Finally! The search for a venue for Podcamp Boston 4 has now concluded and we’re happy to announce that this year’s Podcamp Boston will be held on August 8-9, 2009 at the University of Massachusetts Boston Harborside campus.
Beginner, intermediate, or advanced – what’s next is on everyone’s mind, right?
If you’re wondering what’s next in social media, there’s no better place to find out than at PodCamp, regardless of whether you’re just getting started or you’re a veteran practitioner. Unlike other conferences which are just talking head affairs, PodCamp gives you the opportunity to learn, share, and grow your skills at any level, helping your community as it helps you
Podcasting and social media has gone beyond the geek set this year and many of us are engaging with businesses and corporations to educate them. At Podcamp Boston 4 lies the opportunities to teach people and companies about podcasting and social media. Learn from others who have a wealth of knowledge to share.
We’re following last year’s model with with registration, Podcamp will be substantially sponsored by the attendees. This sunny venue will provide plenty of room for sessions, collaboration and conversations that are a tradition at Podcamp.
Ready to find out what’s next? Join us!
May 12th, 2009 at 11:56 am
That’s great news. Sounds like an excellent location.
May 12th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
In 2009, I’m a bit worried about “substantially sponsored by the attendees”, to the tune of $51.25. Are sponsorships that hard to find these days? Can we get some TARP money instead?
I clearly remember the conversation at Podcamp Boston 2 about breaking the “it should be free” rule that had held prior due to over 1,000 people registering and half as many showing up. Putting some checkpoint in place to encourage people to physically followthrough and attend what they signed up for was something I was in support of. If so many people didn’t just randomly sign up, and then not show up- maybe we wouldn’t have this problem now.
Yet, this is 2009. There’s a ton of people interested in learning social media (which is what I feel podcamp is really about) and $51.25 seems to be a rather high fee for many people. Perhaps that was cool in 2008, but the economy tanking makes it a bit harder of a bullet for some to bite. Some of us (me) have been laid off, and are skimping together to make ends meet, and others are just not faring all that well as clients cut budgets or pay their bills late.
I do not argue that Podcamp isn’t worth $50. Its two great days of sharing and learning. Yet, I got similar recently at Boston’s Barcamp (the precursor to Podcamp), and I was more than happy to make a $20 optional donation. Yet with all the other events happening that weekend of Barcamp, I’m sure some great people would have been turned away by a $50 mandatory ticketing fee and not attended.
I know that putting on an event is expensive. Yet, it CAN be done inexpensively. Barcamp was done on a budget 1/6th of the last Boston Podcamp, mainly due to being creative in getting a venue cheaply (Stata Center is much cooler than Harvard’s Medical campus btw..). ROFLCon 2008 was able to get together some of the most influential people on the internet from all across the nation (including Moot, who Time Magazine voted as the most influential person in the world for 2009).
I should perhaps count us as lucky to have Podcamp for just $51.25 even, as I’m seeing many other social media events (like Jeff Pulver’s 140 Character Conf) that are in excess of 24x more expensive for a full pass. While I love Jeff and he made Podcamp Boston 2 happen in a really cool way, I’m not convinced that any event (short of the TED Talks) is worth 24x what a Podcamp is.
In short, I’m going to sign up, and pay my fees. But I feel that Podcamp should look harder for sponsorship, and tighten its belt as all businesses in 2009 must and look for more inexpensive ways to operate. Piggyback on another conference for space as we did in 2007, or find a cheaper venue like Stata to operate out of. Surely something can be done. Why would U-Mass Boston cost significantly more than MIT?
And please keep the ledger from 2008 online. The 2006/2007 one I can’t seem to find anywhere on the page.
May 12th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
ROFLCon was actually $60 now if I remember right, but had over 700 people in attendance, major news media (BBC, Wired Magazine, etc), thousands of pizzas (provided by TripAdvisor), and I believe took a great deal of the burden of paying (not sure what % they paid) to get the memes there and in a hotel nearby (which was costly, but worth it), rented shuttles and hosted a private party (with open bar) at Barbarian Group, and rented out the Middle East up. Perhaps not the best example of doing it for less than $50, but for the amount of awesomeness that they were able to fit in, it was definitely worth it.
I can haz cheeseburger?
May 15th, 2009 at 7:48 am
Dave– I just returned from Community 2.0 in San Francisco, which was $2500 (or $2100, I forget) to attend. I just ran the Inbound Marketing Summit for $695 in San Francisco.
I attend about 60 events a year at present, several of which charge their attendees north of $500.
