PodCamp NYC 2.0
What is Podcamp?
It's an "unconference" where people are participants versus attendees. It's a lean forward experience where we want you to dialogue, versus sit and listen to a monologue. Podcamp (http://www.podcamp.org/) is actually a corporation, part of the Podcamp movement originally co-founded by Christopher Brogan and Christoper S. Penn, whose first iteration took place in Boston in 2006. You can check out that site for all the specific tenets of a Podcamp, but essentially our focus is on education on new media subjects, networking, and community. Plus if you're in a session and you feel you're being pitched to or the content isn't for you, you can observe the "law of two feet" and politely leave the room to find greener pastures in another session.
So anyone can speak?
Yes. Just sign up to speak and as space allows, you're in. The organizers will decide who speaks when and where, but any topic you want to talk about is valid as long as it's got some focus on new media. You can even call a session, "what's this podcasting thing about?" and facilitate an open dialogue versus having a more formal presentation. Anything that gets people talking is great.
Why are you in Brooklyn versus Manhattan?
Why not? It's a great borough and part of New York City proper. We also wanted to expand beyond last year's midtown NYC boundaries and work to foster the Podcamp message to a fantastic University that serves people from around the world as well as New York. Plus they've got great pizza in Brooklyn. And a bridge I can sell you, if we were allowed to profit from Podcamp, which we're not.
Can I volunteer to help?
Yes, please. Contact John C. Havens and we'll get you set up to help in an area you're interested in. Last year you scheduled speakers about a week before the event. I thought "camps" were supposed to have people putting up sticky notes the day of the event. Great point. But as it turns out, the first Podcamp changes some rules from the Barcamp movement (from which it sprung) where everyone was supposed to speak. At Podcamp, you don't have to speak (although we encourage you to do so, even if it's a flash session at the last minute in a hallway or outside around a tree and a laptop). As we had 1,300+ people sign up to participate last year with over 100 people presenting, we felt that organizing speakers and putting them into rooms was essential to keep the day's events from becoming chaotic. We didn't by any means want to smother last-minute inspiration or creativity, however, and with the help of Christopher Penn (co-founded of the Podcamp movement as a whole) set up a table near our sponsors to facilitate "flash sessions." At the end of the day, every new Podcamp has come up against their own challenges and had their own particular victories/evolutions. We felt that as our main focus was still on education, networking, and community, the fact that sessions weren't posted with sticky notes or refreshed with our wiki was not a negative for our event. As we had so many "newbies" (non techies) show up, many of them wouldn't have understood the sticky/wiki paradigm and we wanted to make sure they knew where to go, when. It was a pragmatic decision versus philosophical and the feedback we got was very positive about this move.
You had a lot of sponsors last year. Does that mean you're corporate or monetization focused?
We had a lot of sponsors because we ran a large scale event in Manhattan and these crazy New Yorkers charge for stuff here. And we're determined to keep PodCamp NYC free for all participants, and we'd love to supply food, T-Shirts, coffee, and whatever other schwag we can. So that means getting sponsors. But we feel that sponsors are partners in what we do versus just a logo and a bank account. There's a strange irony at times in terms of how people view sponsors for cutting edge new media events. They're almost perceived as a necessary evil versus a demographic of folks who are looking to learn about new media as any new podcaster or student might be. So in our opinion having lots of sponsors is a great testament to the positive proof of concept of what we're doing. If people give you money, they obviously see value in what you're doing. Also, when does an event become corporate? How many sponsors do you have before you cross that line? We feel that if our focus stays on education, networking and community the number of sponsors doesn't matter if we're utilizing their resources to match our budget as posted on our public ledger. Last year we were very proud to have many in-kind sponsors as well as folks who gave $50. And in terms of our focus, remember that people sign up to speak. We don't create the content. So if you're not happy with how sessions are lining up, SIGN UP your own session. Call it, "are we too focused on money" and say your peace. Just don't do a worry piece on your blog about how we're monetization focused without signing up to speak yourself. We want to hear from you.
What are the top buttons/links on the conference website for?
These top navigation button/links are designed to make it easy for conference attendees, speakers and administrators to navigate quickly and easily to the pages of interest to their particular conference's audience.
Home
The Home link brings up all the pertinent general information about the conference itself, including the obvious where and when, but also more specific information such the conference tag and it is the first line of community from the conference organizer to their audience...
Speakers
The Speakers link lists the registered speakers at a conference. You can find their bios, photos and begin to network weeks/months before the event begins.
