Google Reader appears to be missing this morning. Has anyone seen it?

By the way, the email from “The Google Apps Team” that appears in the image has nothing to do with Google Reader.

Chris Sherry (creator the the Kaflooey podcast) dredged up this gem of Bob Goyetche and me following Podcasters Across Borders 2007. According to Chris, Photoshop was not involved.

Original photo by Nico.

I have been participating in a dialog on Chris Brogan’s site (Thoughts for Future PodCamps). As part of the conversation, Joel Mark Witt says of PodCamp Ottawa, “I think it is important not to have Podcamps become glorified ‘teetups’ ‘tweetups’. Not saying that yours did - just worried that they will become too informal“.

Joel’s point is very well taken and I thought I’d use this opportunity to explain a bit about PodCamp Ottawa and Zero to Podcasting since they have both attracted the attention of the PodCamp community. That thought process has led me to build on thoughts of others (Chris Brogan, Chris Penn, Whitney Hoffman, Sara Streeter, Tommy Vallier, Bob Goyetche, Andrea Ross, etc…) to share my own thoughts on the future of PodCamp.

Aside from having scheduled specific discussion topics for the day, PodCamp Ottawa was admittedly informal (we sat and lay on pillows on the carpet and did away with computers and projectors). In many respects that was the beauty of the event. The environment facilitated an open discussion where everyone (three-year veterans and those who have never spoken into a microphone) felt welcome and valued. The resulting discussion left everyone in the room thinking very differently about new and social media. There was a bi-directional mentorship that advanced the newcomers and re-energized and re-focused the veterans.

As a result of the impact of the PodCamp Ottawa discussions, several of the participants conceived and mapped out Zero to Podcasting. It was a seed-to-forest workshop that aimed at striking a balance between sitting on the carpet and sitting in a lecture hall. While we did well, I think there is a lot that we could have done better while still respecting the web streaming equipment that cut the room in half (not all conferences will have this problem).

We have received a lot of feedback on the Z2P workshop. The feedback that struck me the most was told to me by several people: where most sessions and workshops explain what to do, Z2P explained and actually demonstrated how to do things and why to do them. The discussion resulted in the exploration of options and the facilitators tracked the key points and relevant URLs on a virtual whiteboard that will be organized and made available for the community in the coming days (follow the Canadian Podcast Buffet and the CPB Wiki).

This feedback has made me realize that as conference participants (speakers/facilitators and audience) we need to look beyond ‘the event itself’ and start thinking about the goals and approaches of the individual sessions.

The more I think about it, the more I believe that the future strength of PodCamp is in three verticals… vertically-focused events, structured vertical tracks, and embedded mentorship programs that build on the strengths of (and levels) both ends of vertical relationships.

The conversation about ways to exploit the unconference model as well as reinvent the PodCamp format continues. Not surprisingly, the first out of the gate are the PodCamp founders.

Chris Brogan has put up a post called Thoughts for Future Podcamps in which he endorses the Zero to Podcasting track (unveiled at PodCamp Toronto) as a way to help newcomers and veterans with their new media skills and strategies. He also throws his support behind Whitney Hoffman’s push for PodCamp verticals as a great way to cater to the unique qualities of various communities of interest (a great idea!!!) .

Chris Penn blogged about some of the great ideas that were incorporated into NewBCamp this past weekend (Reflections on NewBCamp 08). The one that struck me as most interesting is Sara Streeter’s Speed Mentoring, modeled after Speed Dating.

I often talk about relationships and connections on my blog. I see the PodCamp-inspired initiatives (Speed Mentoring and Tommy Vallier’s Mentorship Lounge) to connect individual newcomers and veterans as the best chance to ignite both levels of experience through co-operative and bi-directional mentorship opportunities. This is what the veterans need to reinvigorate themselves with the passion and enthusiasm that newcomers bring to the community.

We happened upon this poster in downtown Toronto last night.

Click here to see more Obay posters in Flickr.

Andrea and I are on our way home from PodCamp Toronto 2008. It was another great unconference. We had a chance to connect with old friends and make new ones. As is always the case at these events, we didn’t have time to hang out with everyone. We’ll have to continue that at the next event… Podcasters Across Borders anyone?

