As I usually do, here is a post summarizing my thoughts about yesterday’s Pittsburgh Podcamp 8 (pcpgh8). I’ll comment on the sessions I attended, as well as Podcamp overall.
I’ve attended every Podcamp since 2008 except last year,when I was sick and chose to stay home, and like every Podcamp, I left having learned much. These types of gatherings are so useful and crucial to support a thriving Social Media community like we have here in Pittsburgh. What has been a two day event was shortened to a single day this year and I hope the organizers felt that change was worthwhile. While I loved the two day format, I prefer a single day event during a season where there is so much to do on the weekends.
I attended the keynote and three other sessions. I presented during the 3:30 time slot, and headed home partway through the last session as I wasn’t feeling very good.

Registration: like previous years, pcpgh8 offered a VIP as well as a regular registration. Begun as an unconference, pcpgh has remained true to that concept by remaining a free event, while the VIP allows registrants to help cover the day’s expenses. I missed receiving a different color shirt for the VIP’s but the water bottle swag was super. I hope they continue with this VIP funding opportunity, but I hope they return to better acknowledging the VIP registrants. A page on the website, thanking them with links would be perfect, and the amount of time that would take would be negligible. The registration process moved along well and name badges were near the coffee which minimized any bottleneck at the door.

I missed my bus and so was later arriving, which put me there, right on time since the keynote started late. Norm, who is usually on top of everything, seemed to be struggling, but as always Norm was awesome. I’ll say more about the event organization at the end.

The keynote was perfect and a great way to start the day. Being reminded that if you aren’t having fun, you need to make a change, was a great message, and the speaker was perfect. Too often, a keynote is all boring talk, well intentioned but does little for the audience. This was a great mix of useful info, entertainment, and inspiration. For me, the take home message was a great quote, ” if you aren’t having fun, then you’re the asshole.” The improv discussed and the linkage to what we all do is that creating isn’t a spectator activity but requires you to be engaged, you are responsible, or I’d say, have control over your engagement, and if it isn’t working, you can do something to make it work.

1st session: the 1st session I attended was described as being about marketing podcasts, but I had a feeling there would be useful info for bloggers and others as well, and indeed there was.  Podcast Power Evolution :: Promoting and Marketing Your Podcast.

2nd session: This was the really big one for me!  SEvOlution: What is, What was and what shall be… was worth double the price of admission if not more. I created a Google+ account, but hadn’t really done anything there in that space.  Now, I understand what I need to do in Google-owned properties and why. I’ve been to Mike’s sessions at many podcamps, and they are always good. This was right up there with his best to date.

Lunch: I’m not sure where lunch came from, but the sandwiches were awesome.

3rd session: I didn’t spend enough time in any single 1:30 session to say too much about them. I was torn between where to go. I wanted to be at the Non-Profit Collaboration Via Social Media: The Example of Pgh’s LGBTQ Community to be supportive, but I also wanted to be at the Social Media and the Media panel. The amount of time spent in each was good and both had a good crowd.

4th session: I presented, and my slides are here. Some great questions were asked and a good discussion followed the presentation. I wished I had spent more time in dialogue and a bit less time running my mouth. I’ve presented at podcamp or similar events in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland, but this was a different type of presentation for me. I think it wasn’t until it was all over that I really grasp what I needed to learn from pulling it together. I hope those in the session enjoyed it.

We have really great people in Pittsburgh when it comes to Social Media, and the quality and variety of the sessions demonstrates this.  I’m a big fan of the unconference type format that Podcamp uses. In my ideal world, we would see two  of these day long sessions every year- one in the Spring and one in the Fall. Keep it free, but request a $5 or $10 donation as a way to curb the need to do a lot of fundraising. Continue to offer a VIP registration and give publicity to the VIP’ers as well as the bigger sponsors.

My biggest complaint is about the way the day was structured. Because sessions ran back to back, it was rough to network except during the lunch time. Or if you got caught up in a discussion, you could just miss a session.  I’d encourage the organizers to build a break in between the sessions. I’d also remind the organizers that they do a great job, and the very nature of an unconference can be a little more free form than a high priced conference.