Media in the New Millennium

posted by Doyle

I spent my Saturday — yes, half of my weekend — at Podcamp Boulder. It turned out to be a great way to spend the day.

Podcamp, simply, is an “unconference.” That is, there’s no plan. The attendees met on Friday night and tossed out topic ideas for discussion the next day. From there, attendees offered to host one-hour sessions on the suggested topics, with three sessions running at a time all day on Saturday. Pretty simple, really. And, as I learned, pretty effective. I spent the day involved in great conversations with great people.

Cost? Free. Worth it? Absolutely! I would feel good about this if I would have dropped $100 or more, and found it to be better than conferences I’ve paid far more to attend.

In general, the conversations were excellent, both in the sessions and in the hallways in between. Part of the benefit was that people were simply offering to host a session instead of feeling compelled to “present” (usually with Powerpoint… ugh!) like at a traditional conference. I had the pleasure of hosting a session on “Online Authenticity” with Heather Herr, who came in from Arizona for Podcamp. I met Heather Friday evening, we spent all of about 45 seconds planning our session, and we dove in — and the conversation was outstanding. I learned a bunch, and the attendees seemed engaged and interested. In many ways, this was a better and more interactive conversation than at many actual conferences where I’ve presented.

Great, thought-providing conversations. New friends. Interesting topics. All in all, not a bad way to spend a Saturday. Thanks to Jeremy Tanner (@penguin on Twitter) for making it happen (and thanks to the sponsors as well!)

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