PodCamp Nashville 2008

Good times!
So how'd you spend your Saturday?
I think my wife thought I was crazy for getting up at 6:30 on a Saturday morning.
But it all came together quite nicely, I think. As with BarCampNashville back in the summer, Dave Delaney and Kelly Stewart (along with Ted Chapin, Marcus Whitney, Alison Groves, and a host of others) put on a great event-- we counted 181 attendees-- with a pretty good mix of presenters.
Ranging from people who are figuring out how to make a real living on podcasting, to a few different talks about some of the gear and software involved in making the whole process go. And then, of course, Dave had to talk about Twitter! So key.
Keynotes were by CC Chapman-- whose sisters confided that they call him Charlie-- and Joseph Jaffe. I didn't get to hear every word, but if memory serves-- Chapman reflected on the Barcamp/Podcamp Social media phenomenon and urged everyone to get involved, get up and talk, reach out to people and get something started. Jaffe's talk focused on the revolutionary things that are happening as user-generated content-- podcasts, primarily-- are changing the equation for radio and other old media. Television will still own the living room-- to paraphrase Jaffe-- but Podcasts will own the gym, the walk to work, the commute.. virtually everything outside the living room.
Talk of the day didn't really have a lot to do with podcasting, per se. Scott Schwertly, of Ethos3-- a self-described "epic storyteller"-- gave a presentation about giving world-class presentations.. and it's safe to say, the guy knows how to put a slide deck together. Not sure if the literary world would agree with his own assessment of his storytelling-- but it certainly is nice to see someone remind us that giving a talk-- whether it's to give a pitch, teach a class, convey a concept or otherwise connect with an audience-- telling a good, intellectually or, more often, emotionally engaging story is perhaps the most effective mechanism for getting one's point across. Nicely done.
Then, when it was all said and done-- we took down the screen, put up the chairs (apologies to anyone who's chair I may have stolen prematurely-- we got pretty tight on time there at the end)... and a bunch of us made our way over to the Big Bang on Broadway. Geoff Smith, a member of the BarCamp/Podcamp crew-- it turns out he plays a little piano there. Who knew?
Actually, he's flat-out amazing. If you're in Nashville, go to the Big Bang. Do not delay. My advice, get there before 7:30.

Click here for pictures from PodCampNashville

And here's a short video Dave shot at the Big Bang..