We were curious to see what company names were attached to participants registered for PodCamp Boston. What we found was just amazing.

Please note that the listing of a company here is NOT an endorsement of PodCamp Boston by that company, merely that someone employed there will be at PodCamp Boston, nor is that company necessarily sponsoring PodCamp Boston (though we’d certainly welcome them to).

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We’re finalizing floor plans and layouts now for PodCamp Boston 2. We’re going to have 1 BIG room plus 6 breakout rooms, so there should be ample opportunities to speak and/or present. Now’s a great time to start thinking about presenting on your new media topic of choice. Some important points:

• Unlike a traditional conference, you don’t need credentials to speak. Anyone who is so interested may speak.
• Commercial pitches are discouraged. All PodCamps obey the Law of Two Feet. If you turn a speaking opportunity into an advertisement, PodCampers will simply walk out. That’s not to say you can’t mention who you are and what you do, but your presentation needs to provide value and a reason for people to pay attention and participate.
• If you want to have a conversation on a topic, consider the format of a 5 minute introduction to the topic and then a roundtable/brainstorming session. For example, at PodCamp Europe, Kfir Pravda threw the question out - how do I get my mother to watch Internet TV? The resulting brainstorming session created a lot more value than the standard podium lecture.
• Want to facilitate discussion? Consider recording the “speech” part of your session in advance and posting it on any number of video hosting sites. Let people know in the forum and on the schedule (when it opens up) that the lecture part is available in advance, and encourage people to watch it and bring questions/comments. Turn a standard speech into a real conversation.
• Want to get ideas for speaking? Post your proposed session in the forums and gather feedback from people in advance!

We look forward to hearing what YOU have to say!

One thing I’ve noticed about blogs and wikis is that there’s not really a free-form way to have discussions. Twitter’s great, but not unless you follow and are followed. Blog comments are hard to keep up with, and wikis even more so. The answer? Forums! PodCamp Boston’s forums are now open for business at:

http://www.PodCampBoston.org/chat

Stop on by!

So who’s coming to this shindig? Well… a lot of people, it turns out.

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Here’s a first audio promo for PodCamp Boston. Got a PodCamp Boston Promo you want to share? Please email YOUR promos (or better yet, links to them) to PodCampBoston AT GMail DOT com.

MP3, 222 kbps variable bit rate, 1.5 MB.

Want to borrow the nifty Flash player? Here’s the code to copy and paste!

<object type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” data=”http://www.podcampboston.org/wp-content/plugins/audio-player/player.swf” width=”290″ height=”24″ id=”audioplayer1″> <param name=”movie” value=”http://www.podcampboston.org/wp-content/plugins/audio-player/player.swf”></param> <param name=”FlashVars” value=”playerID=1&bg=0xf8f8f8&leftbg=0xeeeeee&lefticon=0×666666&rightbg=0xcccccc&rightbghover=0×999999&righticon=0×666666&righticonhover=0xffffff&text=0×666666&slider=0×666666&track=0xFFFFFF&border=0×666666&loader=0×9FFFB8&soundFile=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.libsyn.com%2Fmedia%2Ffinancialaidpodcast%2Fpodcampboston.mp3″></param> <param name=”quality” value=”high”></param> <param name=”menu” value=”false”></param> <param name=”bgcolor” value=”#FFFFFF”></param></object>

At least one person has wondered - is PodCamp Boston, with its giant venue, growing participants list, and improved outreach, still a PodCamp?

Unquestionably. That said, some accommodations need to be made for scale and logistics.

Believe it or not, when Chris Brogan and I created the PodCamp idea last year, we seriously didn’t expect more than 50 people to show up. Around 300 did. This year, we’re going all out to make PodCamp Boston as big as possible.

Is bigger better? Sometimes. PodCamp Boston, and all PodCamps, are community events. In fact, Chris Brogan and I had this discussion just two days ago. Bigger is better from the perspective of connection opportunities for participants. Where else will a high school student run into a CEO of a major conference series and actually talk to him without getting escorted away by bodyguards? In addition to being a learning opportunity, PodCamp should be a hub of its community. PodCamp Philly should be the hub of the new media community in Philly. PodCamp Minnesota should be the hub of the St. Paul area and beyond.

Fundamentally, we come back to the seven rules of PodCamp:

1. All attendees must be treated equally. Everyone is a rockstar.

2. All content created must be released under a Creative Commons license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

3. All attendees must be allowed to participate. (subject to limitations of physical space, of course)

4. All sessions and events must be free of charge to attend.

5. All sessions must obey the Law of 2 Feet - if you’re not getting what you want out of the session, you can and should walk out and do something else. It’s not like you have to get your money’s worth!

6. The event must be new-media focused - blogging, podcasting, video on the net.

7. The financials of a PodCamp must be fully disclosed in an open ledger, except for any donor/sponsor who wishes to remain anonymous.

As long as PodCamp Boston or any other PodCamp obeys the 7 rules, it’s a PodCamp in every sense of the word and spirit. See you in Boston!

- Christopher S. Penn

We’ll be creating three different kinds of badges for this year’s PodCamp Boston:

• Press
• Sponsor
• Organizer

You may be wondering - where’s the attendee badge?

Everyone gets a press pass instead. Why?

We are the media.

photo credit: ChicagoEye

Bryan Person thought up a great idea - use the idea behind the Massive Pingback and 2K Bloggers to give link love to everyone attending PodCamp Boston 2 that has publicly allowed their attendance to be known. Here’s a list, after the break. Are you coming to PodCamp Boston 2? Hit up the Register button on the right hand side of the page.

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A question came in - why are the sponsorship levels so much higher for PodCamp Boston 2? Partly, having an event at a major convention center automatically brings up the price.

Updated August 13, 2007: So the pricing for food came in. $100,000. Which, for a thousand attendees (estimated) for two days of light meal service and beverages, works out to about $100 a person. Couple that with an estimated $7,000 for shirts and $7,000 for Internet access, and we have our work cut out for us.