Podcamp Toronto - One Year Later

How does Podcamp Toronto 2008 differ from Podcamp Toronto 2007? There is definitely a different feel this year, although perhaps not noticeable on first blush.

Ninja, one of the hosts of Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters, said that things seem even more relaxed than last year. Talking with Martin Cleaver, we theorized that it is less about the hype and more about looking maturely as to what we can do with the tools. Technology goes through a sort of “hype cycle” where it becomes popular and hyped, then swings down into a back-lash, and then corrects itself into a more realistic middle plateau (well, he described this better than me and probably could be served by a graphic).

Photo: by Wayne MacPhail

Regardless, more than half the people here have not been to Podcamp before. But many are arriving with a good level of understanding because they have already been part of the conversation, whether it be from listening to podcasts, reading blogs, watching videos, or otherwise consuming and responding to the new media.

Last year Twitter was the domain of just a few people. This year it seems to be part of almost all conversations–either you are sharing ideas on Twitter or you want to.

This year we have more people discovering the live video stream from the wiki, and sending comments via Twitter to audience members to ask of the presenters. So people like Mitch Joel in Montreal and Andrea Vascellari in Finland can follow along and feel even more engaged.

And this year it is not about “how can I make money off my podcast” (the whole “monetizing” concept that is loathed by many hobbiest independent podcasters), and more about how to use podcasting and social media strategically to fulfill certain goals, whether they be building a personal following, using for business, or for non-profit organizations.

We seem to be talking less at cross-purposes this year, and tend to be listening and learning more from each other.

Which is really what social networking is all about.

Podcamp Toronto Podcast 13– Sunday Morning Edition.

More interviews from the halls at podcamp.

Listen to Episode 13

Brand new podcast from Podcamp

The Zero to Podcast people at Podcamp are going through the whole process of conceiving, producing and publishing a podcast in just two days. Today they recorded and edited a wonderful podcast called Hiding in the Closet. I sat in the session where Bob Goyetche demonstrated how to edit all the clips together in audacity. I’ve been a daily audacity user for 3 years and I learned about several basic features of audacity which will radically change the way I work.

Have a listen to Hiding in the Closet.

The background music is Fakeout by Derek K. Miller of Penmachine.com.

The Mentor Lounge Awaits You

What is the mentor lounge?

The lounge has been designed to be a place where people new to the world of new media, and veterans in this space, can come together and make connections. People, by nature, are often too shy to break the ice and say hello to someone random, so we’ve designed the lounge to break down these barriers and allow for an easy forum for Q&A to occur.  Added note: The mentor lounge will be open 4:00 - 5:15 p.m. Saturday. 

Last year’s experts.Originally uploaded by wsh1266

How can I help out?

If you have knowledge in one of our four topics, and are willing to sit on a panel for 15 minutes to field questions, we’d love to see you sign up! Remember, being a mentor on the panels requires no slides, no presentation and no preparation - just some free time, a willingness to answer questions, and knowledge of the topic.

What topics will be covered?

Join us for audio podcasting, video podcasting, blogging and social networking.

Great! What do I do next?

Visit the Mentor Lounge page on the wiki for more details and to sign up as a mentor. See you there!

Questions?

The Mentor Lounge is being moderated and organized by Tommy Vallier. If you have any questions, you can e-mail him: tommy [at] tommyvallier [dot] com.

Why Podcamp Toronto Will Be Cool

Thanks to Chris Brogan for sharing the video he made of last year’s Podcamp Toronto, and reminding us just how cool it really was.

(I tried to repost it here, but WordPress.com limits what types of video can be reposted to its host site. Follow the link and view it!! - Connie)

Podcamp Toronto Podcast 11 on Talkshoe at 2:30pm EST

Sorry for the last-minute notice, but Connie and I compared notes and right now is the best time for us to record our last episode before podcamp! If you are available, please do join us live on the call over at Talkshoe. Lines will be open at 2:15 and we are recording at 2:30: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=14385&cmd=tc

Podcamp Toronto Featured on the Daily Source Code

I spoke with Adam Curry on the Daily Source Code with a Feature Interview about Podcamp Toronto!

Well actually, I exaggerated just a teeny bit.  This afternoon, The Podfather twittered that he was doing a test recording of a live DSC on talkshoe.  I called in, he asked where I was from, I said Midland, Ontario, Canada, and mentioned that I was an organizer of Podcamp Toronto next weekend and he called me a big geek or nerd or something and that was it.

Did I mention that I talked to Adam Curry!

Podcamp Toronto Podcast #7 New Sponsors, Hotel Deadline February 1, and Father Roderick

Listen to Podcamp Toronto Podcast 7 (6:00).