Congratulations to everyone involved in making PodCamp Toronto 2008 happen!!! According to the PodCamp Toronto website, those people are:

• Connie Crosby - Official Blog & Podcast
• Dave Fleet - PR
• Eden Spodek - Sponsorship
• Jay Moonah - Facilities & Wiki
• Katherine Matthews - Volunteers
• Rob Lee - Finances
• Sean McGaughey - Official Blog & Podcast
• Tommy Vallier - Mentor Lounge

I’ll blog more about PodCamp Toronto in the coming days.

It was a full house in Studio A of Ryerson University when Jay Moonah kicked off PodCamp Toronto 2008 with a direct question: “How many of you are not yet podcasting?”. Well, I can’t remember the exact wording of the question, but it was along those lines. The last time I saw that many hands go up that quickly was when the crowd at the final game of the Ottawa Lynx sent the team off with ‘a wave’.

If I had to guess, 80% of the room was there to learn about becoming a podcaster which is probably why so many stuck around in Studio A for the Zero to Podcasting workshop when the Podcamp sessions began. The room of about 40 people were engaged in the discussion, sharing their thoughts and asking the kinds of questions that podcast veterans forget about all to easily once they establish a rhythm in their recording and production.

Rob Lee and Katherine Matthews (purldiving.com) kicked off the day, leading campfire discussions on picking a topic for your podcast, planning your podcast and selecting technology. Among other things, Sage Tyrtle (Quirky Nomads) offered her experiences on scripting her entire show and explained why she has made a conscious decision to not publish her scripts online. Scarborough Dude showed off his coveted iRiver 795 and explained how he uses it with his ‘pencil mic’ to record DicksnJanes anywhere and anytime.

Following lunch, Bob Goyetche and I led a workshop during which we recorded, edited, mixed and produced a podcast called ‘Hiding in the Closet’. It was not the kind of show the average podcaster would ever produce since the entire room contributed recorded elements including group sound effects (cheers, laughs, scowls, etc…), audio comments and fictitious listener phone calls. One participant was selected as a host who recorded intros for the show and individual segments, and a show extro. Derek Miller’s Fakeout was selected as the theme music for the show and then the entire package was threaded together in front of the room as part of a demonstration of Audacity.

As the show was put together, we repeatedly reminded the room that most shows are recorded and published with very little editing which doesn’t afford much of an opportunity to showcase the amazing things that can be done, easily, with Audacity. In fact, several veteran Audacity users approached us after the workshop to announce that they never knew some of the features that Bob demonstrated with just a keystroke or click during the session — features that could have saved them days of time over the last few years.

Before the day was over, we created a new account on Libsyn, added relevant information about the podcast in the account, uploaded the show that was produced during the workshop, added ID3 tags, created a post, published it to the site and then subscribed to and downloaded the show using iTunes.

As the day wrapped up, the group discussed some of the ways to promote a podcast including directories such as iTunes and CanadaPodcasts.ca. Our brains were all pretty full by that point and we could tell that everyone in the room (ourselves included) needed to shut down for the day.

Zero to Podcasting continues at 10:00am today with the following agenda:

• Owning your online presence (30 min) — Campfire / Circle Discussion
• YourName.com (with GoDaddy) (30 min) — Workshop
• Your own WordPress site with a Libsyn back end (2 parts; 30 min each with break in between) — Workshop
• The Podpress plugin (2 parts; 30 min each with break in between) — Workshop
• Portable recording (30 min) — Campfire / Circle Discussion
• Next steps (2 parts; 30 min each with break in between) — Campfire / Circle Discussion

 

 Hiding in the Closet [1:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I get the strangest looks when I tell conference organizers that they should give their content away, for free, as podcasts on the Internet. Some of the looks are intrigue, most are horror.

I suppose that each community is different. My experience with conferences that I have organized and those for which I have been contracted to provide audio coverage is that making content available — for free — can create momentum for subsequent events. I have experienced this first hand and believe it to be true because of my philosophy about conferences. Let me explain.

