In slighly more than six months, the third annual Podcasters Across Borders conference (PAB2008) will begin. So, expect that there will be some increasing discussion on the web about the event.

Two significant announcements have been posted on the PAB2008 site in the last two days:

• Now accepting speaking proposals for PAB2008
• PAB2008 early registration announced

Last month we announced that the first official sponsor of PAB2008 is Thornley Fallis/76design. Thornley Fallis has been a strong supporter of PAB since it began in 2006 and they return this year as a silver sponsor.  Welcome back and thank you for your support!

Sponsorship opportunities are available for the conference. Besides the potential of mentions in blogs and podcasts in North America and around the world, and a presence at the conference, some of the sponsorship packages include mentions on the official conference podcasts and episodes of the Canadian Podcast Buffet.

Keep following the Podcasters Across Borders website for details about the conference program, registration and more!

Today, twenty campers came from Ottawa, Gatineau, Kingston, Montreal and Guelph for the first, and likely not last, PodCamp Ottawa. They made themselves comfortable on pillows (sitting up and laying down), participated in a lively discussion, ate pizza and collectively raised $200 for the Snowsuit Fund. That’s right. In my books, PodCamp Ottawa was an outrageous success.

Click here to see my Flickr Photos of PodCamp Ottawa.

Today’s event tested out a number of theories and ideas about PodCamp and how events can be run. This list includes things like having no chairs or tables (although chairs crept into the circle late in the day), facilitated discussions instead of presentations, no computers and limited capacity.

For me, the greatest victory was the principle of ‘no computers’. Everyone cooperated on this one and not a single person told me that the event was lacking as a result. Everyone was engaged — more so that I had expected. I have to admit that I was expecting resistance and noise about this one, particularly from a community of people who live their lives in a connected hobby or business.

Perhaps the only of the points I’ve just raised that could draw some form of constructive criticism is the fact that we had only 20 attendees out of 25 registered with a planned capacity of 80 (most notified of their cancellation in advance). My feelings on this are strong; the small group allowed everyone to participate in the discussion and everyone got to know each other. Personally, I have a far better understanding of the challenges that podcasters, new and established, are facing. In fact, you can expect some announcements in the next week or two about a new initiative to help the community. There will likely be some changes to the Canadian Podcast Buffet as well.

If that isn’t enough for you, Chamika and Chulaka Ailapperuma (who are not YET podcasting) brought fruit and treats for the entire gathering, and some!

It’s likely that I will release most of the discussions as podcasts. I’m catching up on work and family so it may be a week or two before any of that makes it out.

Thanks so much to National Arts Centre New Media for the space and Thornley Fallis for the use of their projector for Bob’s workshop on Audacity.

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.

I’m honoured to be the guest of Joe Thornley’s first podcast on the ProPR blog site (Mark Blevis previews this year’s Podcasters Across Borders). Joe and I met to celebrate the Thornley Fallis sponsorship of Podcasters Across Borders 2007 a few weeks ago and he decided to put his new portable recorder to the test.