I just returned from an incredible weekend of PodCampBoston 3. This was my second PodCamp, both in Boston, and my sixth ‘camp’ of any type. (FacebookCampToronto2, PodCampBoston2, BarCampBankSF, BarCampBankNewEngland, BarCampMoneyNYC). I first heard about “Camps” when I was invited to, then read post-event blogs about, BarCampBank Seattle, the first camp of its type held in North America. Reading about the sessions as they were posted to the web in near-real time, and how amazing the experience was universally for the attendees, made me eager to learn more about it.
My first PodCampBoston (number 2) was a great experience. Even though I had years of experience in online community building because of my work creating EverythingCU, I was an outsider and newbie to PodCamp. It seemed like everyone already knew each other. I’m fairly social though, and did meet many great people. But never having been there before, especially when a great number of folks had the common bond of having CREATED the first one out of thin air, I naturally had the feeling of an outsider.
But this one was different for me. Because I had met many people at PodCampBoston2, I had many “great to see you again” moments at PodCampBoston3. Also, because I had started interacting online with many people involved with social media in the greater Boston area, I had many “nice to meet you in person at last” moments, including with someone from my neck of the woods in Western Mass. One thing that really floored me was that when Chris Brogan arrived in the morning, he recognized me even though I wasn’t wearing a name tag yet. Wow, he’s good.
Best photo:
Parking Meter - FAIL
by Shelley Greenberg, aka the Spotted Duck
Best quote:
“And that’s where I ran out of Schlitz.” - from @JoeCascio getting to the end of his slides at the distributed microblogging session
Best tweet:
from @limeduck “Twitter can haz revenyoo model pls?” (view original)
Best unexpected delight of the camp:
Free parking in the middle of Boston
Best shirt:
Steve Garfield
(captured by Gradon Tripp)
Runners up:
Adam Zand,
Todd Van Hoosear
Best unexpected person I met:
Stewart Sims, the marketing genius who brought the Rubix Cube to the United States.
Best photo concept: Greg Peverill-Conti attempting to get a head shot of every camper
Best analogy:
Adam Zand for Social Media as High School
Best post-event blog summary:
Five Lessons from PodCamp Boston from the Spotted Duck
Best live-tweeting of the sessions:
@Gradon Tripp
Best personal revelation based on what someone else tweeted:
Twitter is like having a room full of friends inside your head (view original) (Fortunately, it comes with a mute button.)
Tags: PodCampBoston, Chris Brogan, pcb3, PodCampBoston3, Adam Zand, GregPC, Gradon Tripp, Steve Garfield, Todd Van Hoosear, Joe Cascio, limeduck, Stewart Sims, Spotted Duck, Shelley Greenberg
July 24, 2008 at 9:41 am
That looks like me in high school - writing notes to others, not paying attention.
Great write up, Morriss. It was great to meet you in person!
July 24, 2008 at 10:00 am
It’s encouraging to hear that you felt like a bit of an outsider at your first PodCamp, too. I look forward to some of those “great to see you again” and “nice to meet you at last” moments next year
July 24, 2008 at 10:11 am
Hi Cristos — That’s the nature of any sort of ongoing event. There are veterans, and there are first-times. The first-timers will have a feeling of being alone, outsiders, not “part of the club”. So any event benefits from a first-timers orientation or welcoming session.
On the positive side, there are now ways to have some online connection before the event happens, so there is a little bit more of the “nice to meet you in person at last” feeling at the event itself. Stay tuned to this blog for more ideas about how we can improve the next PodCamp.