From one PodCamp to the next: I think I finally get it

Funny thing about PodCamp, you pretty much just walk into the adjoining restaurant and sit down at the table of the first people you spot whom you recognize. Ended up having lunch with Amber and Rusty from PodCamp Atlanta. We had an interesting conversation about how the various PodCamps we’ve attended have been so different from each other. In my case I think I’ve viewed each of my three PodCamps through different eyes. Back in Boston in September, I was new to podcasting, didn’t know anyone in the community (this was three weeks before our introductory splash at Podcast Expo), and was barely even familiar with the concept of social media.

Heading into Atlanta last month, I had a good six months of podcasting under my belt and I was going into that event with a very specific agenda: lead a session, put together our first video podcast, break in my new co-host, etc. Didn’t get to attend as many sessions as I’d have liked because so much of my focus going into that was on scripted stuff.

Here in NYC, I’ve got no specific agenda at all. I’m here alone with no staff, I didn’t even look at the session schedule until this morning, and I accepted their offer to be an ambassador because it seemed like a good opportunity to make the rounds in an informal way (and because at PodCamp you never turn down the opportunity to help out – it’s almost literally in the bylaws). What’s funny is that I’m seeing a lot of the same people here that I first met back in Boston, but now I know them, I’ve interviewed several of them, and so on. Some of the folks who were in Boston are here saying the same things they were saying back then, but now I actually understand what they’re talking about. I’m not referring to the technical side of things; I’m talking about the social media concepts which the podcasting community has constructed itself around.

I’m finally starting to get it, I think. In Boston I felt like I’d accidentally wandered into a foreign country. This is different. I get it now. The trick is how to apply all of this to the rest of iProng beyond just the podcast, the more traditional aspects of iProng that make it seem more akin to a traditional media outlet. I’ve worked hard to get iProng accepted as a traditional media outlet by those who aren’t yet ready to embrace anything but a traditional media outlet (old-school trade shows, record labels, etc), but I’ve got to be careful about making sure that we take advantage of the fact that we’re not confined to the limitations of traditional media.

That’ll be something to think about on the plane ride home. I’ve been capturing photos and video like a madman and I’d throw you some of it now, but like the true idiot that I am, I left the cable in the hotel room. Photos tomorrow, I promise.

I’m still holding out hope for a bit of snow tonight. Not that cold weather is my thing at all (there’s a reason I live in Florida), but if it’s going to be thirty degrees then I might as well get to see some snow, eh? But there’s plenty of time for that later. There are thirty more sessions taking place in the next three hours. I’ve got to check the schedule…