I had meant to include the following Twitter comment from Julien Smith in my post titled While you were out…

“Hint: playing by the same rules as everyone else gets you the same place everyone else is.”
– Julien Smith, August 7

If you’ve been in audio for a while, chances are you have a lot of stories about lost audio. I have a few. Perhaps one of the most painful, certainly the most current, is the phantom recording I did last evening from the back seat of a taxi I was sharing with Bill Deys, Neil Gorman and Bob Goyetche.

The brilliance of the recording was that it captured a fight that took place between CC Chapman and our Russian cab driver as we were preparing to leave. CC’s directions were a bit confusing and the cabbie was a very direct communicator. The argument that ensued between them was both hilarious and stressful. It was tough to fight the laughter knowing that I had my trusty Zoom H2 recorder capturing the exchange - for Bill (who was in the front seat) more than me.

I plugged my H2 in to my laptop a few minutes ago and smiled knowing that all of the recordings I made yesterday were waiting for me. All, as it turns out, except for the exchange in the cab.

Like my Edirol R1, the Zoom H2 requires you to double-clutch the record button to begin the recording. The first press gets you into record-ready state and the second press starts the recording.

Trust me, the record-ready-recording of the fight between CC and the cabbie was a classic recording that never happened.

Epilogue: During last year’s PodCamp Boston, I shared a cab back to my hotel with Julien Smith. After a while of driving around aimlessly, Julien, in a sarcastic way that only Julien can deliver, leaned forward and said to our very aggressive and impatient cabbie, “Dude! You do know where you’re going, right?”

Off to PodCamp Boston 2, day 1.

Sean McGaughey has tagged me with a meme he’s kicked off this evening: The un-official Podcasters Across Borders Meme. Here are my responses.

Why are you coming to PAB?
The easy answer is that I co-organized the event. The easier answer is that it’s going to be the best time anyone can have Podcasting and new-media.

A little homework now: Which PAB registrants would you like to meet? Why?
Basically, everyone who I haven’t yet met. I guess the standouts are the people that I’ve been in contact with for a while and have never met. People like Daryl Cognito, Ajay and Ted Riecken.

Who is your “dream interview” for your podcast? Why?
Haha. I have been a committed Police fan since I was 11. I would love to complete my holy grail series of interviews with members of The Police camp. Missing are Danny Quatrochi, Jeff Seitz, Andy Summers and Sting (I’ve already interviewed all three Copeland brothers).

Who would you like to interview at podcamp Podcasters Across Borders?
I have no plans to interview anyone at PAB.

What is your, “Can’t miss it” session at podcamp Podcasters Across Borders?
Well, I can’t miss the audio production workshop since I’m co-presenting with Bob. I don’t know if I can pick just one. If you’re going to force the issue, I’ll pick the Creative Commons presentation since the Canadian Podcasting Legal Guide will be released during that session.

What is your favorite podcast?
My current favourites are Inside Home Recording and Todbits. There must be something in the water out west.

What is your favorite web resource?
Google.

Who is your favorite podsafe musician? (eg. Sean McGaughey).
Robert Farrell.

Ginger or Maryanne?
Whoever registers for PAB first.

Bob, Mark, or Tod?
Bob — Tod’s not an organizer.

TAG… YOU’RE IT… Ajay, Daryl Cognito, Ted Riecken, Julien Smith, Whitney Hoffman.

Two weeks from this exact moment, the PAB2007 party will be going strong. “Old” friends will be reunited and new friendships will be underway. It will probably seem like we’ve all known each other for as long as we can remember. I’m writing figuratively, not about the effects of alcohol. And since I’m writing figuratively, I can also speculate that Julien Smith will surprise us all with a new tattoo. </figurative>

Like last year, I’ll be overwhelmed. A near capacity crowd (160 max) has shown its support and endorsement of Podcasters Across Borders by registering to be a part of the event. People will be gathering from all over Canada, the US, UK, Argentina and even Trinidad and Tobago.