I’m not sure you’ve been paying attention to the news lately but most companies on the US are laying off, cutting back, firing, reshaping their finances. As such, very few of them are paying for events where the ROI on the lead generation prospects aren’t guaranteed. In case you’re unclear on WHY companies sponsor events, it’s to gain exposure, hook a few new prospects, and close some sales. It’s not because they like podcasters.
Because we can’t ask as many sponsors to cover the costs, but because we’ve decided to throw the best possible unconference we can in terms of comfort and accommodations, someone has to pay.
You’re not in any way obligated to come. You’re definitely encouraged to launch your own PodCamp or similar event that charges less or zero.
But running this event costs money, and that means we request that our sponsors participate. You might not remember from PCBOS3, but we also used that opportunity to raise significant funds for charity.
2009 is not 2008 for anybody, and PodCamp Boston is certainly not somehow outside that bubble.
I’m thrilled to be part of an event that offers hours and hours and hours of great content by brilliant people for the price of 3 DVDs or 1 video game.
I hope we see you there.
May 15th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
[...] Podcamp Boston 4 is Coming, August 8-9: I’m a little disappointed that I have a partial conflict on the 8th (it’s family, so I’m not exactly sad about it), but I plan to be around as much as possible outside of that. I have had some involvement in PodCamp Boston since the very first one in September 2006. The event is special to me because it is the first place I met folks such as Chris Brogan, Christopher Penn, Bryan Person, C.C. Chapman, Gregory Narain, and a number of other folks I consider friends (not just social media friends either). [...]
May 20th, 2009 at 11:04 am
I was wondering when the schedule will be posted. I have never been to a Pod Camp and would have to travel over 350 miles to attend. I would like to get an idea of what to expect from PodCamp Boston 4. Thx
May 21st, 2009 at 2:06 pm
I actually really hope they do it in a Barcamp style, and instead of posting a schedule that you apply for online… that they just use a giant wall that people put topics on. I think that’s how it went down that PCB2, but at PCB3 it went 100% digital
May 21st, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Podcamp has a tradition of being a conference where you can learn what you are seeking to learn. This year is a little different, we want to focus on the questions that attendees/discussion leaders/the community has about podcasting, social media, and/or new media. Paraphrasing Chris Penn, like most works of art you get out of it what you put into it.
This year will be your time to get your questions asked, meet new people or whatever you want to make it. We’re here to facilitate the conversations.
I know that’s a summary and I know you’re looking for a schedule. I’m working on a way to preview the schedule. It won’t have date/times set for a few weeks while people are still signing up for sessions BUT all the discussions that people have registered to lead will be up on the site as they sign up. Cool?
May 21st, 2009 at 2:36 pm
David, the registration for questions/discussions was released Monday.
“Newbie”, I’ve posted a preview of the sessions here: http://www.podcampboston.org/schedule-preview/ Inspired by YOU! Thanks!
May 31st, 2009 at 9:33 am
[...] Boston: Almost forgot – I’m registered for PodCamp Boston (in August) [...]
June 16th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Cool, just registered today. Loving that podcamp 4 is in my backyard.
July 7th, 2009 at 9:07 am
[...] Meetup – July 15 meetup will be combined with DemoCampGuelph. E-mail will to get a spot to demo. -PodCamp Boston Aug 8 & 9 -PodCamp Montreal Sept 19 & 20 -PodCamp Philly Oct 3 & [...]
July 12th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Knowing Chris well I know that he is doing the best he can to make things happen and he is right $50 is much easier to digest then the higher prices to conferences that I’ve wanted to go to badly but never had the money for it. Money is tight and as this field grows opportunities grow. In the spirit of podcamp I recommend that someone start up a session on ideas and pitches for the next event that would be cost effective and in a way beneficial to the location where by being a part of this they end up gaining in the long run. I am sure there is a high school or a college campus that would love to allow their students to be a part of the fun. What say you everyone?
July 21st, 2009 at 8:51 am
[...] PodCamp Boston Aug 8 & 9 [...]
August 4th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
[...] PodCamp Boston Aug 8 & 9 [...]
August 9th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
[...] her own internet show for a little while now, but it wasn’t until just today, after attending Podcamp Boston 4 for the weekend that I was motivated to just do it. So after I got home from being away all weekend [...]
September 2nd, 2009 at 9:52 am
[...] her own internet show for a little while now, but it wasn’t until just today, after attending Podcamp Boston 4 for the weekend that I was motivated to just do it. So after I got home from being away all weekend [...]