PodCamp Boston 4 was this past weekend. Over 300 people, covering the gamut from technofile to how-do-I-turn-this-thing-on, got together to learn everything from podcasting technologies to social media marketing strategy. This was my second PodCamp, and I could feel (it was more a feeling, than seeing) the differences from last year until now.
Location
This year’s PodCamp was on the peninsula in Dorchester that is UMass Boston, in the beautiful new Student Center (pictured above, by WayneNH). It was the perfect setting for PCB4, with a beautiful, sunny Saturday, and cooler, slightly overcast Sunday. The location allowed for a lot of outside-time, including a well-attended and very engaged unplanned discussion on women and their place in the social media world on the lawn. More on that in a bit.
The change comes in how the building is laid out, compared that that of last year’s location, and the affect that had on the conference attendees (I’m a wicked architecture and design geek, so I may be a little more attuned to this than others). The ballroom and adjoining classrooms ran along one glass-walled corridor. The corridor was crowded and buzzed with people between sessions, and proved to be noisy if people were out talking during sessions. No worries, that’s what doors are for, but what I saw was there there was no open space for instant congregation. Well, there was, but you had to walk down the corridor, down another hallway, and past the elevators (or down them to the main floor) to get to them.
Last year, at Harvard Medical School, there was a lobby with sofas and chairs right outside the main room. This is where people gathered, both between and during sessions. This was the place that Chris Brogan and Dave Fisher had an impromptu jam session. There was no such opportunity this year.
Attendees
Last year’s PCB4 had a mix of veteran social media personalities — well, as veteran as one can be in such a young industry — and tech neophytes. I sat somewhere in the middle, having been involved in the social web for some time, but just beginning to establish myself as part of the larger social media scene.
This year, by PCB4 lead organizer Michelle Wolverton’s estimate, roughly 75% of the attendees were first-time PodCampers. This shows the growth of social media and PodCamp from where the early adopters play to where the general population is beginning to populate. This made for very engaged discussions, from the largest ones with Chris Brogan, C.C. Chapman and the like, down to the smallest, like my Sunday morning “Pecha Kucha/Battledecks” event (more on that in another post).
A great example came on the very first discussion on Saturday, when the planned moderator didn’t show. After a few jokes from hecklers in the back of the room (read: Jeff Cutler and me) about how we can leave if the prof doesn’t show after 15 minutes, Matthew T Grant walked to the front of the room and moderated what was probably the most group-oriented class of the day — since the “expert” wasn’t there, it was up to the crowd to discuss the theme, and Matthew created a schema of the discussion on the white board (photo below by jlblue).
Again, like I wrote after PCB3 last year, there was a feeling that there are no experts in social media. We all have our own individual talents and knowledge to offer to the greater community. But our talents, the amount of knowledge we have to share, is constantly changing.
Myself
Probably the biggest change from last year was within myself. Sure, I’ve been working with social online tools for years, but last year I was happy to sit back and absorb what others were teaching. The idea for what would become Social Media for Social Change was only a week old at last year’s PodCamp.
This year, aside from leading two discussions (one on philanthropy and the social web, another the previously mentioned “Pecha Kucha/Battledecks”, both of which I’ll discuss in later posts), I was a much more active participant, giving opinions and advice (and heckling) where I felt it was appropriate.
I was one of three men that were brave/stupid/enlightened enough to speak up in that discussion on women and social media out on the lawn. After hearing various sides and reasonings behind why women feel they’re not adequately represented at social media conferences, I simply offered this advice: No one’s going to give you anything unless you let them know you deserve it. If you have something to offer, speak up; if you want to speak at a conference, ask. Then I invited anyone in the audience, male or female, to talk to me about speaking at SM4SC’s upcoming SocialChangeCamp. One woman gave me her card.
Christopher Penn said before, during and after the weekend that PodCamp is the people. I feel that PodCamp, is growing and maturing, changing, but always being what it’s attendees need it to be.
What changes are in store for you over the next year?
What will you learn, grow, or master?
What will your contribution be to PCB5?
I can’t wait to find out. See you next year.