Perhaps more significant is that the strength of PAB and the commitment of the community has attracted a lot of additional support. We are grateful for the support of gold partners Rogic, TD Canada Trust and Third Storey Productions, and sponsors Thornley Fallis, Marion McDonald, Don Edwards, Bill Deys and Freddie Litwiniuk. If it weren’t for all of the generous contributions, registration fees for PAB would be much higher, reflecting the true value of the conference.

The PAB community makes this event possible and necessary.  I consider myself very lucky to be trusted by all parties to co-organize the event.

Julien Smith has launched his long awaited Listen to your Kids Podcast. This initiative has only one thing going for it, and that’s all it needs; Listen to your Kids connects the dots — that’s far more powerful than it sounds.

Connected… Listen to your Kids gives children of all ages the platform to, anonymously, say what they would like to say to their own parents and feel that they have been heard; this at a time when many people feel that even their screams go unnoticed by their parents.

Connected… Listen to your Kids is a vehicle for parents who want to make a difference to actually do something about it. I expect, though, that only those who are honest with themselves, and confident and strong, will actually be able to hear what is being said.

Connected… Listen to your Kids allows anyone to understand what children of all ages are struggling with in life.

Connected… Listen to your Kids takes existing technology and makes it easy to use. Call and talk; subscribe and listen.

And to prove its value, Listen to your Kids is absolutely free.

A few weeks ago, Julien Smith made a post called Podcasting’s 10 most under rated. I am flattered to have made the list, particulary given the company.

After posting the list, Julien sent an email to his top 10 to challenge us to do the same. I have decided to take Julien up on his challenge. In an effort to increase the drama, I will present each of my top 10 in individual posts, in no particular order. This post is the first in the series and my selection has nothing to do with Julien’s list.

Scarborough Dude has been a favourite of mine since our brief meeting at a Podcast meetup in Montreal piqued my interest in his show, DicksnJanes. On my first listen, Scarborough Dude struck a chord with me (since you recently mentioned chords Dude, see the bottom of this post). This man from “Scarberia” has a unique and engaging style clearly rooted in honesty and sincerity. He isn’t afraid to share his many moods with his audience — a reflection of real life and its many ups and downs. Scarborough Dude comes across as being human and that reminds me that it’s okay to be human myself.

DicksnJanes is all about atmosphere — a combination of real life and everything that radio once prided itself on: great storytelling, personal explorations, pop culture, sharing of worldly and unworldly experiences, and the company of a genuine friend.

chord /kawrd/
–noun
1. a feeling or emotion: His story struck a chord of pity in the listeners.
2. a combination of usually three or more musical tones sounded simultaneously.

From my sleeping bag on the floor of Room 813 at the Holiday Inn Express, Cambridge, MA.

PodCamp is amazingly well organized.  The organizers have to be proud of themselves.  Sessions that were among the standouts based on an informal poll with Bob and Julien include C. C. Chapman and Mitch Joel’s presentation You and Your Brand; PodCast Consultation with Jason Van Orden (John C. Havens and one other guy whose name escapes me at the moment); the music panel discussion with C. C., Jay Moohan, and Eric Skiff; and, Pricing and PR presented by John C. Havens.  My own presentations, Extending the Conversation, and Interview Techniques which I presented with Larry Lawfer were also quite successful.

Bob, Julien, Mitch, C.C. and I went back to the hotel to have a beer and hang out before we joined the gang at The Grand Canal.  You realize how much there is to learn when you hang out with these guys.  The Grand Canal was fun and someone apparently picked up the bar tab starting at a certain point.  I believe that was a well excercised offer.

Julien and I had an interesting experience getting back to our hotel after the obnoxiously loud music at The Grand drove us away.  Just when I started to feel some degree of concern for my welfare during the cab ride, Julien leaned forward and asked the cabbie, Dude.  You do know where you’re going, right?.

At its peak, there was about eighteen people in room 813 last night.  That’s when Bob, J. Moo, Chris and I started playing music.  The highlights included De Do Do Do, and a version of No Woman No Cry that went something like No C. C. Home Fries.

We’re getting up right now, and getting ready for the day.  The morning schedule looks packed so we’ll split up the presentations and share the information on the drive home.

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.