Joining Slack Soon Will Help You and Us
So far, just a few students have joined our Slack platform, and we hope that will change soon. Why? Slack will help us accomplish three things -- build community, address any technology and communication issues, and inform you of schedule changes. Our Facebook group isn't designed for that, and this O'Flaherty Weekly is just that : weekly. For daily communication until we begin publishing The Daily Craic during the Retreat, Slack will be our best means to reach you, and for you to reach us. Besides, it's a great way to connect with fellow Irish music fans. Included in this email are tips to help you navigate our Virtual O'Flaherty Retreat. If you have problems, please contact our Tech Support Team at virtual@oflahertyretreat.org or post in the #tech-support Slack channel.
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Student Training
Technology can be challenging, so we have scheduled some training meetings to walk you through how to use Google Classroom, Google Meet, Slack and how to agjust their settings to improve your online experience. You only need to attend one meeting, and we will upload a recording of one of the meetings for later viewing. Here are the dates and times:
7-8 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 6th (CDT)
3-4p.m., Sunday, Oct. 11th (CDT)
7-8 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 13th (CDT)
We will also host Participant Q&A Meetings right before the Retreat begins to address any last-minute questions:
10-11 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 18th (CDT)
3-4 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 18th (CDT)
In the meantime, we have created some short videos to help explain and demonstrate a few areas:
We also have created an introduction to our student communication platform, Slack:
Reminder: You can ask for help within Slack by posting in #tech-support or by emailing virtual@oflahertyretreat.org.
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Every day during the Retreat, we will publish a bulletin called The Daily Craic. This will give you the day's schedule and some helpful information. We will include links for tech support and "how-to" videos, features on instructors, a Tune of the Day and maybe a pun/joke from Ken Fleming. The Daily Craic will be the main way we will inform you of any updates.
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Schedule of Events
Our Schedule of Events is now available and it includes a number of "pre-Retreat" events to get you warmed up. We have tried hard to plan our events around your life. All of our events will be held on weekday evenings and during weekends -- 154 of them will be hosted live! This is why we extended our Retreat from its usual three days to three full weeks. We want it to fit your schedule. This is also why we intend to record all of the events, so that you can view them later if you miss something.
We are working on a better way to view the days and weeks, but for now you can see the full schedule HERE. |
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Pun of the Week
I always wanted to be a Gregorian monk, but I never got the chants.
(Submitted by Jim Aman)
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Speaking of Puns...
You may not know yet that our Retreat Director Ken Fleming is a big fan of puns. So to help illustrate how our lessons will appear in Google Classroom, Ken recorded nine video lessons on "Paronomasia" which just means "puns." Students get extra credit for watching these fascinating (eyeroll) explorations into the world of puns! To view these videos:
- Go to your Google Classroom.
- Click on the + (plus sign) near the six-dotted square by your photo or icon.
- Select "Join class."
- Enter the code "tpjwfqx" and click on the "Join" button in the upper right.
- The Paronomasia Course will now be added to your account. Click on it to open the course.
- Now click on "Classwork" at the top and the lessons will appear.
- Have pun!
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Looking for Previous Updates?
Go to UPDATES for all of our emails to students.
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Early Signup Perks
To thank you for signing up early, we have added a few benefits for all of you who have already enrolled, which you can enjoy before the Retreat begins. Sessions and concerts are scheduled as follows:
Tuesday, Oct. 6th at 8 p.m. (CDT) — Instructor Concerts from Oct. 18th, 2019
- Frances Cunningham, Michelle Hedden, Grey Larsen
- Brenda Castles, Haley Richardson
- Dave Curley, Andrew Finn Magill
Thursday, Oct. 8th at 8 p.m. (CDT) — Instructor Concerts from Oct. 21st, 2017
- Marta Cook, Devon Shepherd, Brian Ó hAirt
- Mickey Dunne, Randal Bays
- Liz Carroll, Daithi Sproule, Billy McComiskey
Friday, Oct. 9th at 8 p.m. (CDT) — Instructor Concerts from Oct. 20th, 2018
- Yvonne Casey, Aoife Granville, Dermot Byrne (Guest)
- Jerry O'Sullivan, Séamus Connolly
- Cathal Hayden, Máirtín O'Connor, Seamie O'Dowd
Saturday, Oct. 10th at 3-5 p.m. (CDT) — Open Session with Ian Varley
Tuesday, Oct. 13th at 8 p.m. (CDT) — Instructor Concerts from Oct. 19th, 2019
- Rose Conway Flanagan, Pat Broaders, Anna Colliton, Margie Mulvihill (Guest), Patty Furlong (Guest), John Paul Mulvihill (Guest)
- Pat Broaders, Anna Colliton, Liz Knowles
- Kevin Crawford, John Doyle, Colin Farrell, Danielle Enblom
Thursday, Oct. 15th at 8 p.m. (CDT) — Instructor Concerts from Oct. 22nd, 2017
- John Liestman, Alan Murray, Cara Wildman, Laura Feddersen (Guest)
- Brendan Nolan
- Pauline Conneely, Alan Murray, Laura Feddersen (Guest), Katie Linnane (Guest)
- Brianna Brown, Paul Dryer
- Liz Carroll, Maldon Meehan
- Brid Harper, Tony O’Connell
- All of the 2017 Instructors
Friday, Oct. 16th at 8 p.m. (CDT) — Instructor Concerts from Oct. 21st, 2018
- Rick Holt, Pete Strickler, Annmarie Acosta, Dirk Mewes (Guest)
- Jack Talty, Liam O'Connor, Nolan Ladewski
- Haley Richardson
- Brian Miller, Éilís Kennedy, Niamh Ní Charra
- Tommy & Saundra O’Sullivan
- All of the 2018 Instructors
Saturday, Oct. 17th at 3-5 p.m. (CDT) — Open Session with Peggy Fleming and Ken Fleming
Saturday, Oct. 17th at 8 p.m. (CDT) — Instructor Concerts from Oct. 20th, 2019
- Brian McNamara, Sue Richards, Therese Honey (Guest)
- Brian McGrath, Karen Tweed
- Joseph Carmichael, Brian Finnegan, Derek Hickey, Oisín Mac Diarmada
- All of the 2019 Instructors
If you miss seeing any of these concerts on the nights they are scheduled, they will remain available for viewing in The Commons until the Retreat officially begins on October 18th.
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Help Us Spread the Word!
We just passed 200 enrollments, but with two weeks to go, we are still a long way from our goal of 300 students. Please tell your friends and fellow Irish music lovers about the retreat and its many benefits. Where else can someone get 154 live events, 222 pre-recorded events and lessons, three evenings of fabulous instructor concerts, and ten sessions per week? And on top of all that, students can view the recorded content until December 8th. That's seven weeks to learn at your own pace and within your schedule, not ours. Thanks for helping spread the word!
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