Maybe We're *ALL* Doing it Wrong |
A contrarian view of social media. A presentation at PodCamp Nashville 2010. |
I can’t really say why I joined the BarCamp 09 Planning Committee.
The how was easy. Around the time planning was to start ramping up the inimitable Ted Chapin put out a message through the Nashville Nerd Wire (DN, BCN/PCN, etc.) saying what I said in my headline: You Should Volunteer.
I attended PodCamp 09 on a whim. I was one of the myriad last minute-registrants as I learned of the event from a poster just 2 days before. I asked around and couldn’t find anyone I knew who was attending but figured What the hell, I’ll do it.
Was it everything I expected?
It was not.
I recall some sessions for how eye-gougingly awful they were and others for how interesting they were (and I won’t name names). I wanted TED on a smaller scale–in some ways I got it, and in others not.
So when BCN09 rolled around and I read Ted’s call for volunteers I figured once again What the hell, I’ll do it. The best way to predict the future is to create it, so maybe that’s why I joined.
I was “official photographer” for BCN09, I didn’t attend any sessions in toto. I saw just a few minutes of each to take pictures, but never spent more than 10 minutes in any given session. It was a lot like photographing a wedding: tons of people you don’t know, free booze, running around with camera equipment in the dark, and never a moments’ rest.
In addition to photographing, I also helped build out the website (see the BCN09 and PCN10 sites for my name in the footer). Working with Kate O, Brad and the Nashville Drupalers was rewarding and immensely enjoyable.
It takes people to pull these things off, not just skills, experience, and connections to work out budgeting, venue, production, planning, sponsorship, and promotions but also time on the days leading up to and day of the event.
The strength of the Nashville Camp events is that they’re community efforts. Which is also their weakness. The events are as good as we all make them. Attending is the just the first step.
Go now: http://www.podcampnashville.org/pcn10/help-produce-podcamp-volunteer
