Archive for June, 2006
Promoting Podcamp
I recorded an mp3 promo for podcamp: listen and download here.
It’s been exciting learning how to promote the event and all that. I’d feel happier if people got back to me more often (as I often get that, “Kid with no friends” feeling). Maybe that’s accurate.
Of course, it’s also hard to understand what’s considered “persistent and reasonable” versus “spammy and bugging.” I’m hoping for the former.
Anyhow, I’ll surely be putting some interesting stuff up here over the weekend, so if you get bored with the US festivities, or if you’re from another country and this is just another weekend, stick around. I’ll keep you entertained.
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Tell Your Story Your Way
I’m writing a business plan.
The exercise is interesting because, as it turns out, there’s practically an industry around business plan writing. I found the folks at Nolo to have some nice advice. I even got How To Write A Business Plan out of my local library to really get into it.
And then, a really smart woman told me not to worry about form and format, and worry instead about getting all the right information into the plan.
That’s when I realized I am really just telling another story.
Tell Your Story
People can understand details, instructions, facts, and statistics. They remember stories. How did I begin this post? I told you the story of what I was doing. First, I started by writing a plan, and then I realized it was complicated, because there were so many books, but finally, a wise woman told me to change my path, and then I found happiness.
That is a story.
Tell Your Story Your Way
I’m not only talking about business plans. I’m talking about presentations, meetings, coversations with coworkers, lovers, your children. All of humanity is a conversation. Some of it is just beautiful noise, but what remains are stories.
When you meet friends you’ve not seen in a while, you share stories. When you talk across a table between two businesses, wary of each other, you tell the story of why the other should trust you. It is a confidence story. When I write to you via this medium, I am telling you a story, a story of yet another thing I’m doing to try and improve myself. The goal of my story is to share my learning, and hopefully inspire you to move your own story forward with what I’ve told you.
The purpose of my listing my contact info, allowing comments, adding a discussion forum, giving you my AIM ID, is for you and me to have a story together, a conversation, the motion of words to form shapes in our thoughts.
Your Way
This is your life. At one end, you were born. Time is passing, and then at the other end, you will die. There will only be one writing, but with any luck, your life will have many tellings. Your loved ones, your family, your children, and perhaps a world will know your story and tell it. What story is it? And how do you go about writing it in such a way that it can reach out and touch someone else? Because stories are like plants: they need to breathe, to be fed with sunlight and water, so that they grow and nourish the things and people around them.
Tell your story your way.
And, consider coming to PodCamp to learn how to tell your story digitally.
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Discover Your 4-Fold Capacity
Rosa Say, one of the most fascinating leadership and management authorities I’ve ever read, had a great post over at Lifehack.org about what she’s calling your four-fold capacity. She says that we should measure our physical, intellectual, emotional, and spirital capacities, and then this gives us a way to consider further developing them.
Check out the article here
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Human Behavior
More than anything, this is a note to myself (but you can copy it down if there’s value to you): remember that humans are complex and have all kinds of feelings.
Recently, I hurt someone’s feelings. He felt excluded from the reindeer games, and felt disrespected.
In hindsight, I can see where he was coming from. What I perceived as letting him have space to deal with a family issue while I went out and tackled the giants ended up feeling like I didn’t ask him along for the battle. What I might’ve done differently was to send him an email telling him I knew roughly where he was with his life, that I was planning an adventure, and that I wouldn’t bother him until he was ready to be bothered.
That might’ve alleviated the issue.
I was listening to a podcast about negotiation and he had a story where he and a colleague had a project due. The narrator had lots of extra cycles and the colleague was pulling his hair out. The narrator offered to take on the extra effort and get th e project put together in time. This offer ended up pissing off his colleague.
It’s a similar situation. You come at the issue from YOUR OWN point of view, but instead of looking at it from all angles, you hastily act from your position.
Humans are sensitive. They have their needs. Remember: everyone is a superhero in their story. EVERYONE. Even the people filled with self-loathing have the sense that if only things were different, they’d regain their superhero status.
The two books I use as a reference for matters of this nature are Stephen Covey’s The 8th Habit : From Effectiveness to Greatness, and also Dr. Matthew McKay’s Self-Esteem. The first does a great job of setting up the whole framework, and really gets me the most bang for the buck. The second reminds me at a deeper level what’s under the hood with one’s psyche.
All life is learning. Any time there’s a situation where one can “blow it,” there’s another opportunity to succeed the next time. If nothing else, I tried my hardest to build good bridges back to the person I upset and I hopefully will be able to count him as a friend when this is all said and done.
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Venue Needed in Boston Area
I’m just reaching out in all venues, in case something clicks. I’m looking for a venue in the Boston Area for our Podcamp event. Details are at Podcamp.org, but basically, we need to house 200 people, with 4 or 5 conference rooms, internet access is a big plus, etc. Any one have any contacts in this area or any leads as to where I can find a venue like this for free or cheap? Please email me or comment.
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Announcing a New Discussion Forum
I’ve set up a discussion site using 37 Signals’ software, Campfire. Some people have mentioned they had trouble using my comment section, and I want you to be able to participate in the discussion no matter what. So here’s my fix.
There’s a link on chrisbrogan.com on the right hand side, in case you want to go visit. It’s technically a chat software (and very Ruby on Rails yummy web2.0-y). Come by and drop me a line. Just remember that it stays FOREVER.
