Is PodCamp Too Corporate? or, Welcome New Folks!

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Bill Weye on his blog asks a great question – has PodCamp Boston, in effect, sold out, with its huge list of attendees from corporations?

Gosh, I hope so. But not in the sense he’s thinking. In terms of sponsors and vendors, there are so far three – VON, Blue Sky Factory, and Jay Berkowitz. You’ve heard VON’s commercial pitch – attend Video on the Net for $200 instead of$ 1,695. Blue Sky Factory hasn’t gotten their sponsorcast stuff to us yet, but they’re a mailing list service, the one that powers PodCamp Boston‘s outreach efforts.

Here’s my thinking about all the corporations, venture capitalists, media, and marketers coming to PodCamp Boston:

Welcome! Please go meet some new media people, and learn all about new media.

In the year that’s passed since PodCamp Boston 1, there have been a number of success stories about new media folks being able to make a living doing what they love to do most. At the same time, there are orders of magnitude more stories about people wanting to get connected to resources (money, media, marketing) to share their work who haven’t been able to. At PodCamp Philly, Brian Conley from Alive in Baghdad mentioned very publicly that AIB is desperately looking for donors/sponsors. He and his organization are doing great, very important work telling stories that the mainstream media aren’t.

It’s my hope as one of the organizers of PodCamp Boston that if we put folks like Brian and AIB in the same room as producers and directors from media buyers, venture capitalists like Openview and Masthead Venture Partners, that new media experts with legitimate, great content can get connected with resource partners. It’s not about selling stuff to PodCamp attendees at all, but rather connecting new people and new media together to make exciting partnerships and friendships.

If PodCamp Boston didn’t invite people with resources to the new media community, we’d be doing the community a disservice. As Bill Weye pointed out, people come to PodCamp to collaborate and meet others doing exciting things. I hope that idea and feeling extends to new people who want to know more about new media, and isn’t just reserved for people already in the community.

Finally, I’ll remind EVERYONE of this: the Law of Two Feet – meaning you walk away from what doesn’t interest you – doesn’t just apply to sessions. In every interaction at PodCamp, you have the right to walk away, and should do so immediately. With so many people of so many different backgrounds, you can find plenty of people of similar mind if you choose to do so. I hope you don’t. Corporate or evangelist, early adopter or conservative, I hope you meet some new friends and find ways to help each other in whatever best suits your needs in new media.

Comments

12 responses to “Is PodCamp Too Corporate? or, Welcome New Folks!”

September 17, 2007

Jason Alba

Chris, excellent reflection and thoughts. At first I thought you were going to take the angle of “us against them,” with the idea that “them” (corporations) would taint the whole web2.0 world because they just don’t get it.

Like it’s a place they aren’t worthy to tread.

Instead, I think bringing them into this space, holding their hand and helping them get acustomed to it, it huge (a huge accomplishment, and will produce great results).

Just because they have money and resources doesn’t mean they don’t have a place in web2.0 (or whatever number we’re on).

So, good perspective!

Reply
September 17, 2007

Jason Alba

Chris, excellent reflection and thoughts. At first I thought you were going to take the angle of “us against them,” with the idea that “them” (corporations) would taint the whole web2.0 world because they just don’t get it.

Like it’s a place they aren’t worthy to tread.

Instead, I think bringing them into this space, holding their hand and helping them get acustomed to it, it huge (a huge accomplishment, and will produce great results).

Just because they have money and resources doesn’t mean they don’t have a place in web2.0 (or whatever number we’re on).

So, good perspective!

Reply
September 17, 2007

Christopher S. Penn

The idea of “us vs. them” is exactly the wrong way to go – I’ve heard more than a few prominent folks in new media yell “!@#% $# them, !@#!@# the RIAA, ^%&$ %#$ the mainstream media” and so forth, and all that does is marginalize new media, and what WE – the new media community – have to offer the world. Alive in Baghdad should be on CNN. Accident Hash should be on WBUR.

Working together, old and new media, eventually achieves this: media. The “old media” need tour guides into the new media space, and if the folks who are evangelists for new media want to preserve the ethos and spirit of new media, YOU need to be the tour guides – otherwise, someone else will be.

