Here’s my great idea for a future podcamp: Podcamp Xtreme! (bad name, but not joking.) Just to take a little footage skiing, I’ve had to learn which waterproof sports cameras work well, about memory cards that perform well under extreme temperatures and the effectiveness of different batteries in cold temperatures.

I’d like to share this with other people, in a hands-on Rocky Mountain Podcamp Xtreme. I’m imagining that maybe a little over a year from now, we could get together a great group of podcasters for a vacation filled with snowsports, shooting, editing and ‘Apres-ski’ fun.

Maybe someone who lives in a warm costal climate could follow-up by sharing their love of watersports in a summer version of PodCamp Xtreme?

Podcamp EDU was a success because it was small. I got to meet everyone in the room and we were able to have the entire room in the discussion all at the same time.

Even though I like presenting – I LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of moving away from slide decks and more toward a workshop approach. I think this combined with a more specific focus for the day (podcasting, audio, video, blogging, etc) would yield great results.

During one of our sessions we delved into a giant twitter discussion – which was really insightful for people.

The biggest issue I saw was the fact that we had a very polarized audience. We had about 40% complete geeks that knew everything – 40% complete newbies that had never heard of twitter – and about 10% in the middle. So sometimes the geeky crowd would begin talking a mile a minute about stuff that the new crowd was sitting there saying “huh?”

Anyway – to sum it up – it would be helpful to have a couple moderator type personalities that could keep the meetings and pod(focused)camps moving along to meet everyone’s needs and goals for the day.

Just some thoughts…

Joel Mark Witt

I actually did record my presentation on using podcasting in Supply Chain education, and posted it over at my site(s).

I think the name, like all things “pod,” was obsolete the moment it was created – but, as a brand, it now has traction.

I don’t think PodCamp is meant to be ONLY about podcasting (and, as Aaron’s comment shows, there’s still confusion as to what podcasting itself means, since video IS “podcasting”). I think PodCamp is meant to be a conversation about all things related to social media.

That’s a gigantic playing field. If PodCamp wants to have a hand in all of it, perhaps a name change IS in order.

(Bottom line: I agree with diversifying, specializing AND swirling it all together. We just need to be clear about what PodCamp IS, and therefore what each variation is ABOUT.)

Personally, I’ve been trying to think up ideas about how to make Podcamp Toronto more useful to music podcasters because I think there’s a lot of information to be learned about where podcasts fit into the music promotion ecosystem.

To be honest I don’t know jack about music promotion, but I know there are people out there who do and I want them to come to podcamp.

If so, then I’m not sure that the above suggestions work as there is already BarCamp, DemoCamp, etc.

If not, then maybe a name change is in order.

My first PodCamp was in Philly. I went expecting a focus on podcasts and got podcasts and video. That was cool, but unexpected. I kept telling people I didn’t podcast and they were okay with that. Cool.

My second podcamp was Boston 2. There I had a better idea of what to expect and my approach was as a social media guy there to support the podcasting movement. What I got was more business, PR and social media.

I was confused.

So now I just don’t know what Podcamp is anymore. If someone could tell me then I’d be happy. How is PodCamp different than BarCamp? Social Media Club? Why are these groups not putting their heads together more efficiently.

PodasocialPRabizCamp?

Come on.