Hi everybody,
what streams are you talking about?
Cheers,
Max
Thomas,
I agree with you 100%!
Greetings from Germany,
Max
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Hi Max,
We are discussing the new format where the livestreams are pre-recorded and Ryan is answering questions in the chat. There are no verbal answers to questions that people ask in the chat, so if you can’t pay attention to the stream and the chat simultaneously, or if you watch the stream in the library, the questions and answers during the stream are lost to you.
Hi Roger,
thank’s for your reply. Ok, now I understand. Like Thomas, I also watch the stream in the library because the livestream would be at 3 in the morning.
Max
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Put me in the pleeb camp. You have seen my trees, heard my questions. I am by no means so dope at bonsai. I might be dope at rockin’ out kid breakfast, but that’s all I will claim. 
If I offended, I apologize @Bonsai_Bentley . It was not my intent. My intent, perhaps misplaced, was simply I’m happy to roll with it, and see what happens next. I have been happily surprised by pretty much everything this team has done to date. Ryan has surrounded himself with exceptional people, they are passionate and creative and driven. I also recognized that as a job, staying past 7pm once a week, and then commuting out of the hills home in the dark half the year is a bear too. Sometimes the time isn’t the issue, but the time of time. I love the live aspect of this place. LOVE. No doubt, it is what makes it special, the live community, for both us and them. It’s why I have faith that a good balance will be struck.
Oh no! I didn’t mean to imply that I was offended. I was just saying that the pre-recorded streams are also a lot of work for the crew. I just didn’t want ppl to take that for granted. Sorry, the “dope at bonsai” thing wasn’t directed at you @moon. My bad. 
Just like a balance of water and oxygen I can see the crew needing to balance live vs pre-recorded. I don’t think they made the change willy nilly. There are nuances and business reasons we’re not privy to and we’ve yet to see how the app will augment things.
I was mainly trying to voice my opinion that I do find the in-stream user questions valuable. Just as I find the LQA and FQA segments to be very valuable. I’d hate to see them go away. However, the pre-recorded format is amazing as well where Ryan can just get into a flow.
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At the beginning of the latest stream (juniper on rock) Ryan explained the pre-recorded versions are for when he wants to finish a tree on the stream. I think that’s a pretty good idea. He said there will still be some streams where he will interact with the viewers and answer questions.
Actually, I don’t mind if the streams are condensed a bit as they run pretty long already. I understand wanting that feeling of “being a fly on the wall in the room” when Ryan creates his bonsai, but anything longer than two hours is a significant chunk of time to commit to watching a video.
-Maryann
Speaking as a fairly new member, reading the comments here, and viewing both versions of content, I’ll provide feedback.
The new version allows for cleaner content that can be edited into high quality digestible lessons.
The old version results in much longer videos, provides planned education, but also a few other things.
- The obvious: Live verbal answers to questions. This provides useful information, but it might already exist in another video from the library. Also, it builds audience confidence in Ryan’s expertise. It’s pretty impressive when he rattles off long, complex answers to random questions. As stated above, that becomes practice/repetition for the veteran viewers to lock in answers to frequently asked questions.
- It provides members with a feeling of inclusion. It allows us an opportunity to enter into the Mirai inner circle. We hear the host reading our question, and Ryan provides an immediate answer “for me” the viewer.
- Pure entertainment, and even deeper insight/inclusion into the inner circle. There is a certain magic that exists with the old version, and I will contrast that with a few of the live Q&A streams that I’ve watched. The magic is in the relational dynamics we see and hear on screen. In the classic Mirai Live, we have Ryan responding to Eve or Kendall, who reads the questions. Also, you hear him asking questions or making jokes with Josh and others, off screen. Generally, the ladies provide a lightness, positivity, and freshness to the dynamic. (This is not exclusively because they are female, it’s just the dynamic that I’ve observed here.) You get the feeling that you’re watching a group of friends, and the ladies sound authentically interested and engaged when reading questions from the audience. In contrast, the live Q&A streams feel very “business first.” There is a male host reading the questions, who doesn’t sound horrible, but he has a similar “scholarly” sound to his voice, which does not contrast with Ryan’s scholarly tone. The narrator/host sounds like he is reading off of a script for the first time, which introduces some monotony/flatness to the vibe. The Q&As are great, but don’t score well for general entertainment and inclusive member vibes. I’d imagine this is the same spark that has been taken away, at least in part, by the new format.
This is not a democracy, but my vote would be to do both live event types, separately.
Full traditional Mirai Live format, as described above, but reserved for particularly show worthy trees and/or special guests. Questions might be geared toward the specific tree(s), or autobiographical for the guest. (great spots on Fujikawa San and Peter Warren and good examples that beg for the true live format.)
New Style. Reserved for new techniques or topics that require special preparation and a distraction free set.
Anyway, totally love the content, and my comments are only to provide constructive feedback. Mirai Live goes above and beyond my expectation. Excited to see what happens with the app.
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