That’s right! We were even picked up by some news outlets in the UK… international, baby!

I love hearing people’s discoveries after they leave a session. I love brainstorming ideas with those who are jazzed about what podcasting can do. I love being in a position to help someone figure it out as they go from podvirgin to podenthusiast.

My idea of community is to be available. So, if I can’t attend each and every session, I don’t bother. Instead, I’d rather be evangelizing and networking, so that people take their enthusiasm about podcasting to their businesses, their workplace and to their colleagues.

(And even then, people still said afterwards, “Oh, I wish I’d heard about that,” which proves you can never get in front of everybody fast enough…)

Having such a huge number of people at PodCamp NYC shouldn’t be a problem as long as everyone remembers the basic tenets continually mentioned above: be social, be friendly, ask questions.

The biggest problem I see is the sheer amount of information available, and the trouble some folks may have in deciding what to see.

Solutions? Encourage people who arrived in groups, or from the same company, to NEVER attend the same session. That way, those folks get double the information to discuss afterwards, and meet double the people in the process.

Also, if the presentations are being recorded, make sure EVERYONE knows that so they can catch up on what they missed afterwards. It’ll take a lot of the anxiety of choice out of the equation.

My PodCamp baptism was in Toronto, and I could pick at least 20 different parts of the event that set precedents for me, but the best one was the new definition of ‘talks’. ‘Talks’ were conversations: if there was a part that was formal (and trust me, that word is used here as loosely as possible), it hardly took up half the allotted time, with the rest of the session becoming a conversation among the people in the room. THAT was the participatory element, and those were the moments that brought everyone onto the playing field, evenly and enthusiastically.

You can bask in the rockstar metaphor if you want, but I propose that we all look up at ourselves with wonder and leave the rockstargazing for others. Everybody has experiences and insights to share, everybody is as important as the next person, and everybody still puts on trousers one leg at a time. (And if you don’t, I’ll be looking for a demo in the hallway!)

So… what’s a sponsor to do?

-Jon