Quick PodCamp Starter Kit

September 27, 2008 · Comments

PodCamp Boston3Ever wondered why there’s no PodCamp in your neck of the woods? It’s probably because you haven’t launched one yet.

Want to organize a PodCamp? Though it’s not exactly “easy,” it’s also not especially rocket science. If it was, I wouldn’t have been able to pull off the first one with Christopher Penn. He could’ve, but boy, we learned SO MUCH just in the middle of the action. You could do the same, but if you want to cheat a bit, take advantage of all the cool blogs written about it out there. Want a place to start? Here are 10 of the most important points to getting started.

Quick PodCamp Starter Kit

  1. Are there more than 10 podcasters or videobloggers or bloggers in your area? If yes, then you can probably do a PodCamp.
  2. Make a wiki. We use http://pbwiki.com . Easy cheesy to edit.
  3. List your PodCamp with a tentative time frame up on PodCamp.org

    • Remember that there are six rules listed on the page to make it an official podcamp.
  4. Blog that you’re going to do it.
  5. Ask for co-organizers. Assign them very specific tasks.
  6. Find a venue. This is way harder than you think.

    • Room for ___ people (it’s your event. How many do you want?)

    • Wifi
    • A/V gear (unless you can get a sponsor to give you some)
    • Food costs – Some places charge 3x the venue costs for meals
    • If you can get a corporate venue, that often works the best
  7. Seek sponsors to cover costs.

    • Be very clear on what they get back for their money.

    • Make sure this includes link love on the web. If you can, ask others to also blog about the sponsors.
    • Be very open about who will come, what type of people, and how the sponsors will interact.
  8. Decide whether to charge for attendance (something nominal).
  9. Delegate to the volunteers such that everyone knows what they own.
  10. Hold a great event and write about it for years.

I’m sure that Christopher S. Penn and Whitney Hoffman have some other advice, but that’s a super tiny starter pack list for you to think about, should you want to start your own PodCamp, and hey, there have been 50 or so of them. Why not?

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  • Great timing, Chris! I'm in the very early stages of planning a WordCamp with Lorelle, so I assume the same tips apply. And, of course, there is the accessibility factor: please keep accessibility in mind when planning any event.
  • I always wanted to attend a PodCamp, but I was under the impression that it was for Podcasters... now I feel so dumb - cheers Chris, make my weekend why don't you!! ;-)

    This is a great list of tips - I'm off to Toronto WordCamp early next month. I'm assuming this would be a great opportunity to find like-minded bloggers to try and get a PodCamp together?

    Cheers!
  • I'm going to my first Podcamp on October 18th in Pittsburgh. I'm so excited. I didn't know about these until just recently. I find the best thing about these kind of social events is chatting with interesting people and seeing all the creative resources people are putting out there for free. It's very exciting.
  • Hey There Danny- There's a great community in Toronto, and Podcamp Toronto has "traditionally" been in January/February. Jay Monah, Eden Spodek, Adele McClear, and others are involved, so hopefully you can touch base with them!

    I'm happy to answer questions or help anyone put on an unconference. There are some tricky bits about handling money and getting sponsors that require some planning ahead. But Podcamps come in many sizes and flavors.

    My best piece of advice is to ask yourself- "What makes my community special?" and make sure your podcamp reflects aspects of your community. While people may attend from out of town, one of the purposes of having a Podcamp, in my mind at least, is to grow and bring your local community together, even after Podcamp is over. The magic is about meeting new people with similar interests, and using that as a jumping off place for further collaboration afterwards.
  • @ Whitney,

    Hey Whitney :)

    I wasn't even aware there was a PodCamp Toronto - I really need to get my Better Research Cap on, huh? ;-)

    It looks like there are some really good people involved in it too - thanks for the heads up, I will definitely be looking into this more.

    I'm thinking that it's probably a good idea to attend one first and see what it's all about, meet the people behind it and at it, before even thinking about trying to arrange one. Even then, starting off small might be a better option for me.

    Thanks again for the heads up, Whitney, really appreciate it.
  • I had a great time at the Podcamp in San Francisco a few years back and I always wondered why they didn't do it again. (or did they and I just missed it?) Podcamps are a very cool idea letting everyone speak, but I think it has taken out the community punch of the New Media Expo or Portable Media Expo which is too bad. I like the central one big meeting a year, but that is my beef. You and Chris Penn are way smarter than me so I look forward to any Podcamp in the Bay Area. I would put one together but I need to produce paid events. If it weren't for that damn mortgage that I have to pay! :)

    Love your blog and goatee.


    your friend

    Mike
  • Well hell, this list is great for any kind of small-ish event. No frills, all thrills! Thanks, Chris!
  • There are 6 rules which govern what may or may not be called a PodCamp. If your planned event meets all 6 and accepts the terms in the PodCamp Foundation License, you can call it a 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 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!
    5. The event must be new-media focused - blogging, podcasting, video on the net.
    6. The financials of a PodCamp must be fully disclosed in an open ledger, except for any donor/sponsor who wishes to remain anonymous.
  • There's also one other aspect that Chris Brogan missed in his post, one of the "secret sauces" of PodCamp:

    Strive to get at least 50% of the attendees to be people who are NOT currently involved in new media or social media.

    New people are the lifeblood of PodCamp and what keeps it from becoming a clique or a club of people talking about talking. New people bring new ideas, new problems to solve, new solutions to create, and new inside jokes.

    Keep it local. The community you build at a PodCamp endures.

    How do you do that? Marketing. That's one other area that's not on the list. Start a PodCamp at LEAST 90 days out so that you have time for marketing, press releases, direct mail, blogs, etc. to all reach the people in your local geographic area.
  • Nice timing for this post Chris as I just today started contemplating a PodCamp and what all it entails. Thanks!
  • You have definitely been influencing the social media people in church circles.

    www.churchtechcamp.com that took place this last Friday in Pasadena, CA was due to your influence of Podcamp.

    You can see more about it at www.tonystewardblog.com www.thedigitalsanctuary.org

    later,

    rhett
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