I believe conferences sell three things:

• content
• time
• connections/interaction

Conferences have historically considered content to be their number one (and most valuable) asset and they’ve marketed themselves around the speeches and the innovative material that will be presented. Content is only one third (if that much) of what conferences sell. More significantly, most of the content that is available at any conference is similarly available as research papers, white papers, printed or electronic books, audio books, video programs, classes, etc… Knowing that to be true, why would anyone want to attend a conference, spending lots of money on registration, travel, accommodations and meals? Read on.

Many employers expect their employees to advance their knowledge and skills as part of their job, yet few offer the time and conditions in which to do this effectively. This is an even greater problem for contractors and consultants who must advance their skills to remain valuable to their clients. That means people must set aside time during their evenings and weekends — their “me time” — to self-learn. Life isn’t only about work. People have other responsibilities, such as family, which significantly reduces the available time, setting those people even further behind. Conferences offer dedicated and uninterrupted time to their communities, allowing them the opportunity to absorb and understand the material that is being presented. So, if you can’t read the book, the conference will provide you with a digest of the most significant information and perhaps the foundation to support self-learning. And because conferences are typically away from home and work, you don’t have to worry about your phone ringing, making dinner and mediating your fighting children.

The greatest asset of a conference is the gathering place it offers, a space that facilitates connections and interaction. Communities of interest are able to discuss and debate the presentations. This is an opportunity for speakers, subject matter experts, experienced professionals and newcomers to expand their networks. New conversations, relationships, projects, opportunities and even businesses are conceived and launched because of conferences. Minds, notebooks and address books fill up. And… since many conferences have communities made up of members of varied disciplines, the discussion is the opportunity to make the content that much more valuable.

To recap, I consider content to be the catalyst of a conference, time to be the value-add and the connections/interaction to be the main asset. Once you look at conferences through that lens you realize that giving away the content is your marketing strategy because what you really want is to give people a reason to attend that puts the value in an area they can’t create themselves.

Don’t market your event around your content,
market your event using your content.

Having said all of that, I don’t know that publishing the content verbatim is always the best idea. It’s certainly the easiest which is why many conferences (TED.com, meshconference.com, podcastersacrossborders.com, podcamp.org, etc…) take that approach. There are many ways to share content for free that isn’t just a verbatim recording and I have covered some conferences using those approaches both as a hobbyist and a journalist/audio producer. Those approaches include interviews with the presenters, audience and exhibitors, and journalistic reports of the conference sessions which include excerpts of the sessions. If interest is high, I’d be happy to talk/blog more about these approaches and offer some samples of work I’ve done to illustrate some options.

I believe that any conference would be crazy to NOT give away their content freely on the Internet. There’s a world audience and with it a world of potential conference-goers waiting for a reason to go to “your” event.

When you think about it, storytelling is a constant in any form of media including audio and video. Even when the content is meant to educate or convey a procedure, there’s some method to the delivery that can be identified as storytelling. The fact is, information is easier to remember when the consumer can relate to the content and the use of stories is an amazing way to make that connection for your audience.

Your challenge this week is to think carefully about how you present your content and find ways to enhance your message through storytelling. Remember the best stories have a beginning, middle and an end — three acts if you like — and they don’t clutter the story with unnecessary details.

If you have any questions feel free to email me, markblevis@gmail.com. Your next challenge will be available next week at markblevis.com.

 

 Challenge number 4: Use stories [1:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

During the installation process, Waves plug-ins automatically attach themselves to key audio and video production applications on your system. In my particular case those applications are Cubase and Final Cut Express. If you’re like me, you don’t want to use your Waves plug-ins in Final Cut. More directly, you don’t want the dependency of your iLok key in order to use Final Cut.

Thanks to Waves customer support for telling me that there’s a simple way to decouple these two tools without affecting your other applications (like Cubase). On your Mac, navigate to…

Macintosh HD / Library / Audio / Plug-Ins / Components

…and remove the Waves component from the folder (I deleted the file and then emptied the trash bin).

Follow that simple procedure and the next time you launch Final Cut you can do so without needing your iLok.