Reply
September 17, 2007

Christopher S. Penn

The idea of “us vs. them” is exactly the wrong way to go – I’ve heard more than a few prominent folks in new media yell “!@#% $# them, !@#!@# the RIAA, ^%&$ %#$ the mainstream media” and so forth, and all that does is marginalize new media, and what WE – the new media community – have to offer the world. Alive in Baghdad should be on CNN. Accident Hash should be on WBUR.

Working together, old and new media, eventually achieves this: media. The “old media” need tour guides into the new media space, and if the folks who are evangelists for new media want to preserve the ethos and spirit of new media, YOU need to be the tour guides – otherwise, someone else will be.

Reply
September 17, 2007

Jeff

AiB has been in search of funding now for over a year if not more. To make the claim that putting them in a room full of VC’s is going to get them funding is a prediction that will fail. The first thing that needs to be understood is that VC’s are in it to make money and not provide charity for good news. We can see that with MSM. THey are now into pandering for the sponsors. I believe it has gone to big…..If they want to be there to learn how to enter new media for the purpose of creating it fine. But, I believe they are there for the Meat Market..

Reply
September 17, 2007

Jeff

AiB has been in search of funding now for over a year if not more. To make the claim that putting them in a room full of VC’s is going to get them funding is a prediction that will fail. The first thing that needs to be understood is that VC’s are in it to make money and not provide charity for good news. We can see that with MSM. THey are now into pandering for the sponsors. I believe it has gone to big…..If they want to be there to learn how to enter new media for the purpose of creating it fine. But, I believe they are there for the Meat Market..

Reply
September 17, 2007

eric skiff

This is a great post,Chris. One of the reasons I’m most excited bout podcamp boston 2 is the fact that yu’ve been tireless in your efforts to break us out of the echo chamber.

I’m extremely interested to see what the vibe of the event will be and hope to meet some great new people there.

Thanks for once again giving us new food for thought when planning our own podcamps.

Reply
September 17, 2007

eric skiff

This is a great post,Chris. One of the reasons I’m most excited bout podcamp boston 2 is the fact that yu’ve been tireless in your efforts to break us out of the echo chamber.

I’m extremely interested to see what the vibe of the event will be and hope to meet some great new people there.

Thanks for once again giving us new food for thought when planning our own podcamps.

Reply
September 17, 2007

Christopher S. Penn

@Jeff: One thing I’ve found in my dealings with VCs (your experiences may vary) is that they can FIND a monetization angle as well. A show like AiB might have a revenue model that none of us are thinking of, simply because we don’t make monetization a priority in our new media dealings.

We’ll find out in October – and we’ll keep an eye on your Twitterstream for who’s behaving well and who’s behaving badly.

Reply
September 17, 2007

Christopher S. Penn

@Jeff: One thing I’ve found in my dealings with VCs (your experiences may vary) is that they can FIND a monetization angle as well. A show like AiB might have a revenue model that none of us are thinking of, simply because we don’t make monetization a priority in our new media dealings.

We’ll find out in October – and we’ll keep an eye on your Twitterstream for who’s behaving well and who’s behaving badly.

Reply
September 17, 2007

Michael Domingo

Has PodCamp lost it’s friendliness? Are Corporations pushing creativity aside and ignoring the newbie?

I doubt it. Like Chris said, we always have the power to walk away. And our presence or lack of presence sends a strong signal to vendors. Sessions work the same way: not getting anything out of a session? Leave quietly and enter another session just as discretely. Silence and lack of presence is strong feedback. The power is in YOUR hands.

Cheers,
Kit Mikazuki, Host
Nante Koto Online Dating Misadventures Podcast
Washington, DC

Reply
September 17, 2007

Michael Domingo

Has PodCamp lost it’s friendliness? Are Corporations pushing creativity aside and ignoring the newbie?

I doubt it. Like Chris said, we always have the power to walk away. And our presence or lack of presence sends a strong signal to vendors. Sessions work the same way: not getting anything out of a session? Leave quietly and enter another session just as discretely. Silence and lack of presence is strong feedback. The power is in YOUR hands.

Cheers,
Kit Mikazuki, Host
Nante Koto Online Dating Misadventures Podcast
Washington, DC

Reply