Feel free to keep using the comments button and/or the email feedback form. But for those of you who were finding the comment section tricky, try the new Discussion Forum.
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Follow On to “No”
I’m not a salesguy. I just learned a new trick that seems like something salesguys know. Instead of saying “well, okay,” and walking away when you hear “no,” come back with a second, follow-on request.
A friend of mine recently gave me this one. He said, “If you get a ‘no’ on the big request, don’t forget to thank them, and ask them instead for the smaller request.”
He was totally right. I hadn’t even thought of it. Oddly enough, lots of people couldn’t buy the Cadillac, but they were willing to buy a toaster. (I dunno where that came from, but both seemed like things one might sell.)
Do you have experience with that at all?
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tag: sales, selling, marketing, selfimprovement
An Interview with About.com
I just did an interview with John C. Havens, the podcasting portal director (not sure his real title) at About.com. It’s about Podcamp, and was a lot of fun to do.
Check it out here.
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tag: interview, podcast, podcasting, about.com, podcamp, podcampboston
Promotional Audio
Take a listen to the promo piece I built using the files you were all kind enough to send me. (Troy, yours came out like chipmonks. If you could re-send a new one not in 8-bit?)
So, why do that? For one, it was really neat hearing your voices. I liked that very much. For another, it adds a rich multimedia feel to what we’re doing here. Finally, so that I can put that promo in places where people will hear it, realize you’re all wonderful people, and will come to my site to see what you’re all reading.
So thanks very much. For those of you who gave me an address, I’ll be sending along a prize fairly shortly (by the end of this coming week). If you want to send me a promotional MP3 (or wav or aif file), I’d love to make a new promo for next time. Until then, thanks to everyone who contributed:
The UberTech, Leigh, Daniel Steinberg from Distributing the Future, Karim, Dan the Flying Aqua Badger, and Troy.
If you want to download the MP3 for your own listening pleasure, or to insert into your podcast of choice, come to Grasshopper Factory, and just let me know where I end up, okay?
Podcamp Boston: Sept 9-10
Sept 9-10, 2006
Podcamp Boston will be held on September 9th and 10th, 2006, in a venue to-be-named in Boston, accessible by public transportation, and readily reachable via the train. Podcamp is FREE to attend. Accomodations are being worked out such that we can offer a “camping” option. If people would like hotel accommodations, come to the website and we’ll work out a deal with a hotel.
What’s the Deal
Podcamp is a free unconference in the tradition of BarCamp. People register at the website (group password is: nepod), and then we like to get everyone to participate in some form or another.
That’s the difference with an unconference. In these events, the attendees are also the experts. Sessions get organized on the fly the morning of the event, and there are all kinds of ways to participate: hold a 30 minute session or demo, a 5 minute lightning talk, or participate in a panel discussion. Join an informal round table talk, participate in podcasting demos and actual live podcasts as well!
Free refreshments, including meals, will be served throughout the day.
Who Should Attend
Podcamp is for people interested in new media. Bloggers, podcasters, vloggers are who the conference serves best. If you’re interested in doing something with new media, you’ll want to attend. Are you a school or library wondering how to incorporate podcasting into projects and community events? Are you a corporation wondering why you should be involved? Are you a venture group thinking about whether to invest in this new media space? You’ll soon learn.
What Kinds of Sessions are There?
Remember, this is YOUR conference. If you sign up and prepare a session, YOUR knowledge is on display. But here are some starter sessions we’re already sure to offer:
- Panel Discussion - Podcast Formats
- Content Networks are the new blogs.
- Podcasting and Guerrilla Marketing
- Podcasting with Garageband -all the crap Apple didn’t bother to tell you about
- Corporate Podcasting - being the mouthpiece of a company for fun and profit
- Video Podcasting with iMovie
- Podcasting for Business - Beyond Adsense.
- Audio Drama Podcasts: Producing and Acting Tips
And those are just the ones people have signed on to do so far. Other sessions we want YOU to tell us about are:
- Video Podcasts, Vlogging -
- Gear Sharing/Discussing
- Portable Rigs and Techniques
- Meet the Band (talk with a podsafe band)
- Music Podshows
- Mashup Cast- a live podcast demo with more than one show!
- Teaching through Technology - Podcasts and Education
- Interviewing techniques
- Phone interviews
- Acoustics and audio engineering basics for dummies
- Power listening - how to manage and listen to as many great podcasts as possible
- Podsearch - how do you find great podcasts?
We Need You
We want you to register at podcamp.org (pw: nepod). Please sign on and let us know that you can attend, that you can participate in either one of the sessions we’ve listed above, or in something you want to tell the rest of us about.
We Need Sponsors
Because it’s a free conference, and because costs are fairly scaled back, it’s not like we need a gazillion dollars. Instead, we’re asking for supplies, tee shirt sponsors, small cash donations, meal sponsorships, and the like. You can read more about it at our Sponsors page. Anything you can do to help would be great. And, uh, we’re still working on a venue (few options still pending).
We Need Evangelists!
Steal this logo! Please link us up at your podcast or technology site. If you want a different sized banner, just ask. We want to get people interested in podcasting and new media to attend, and for that, we need your help.
Please come to PodCamp to sign up, attend, help, sponsor, or get more information.
And thanks.
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