Reviews
The Reviews link lists the conference and its sessions, its description and provides a real-time rating function so attendees, speakers and conference administrators can track the progress of a conference as it happens. We really encourage users to visit this page as often as possible during their conferences to let others know what they think is great, not so great or even awful about the conference they're attending. This is priceless feedback for administrators as they plan for the next show and will help attendees make decisions on what upcoming shows they should attend. The Reviews page will help make everyone's conference experience better and more valuable.
Blog
The Blog link is for conference administrators to communicate with conference attendees and the general public. Conference attendees and others in the community can participate in the blog through comments.
Buzz
The Buzz link is just that: everything that interests you from across the web, from text-based articles and links to photos, to RSS feeds for breaking information and even full blown videos. The content comes from the web's leading sources of open information, including Technorati, Google and Yahoo!, Feedster, Flickr and YouTube. Simply click the "Your Media" tab at the top of the navigation bar and find information on this conference by searching for the conference name or the official conference tag in the desired content source. The Media tab lets you experience the conference through everyone else's eyes, and they experience it through content you create, find and share with them.
How can I use Social Networking for the conference?
Buddy Lists/or "My Connections"
Just as you keep a list of people with whom you correspond daily, the "My Connections" tab is your gateway to the personal contacts you've made within the conference community— people with whom you've connected before and want to stay in touch going forward. This is your personal network; friends, colleagues and other contacts whose whereabouts and doings you want to follow as they prepare for the event.
Attendees can view the list of conference participants, check out their profiles, invite them into their personal network and email them directly through this website's personal messaging feature.
"Personal" Messaging
This is the conference community's private email service. We respect everyone's right to privacy so messaging within the community is handled by us; simply use the "contact" link to jot a note to the person of your choice and we'll send the message to the email they've registered within our system. Responses are handled by us as well so your information is never revealed unless you choose to do that outside of the community.
Bulletin Boards
This website gives all of its community members their own personal blog, or bulletin board with which they can share their thoughts, opinions on the issues and experiences. This is the community member's space; it's intensely individual, consisting of the member's content and comments from their readers. People can also read the musings of others within their network by clicking on the "Bulletin Board Posts within My Network" tab, which shows what others within their network are saying too. Each board—the individual blog and the personal network bulletin board are completely searchable by the major search engines. You will build traffic from within the community as well as anyone from around the globe with an interest in what you have to say!
How can I find people to join "My Network" and interact with online?
On the Home page is a link to this years attendees, be sure to login, see who is attending and let the networking begin.
Your Account
Once you login you can access your account by clicking 'My Account' in the upper right. From here you can edit your profile, password, contact info, bio, photo and much more. This is also where users can gain access to the social network.
Why you should upload your photo and edit your profile?
Confabb isn't looking to replace the conference experience. On the contrary, Confabb enhances and maximizes the experience you have at conferences. In order to do this we help you discover new interests (or new people with the same interests) and connect you with them as quickly and easily as possible. Sharing a bit about yourself helps Confabb help you; we provide the global audience of conferences and the people who love them, you give us a little information about who you are so Confabb can play matchmaker.
While it is absolutely not required to provide a photo for your bio page, it does help make faster connections; as the saying goes: "a picture is worth a thousand words." At the very least, any new friends you've met through Confabb will have a much easier time finding you at the next conference if they've got a recent photo to reference. Profile information also includes your location, email and IM aliases, personal tags, employer info, speaker data, website and any blogs you choose to list.
Your updated bio is as, if not more, important than a photo. Your bio tells everything about you—what you're into, what you do for work, play, hobbies, etc. People connect globally based on shared interests and you'll find people who are into the same things as you no matter what so long as you let the Confabb community know what interests you. Geographic information also helps us find conferences that might be relevant to you in your own back yard. The more information you share, the better we can connect you with the conferences, seminars and trade shows that matter to you.
Why we partnered with Confabb...
Confabb helps you get the most out of the conferences you attend. Confabb links you with other attendees including your existing contacts who might also be attending the same conferences. Confabb also helps you organize and maximize the time you spend at conferences. You can get information about other attendees, about speakers and other special programs as well as networking events taking place around the conference.
Conferences are opportunities to learn and network. Confabb helps you do both.
What this new type of conference portal does for your conference experience?
Conferences and events have always required a huge investment of energy, time and money—none of which is spent wisely if there is little or no return on the conference experience. We all agree these events are worth the investment because of the personal connections forged during these short meetings. But what the conference industry needed was a way to jumpstart connections prior to events, and an open connection to build new relationships long after the event concludes. We're here to maximize the investment you've spent on going to conferences by maximizing and extending the experience.
Confabb provides a reputation management system for conference attendees, speakers, organizers and administrators to plan for and attend conferences, as well as critique and review those they have attended and want to share with colleagues.
