Week, and then put in a refund request for the one day package.
Q: I accidentally bought the wrong event. Can I switch my subscription?
A: Login to your account, and select the package you intended to buy in the first place. Go through the payment process. After you have purchased the event, email the support team at support@bhs-live.com and tell them that you purchased the wrong event, and you need to be refunded. The support team will put in a request for a refund for the wrong event.
Q: Is the Delayed Viewing included in every package?
A: No, The Delayed Viewing is only included in the Superband Live All Week. If you purchased just a single day and you want to watch the delayed version, you need to purchase the delayed in addition.
Q: Do I have to watch the Delayed Viewing at a certain time of the day?
A: The delayed viewing will be available for you July 4-10th. You can watch the webcast at any time, as many times as you like.
Q: Where is the 50% discount for the attendees?
A: A coupon code will be handed out at registration when you get your name tags. The code will give you 50% off the delayed viewing. The coupond code doesn't become valid until July 4th after the competition is over.
Q: I want to send a "Shout Out" to my friends on the webcast. Who do I send those to?
A: You can send your shout outs to webcast@bhs-live.com. We'll do our best to get the messages to your friends, but we can not guarantee that it will make it on air.
Q: Can I watch the webcast on my iPhone, iPod, or iPad.
A: Not at this time. Flash, our chosen webcast technology, is not support on iOS devices.
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