I enlisted the help of some friends to share experiences and ideas related to conference and unconference organizing. The hope is to kick off a conversation in which everyone — conference organizers, sponsors, participants, vendors, etc… — contributes and makes future events more smooth, successful and creative.

Contributors

• Dave Delaney
• Whitney Hoffman
• Jay Moonah
• Chris Penn
• Chris Brogan
• Linda Mills

Conferences mentioned

• Podcasters Across Borders
• PodCamps: UK, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Ottawa, NYC, Boston, Philly and Toronto
• BarCamp Nashville

Participate in the conversation. Leave a comment on this post or a record a voice comment at +1.206.350.6487.

 

 Thoughts on organizing a conference (part 1?) [35:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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.

PodCamp Philly took place on the anniversary of the original PodCamp (PodCamp Boston) and it was a fantastic tribute to the movement and its founders.

The event was first class. Whitney Hoffman and her team put on an amazing conference at a great venue, with committed sponsors, a herd of new campers and a fantastic anniversary celebration. About the only thing that was missing for me was my Canadian compatriots that were with me in Boston last year (see CC Chapman’s photo of my Tribute to Absent Original Canadian Podcampers and Chris Brogan sticker at the right of this post).

Here are my five highlights from the weekend (in no particular order):

NEWCOMERS

I’ve been to six podcast-related conferences and countless meetups. This is the first such event I attended that had more newly-minted and soon-to-be podcasters than veterans. I had suspected as much when I looked at the list of registrants and was convinced when CC Chapman opened a session by asking how many people in the room did not create a podcast — about 80% of the hands in the room went up.

CONNECTIONS

I always make a point of getting to know as many new people as possible and socialize out of my normal circles at podcast gatherings. Philly offered ample opportunities to meet new people because there were so many unfamiliar (to me) names and faces there. It was great to connect with so many genuine people.

PODCAMP TRIBUTE

Whitney rallied the community to create a tribute to the two Chrises (Chris Brogan and Chris Penn), and Larry Lawfer brought the vision to life in a series of great videos. One of the videos was played during the opening ceremonies on Saturday morning. I wonder if Chris and Chris realize what they have achieved and how many people they have affected.

ROCKY RUN FOR CHOP

While only a dedicated few of us actually made the bold move of self-humiliation when we recreated the famous scene from Rocky in which Sylvester Stallone ran up the steps of the Museum of Art and performed a victory dance, many people contributed to this fundraiser for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The last I heard, we had raised nearly $300.

WHITNEY HOFFMAN AND HER FAMILY

Besides leading a great organizing team, Whitney was an incredible host. She was an incredible host at the conference and she and her family were incredible hosts to me, CC and Lynette who were guests of their home. Organizing conferences takes a lot of time, energy and juggling of life priorities including families. Whitney was able to do all of this, her family supported her throughout and then displaced themselves for the comfort of others in the process. You guys deserve a standing ovation.

On May 9, Ajay tagged me in a post he did about seven songs he’s into right now — or, at the time anyway. Here is my long overdue list:

• Soldier Machismo - Fiction Plane
• Waste Our Time - The Between
• Pump It Up - Elvis Costello
• Love Slip Up On Ya - The Funky Meters
• The Road Not Taken - Bruce Hornsby
• Walking In Your Footsteps (live 2007) - The Police
• Can You Picture That - The Muppets

I wonder what Bob Goyetche, Jeff Parks, Terry Fallis and David Jones, Chris Brogan and Sage Tyrtle are listening to.

I’m flattered that I was nominated by the Never Was blog for a Thinking Blogger Award. The idea appears to be to promote blogs that are interesting, informative, and provide value. What a compliment!

I have decided to make my nominations based on people who are bloggers first and may (or may not) podcast as a way to further spread their message. Here are my nominations for a Thinking Blogger Award:

1. Michael Geist - I realize that this is seconding the nomination that appears on the Never Was blog. Michael blogs about copyright, licensing, net neutrality and many other issues that relate to technology and Canadian law. Besides being well written, well spoken and prolific, Michael is an incredibly nice guy and that has to be worth some points.
2. Tod Maffin - While Tod does publish the odd satirical and off-beat post, he predominantly blogs with a critical view on many topics including technology, broadcasting and social media. Another well written, well spoken, prolific and all-round nice guy. What is it with these people?
3. Chris Brogan - Chris is a champion of the community aspect of social media, both online and in-person. His blog offers insight into the application of social media to build communities and it regularly examines the relationship of social media to traditional modes of communication. On top of everything else, Chris gives free hugs.
4. Robert Safuto - Awakened Voice is a fantastic blog that examines the tools of social media and offers great thoughts on the social media phenomenon. Robert publishes video tutorials on how to setup and use the tools. I’ve never met Robert, though I’m sure he’s as nice as everyone else on this list. I wonder if he’ll come to Podcasters Across Borders.
5. Dale Arseneault - Dale’s blog specializes in knowledge management and organizational innovation, though his expertise stretches further to include areas such as transformation, facilitation and collaboration (and many other “ations” I’ve overlooked). If you can think beyond the professional/business centric focus of his blog, you will find that there is a lot in there that can be applied to everyday living. Oh… and Dale’s incredibly nice, too.

Here are the rules of participation in the Thinking Blogger Awards:

1. If you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think;
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme; and,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.

If it didn’t crack me up enough that Chris Brogan wrote this, hearing his voice (in my head) deliver this line nearly had me rolling on the floor.

It’s hard to believe that PodCamp Toronto is in less than a month. It looks like it will be a great event with great people.

I’m on the board for three presentations:

• Building a community - Mark Blevis and Bob Goyetche - Branding is an important part of establishing your identity. Podcasting affords opportunities to leverage your brand to build a community of interest with active members and regular correspondence and dialog. This presentation shares ideas and real-life accounts of how a Podcast can be used to build a community.

• Editing Techniques and Decisions - Mark Blevis - Demonstrations and tangible examples to make sense of what Bruce Murray once dubbed “Blevis-ian editing”.

• Making a difference: What Return on Influence (ROI) really means - Whitney Hoffman, Chris Brogan and Mark Blevis discuss how you can use your influence and think beyond revenue models.

If there is anything in particular that you would like to hear about during any one of these sessions, send an email or drop a comment on this post and I will see what I can do. I am planning on Podcasting the audio of my sessions.

A few weeks ago, Chris Brogan published his Micro Manifesto — his “small document of guidance”.  Canadian Thanksgiving had me thinking a bit more about his idea.  So, with the blessings of Chris, I have created my own manifesto, borrowing only a little of his.

• Learn something new every day
• Share ideas and knowledge so they can be developed
• Collaborate with others to make good things great
• Good and bad, take ownership of the things you do
• Identify challenges and solve them
• Help others succeed
• Believe it can be done
• Enjoy the journey

It’s been an amazingly long day. I was up at 5:15amET to get some laundry done and finalize my prep for my road trip, and caught the 7am bus to Montreal. Julien met me at the bus station and Bob showed up a few minutes later.

The drive was fun and safe. We recorded some audio and took lots of photos. After a short stop in Lebanon, NH for lunch we finished the second half of the trip in good time. Okay, so we got lost IN Boston. Thankfully, Chris Brogan was able to talk us to our hotel. Oh yeah, there was the angry guy who had lost his patience with the traffic (Dick Cheney’s in town). He shouted profanities we’d never heard before.

There was a great social at the Harvard Law School tonight and then a group of us went out to an Irish Pub for some pints.

The program begins at 9:00am tomorrow. I’ll post updates when I can.