I know, we just released episode 6 yesterday, but we wanted to tell you about some of our new sponsors,
Com.Motion and Wildfire Strategic Marketing.
We also need to remind you that the dedline to register at the Comfort Inn Suites at our group rate of $105/night is February 1.

A special PodCamp Toronto rate of $105 is available for a limited number of Executive Suites (single or double occupancy, additional guests can be added at $15 each).

The group number is 4089. Please book before February 1st to get this special rate!

Phone: 416-362-7700

Toll-Free: 1-877-316-9951

Email: info@comfortsuitestoronto.ca

Web: http://www.comfortsuitestoronto.com/

Details can be found on the Podcamp Toronto wiki.

Finally, Father Roderick, a well known podcaster has just announced details of a Toronto Meetup on Monday January 28. Father Roderick is the founder of the SQPN podcast network, and host of the Catholic Insider, The Daily Breakfast, The Secrets of Harry Potter, and many other podcasts. He will also be having a meetup in Montreal on January 29. You can find out more details of that visit on SQPN.com.

Here are the details of the Toronto meetup from the SQPN website.

12:21: you land. Leaving the airport shouldn’t take too long (we hope), considering it’s a domestic flight, so…
1pm: We should be on the road, heading for downtown Toronto.

130pm: Hopefully, we’ve found a parking spot, and are heading for the CN Tower. (You’re not afraid of heights, are you, Father?) It really is the kind of view you’ll never forget. I’ll buy tickets for us in advance, but I thought it was best to start with this, that way it doesn’t obligate others to spend money to spend time with you. After about an hour…

230-3pm: Quick meet and greet outside the CN Tower for those who would like to join us on a walking tour. Leave here by 3pm. Exact meeting place would be on the south side of the CN Tower, directly at the base of the tower, facing Bremner Blvd and the Gardiner Expressway. (I wanted to make this meeting in a coffee shop, but they’re at least a block away, and it’s SUCH an easy landmark… but rest assured, there will be coffee shops along the way!)

3pm-5 or 530pm: Walking tour toward St. Michael’s Cathedral. Daniele has a couple of potential places to stop, and we can stop for photo ops at city hall as well, along the way.

5-530pm: Arrive at St. Michael’s Cathedral (hopefully).

530 pm: Mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral

6pm: “Proper” meet and greet. People that can’t join us earlier, can meet us outside of St. Michael’s Cathedral, and we go two blocks down the street to (according to Google maps) a Tim Horton’s coffee shop at 2 Queen St. East (at Yonge St.).

As always, we appreciate your comments. Send email to conniecrosby at gmail dot com or ductapeguy at hotmail dot com, add a comment on the blog at podcamptoronto.wordpress.com , or send us a mychingo voice message.

1 Month to go 31 Days, 203 Registrants

On January 23, 2007, with one month to go until Podcamp Toronto 2007. we had 110 registrants signed up on our Podcamp Toronto wiki.  Today we had 13 registrants on the wiki for a total of 203 people coming to podcamp.  Welcome to everybody who signed up today and especially to our 203rd registrant, Benjamin Gitterman, photographer & blogger.  I’m looking forward to meeting you at Podcamp.

The Podcamp Toronto Wiki is Down– and back up again.

At this moment, people are getting an error message when they try to access the Podcamp Toronto Wiki. Julien has contacted the provider pbwiki and is waiting on a response. I’ll keep you up to date here about the status of the wiki.

Update: Here is the email that I sent to support@pbwiki.com

Hello: My name is Sean McGaughey and I am the blogger and one of the participants of the successful Podcamp Toronto conference which was held on February 24 and 25, 2007 in Toronto. We used your free pbwiki service to completely organize and run this sponsor supported- free conference in a completely open manner on http://podcamptoronto.pbwiki.com. Over 300 people attended and at the end we left the wiki active as a resource as we had 2 days of conference video and many podcasts linked through the wiki.
Over the past month we have had difficulty with spammers editing the sidebar, which we have been vigilant to remove.

Over the past few days, the page has been disabled with a notice that the wiki has violated the pbwiki terms of service. Can the wiki be re-activated or can we at least recover our pages?
Thank you,

Sean McGaughey

Update#2: The guys at pbwiki are right on top of customer service. Within a few hours, I got this response from pbwiki.

Hi Sean,

I apologize for that. I’ve re-enabled your wiki and it’s available now.

Sometimes our software gets a little overzealous since we hate spam. If you’ve been having problems, you may want to think about how to prevent Bad People from getting in your wiki. I saw the comments on your Google Group, and one person suggested not having a publicly available password. That’s one alternative, or you may just want to have more people on the notification list to reverse any bad edits.

Thanks, and please pass my apologies onto the rest of your group.

Have a great one,

-Ramit  PBwiki Co-founder

I must publicly offer my thanks to the great folks at pbwiki for offering and supporting such a great tool for collaboration.