Podcamp Toronto – An event you don’t want to miss!

Those of you new to the concept of “un-conferences” may want to stop by the Rogers Communication Centre (Ryerson U) this weekend in Toronto. What’s going on? Podcamp Toronto 2009 is! Just type in the invite key “canuck” to get into the website/wiki.

This is my 4th Podcamp (second one in Toronto), and certainly won’t be my last. Don’ t be fooled by the name, this is an event that brings together the “Who’s Who” of social media from every angle. You have the hobbyists, the philosophers, the techies, the strategists, the marketers/communicators, the authors, the employers, the executives, the programmers, the artists, the newbies and the veterans (to name a few). Put simply, this event is for ANYONE interested in new media. By the end of the weekend I usually feel like my brain went through a 24 hour spinning class followed by a marathon.

My own session is at 2:45PM on the Saturday in room 357. I titled it as follows: “Government 2.0. A discussion on the expanding role of social media and government/citizen interaction, right here in Canada.” Basically, I’ll quickly go over the evolving and increasingly strategic (although there’s still a long way to go) attempts by government  to reach out to Canadians using social media. I only have 30min so I think I’ll just open up the floor to a discussion as I navigate through the latest examples.

If you haven’t registered for Podcamp yet, get on it! Or better yet, pencil yourself in to present!

Back from PodCamp Toronto…

This was my second Podcamp, and definitely not my last. For anyone involved in social media, I highly recommend this line of unconferences (held in various cities around the world). This year’s Podcamp Toronto featured a great line of speakers providing informative case studies and “best practices” workshops on a variety of social media topics. I attended the following:

• Facebook Marketing – Colin Smillie & Roy Pereira
• Social Media in a Disaster - Dave Fleet
• Introducing the Social Media Press Release -Collin Douma
• How the Alzheimer Society of Ontario fell in love with Social Media – WayneMaPhail
• Everything you need to know about Second Life – Jenny Bullough & Eden Spodek
• Podcasting on a budget – Russel Hale

The whole conference was streamed LIVE on the Internet so you can watch the sessions yourself if you were unable to attend. Videos and presentation slides will be available here (on the wiki) by the end of the week.

From a public sector marketing perspective, I found the “Alzheimer’s Society” and “Social Media in a Disaster” presentations fantastic. Be sure to watch these sessions as they become available. I spent quite a bit of time chatting with Robin Browne from Da Biz Blog who shares a similar passion in terms of helping non-profits use social media to better deliver their messages and improve their marketing efforts. I also had a great conversation with Collin Douma about the flawed compensation model that the advertising industry is based on and the rise of Social Media Press Releases (to complement traditional PR/Communications). Be sure to check out Collin’s Blog Radical Trust for some great insights and advice on PR in a world of Web 2.0.

Overall I was very impressed with the flawless collaborative organization of the conference and the friendliness of the social media community in general. I see more and more “regulars” as I attend these events but also a whole slew of newbies as the field of social media marketing and communications expands into the mainstream.

I will definitely be using some examples from this conference in my “Develop a Social Media Marketing Plan in One Day” workshop (catered specifically for the public and non-profit sectors), which our organization (CEPSM) will be conducting in partnership with CMG across Canada beginning April, 2008 (shameless plug!). We have a PDF brochure of our complete line of workshops available as well, in case you need a hard copy document with more info .

In all seriousness though, I’m quite excited at getting these best practices out there to hesitant communications and marketing professionals in the public sector that still need proof that the benefits of getting engaged in social media outweigh the risks. Success stories are popping up left right and centre, why re-invent the wheel when we can all learn from each others experiences!

PodCamp Ottawa is this weekend!

For those of you that live here in Ottawa, Canada and have been thinking of starting a Podcast or learning more about this medium, consider attending PodCamp Ottawa, which is an unconference scheduled for Sunday, November 25. The goal of PodCamp Ottawa will be more specific than typical PodCamps (which usually cover all social media). The focus will be podcast creation (technically and as a host/producer) and best practices in promoting them. It is being organized by Mark Blevis, Andrea Ross, Bob Goyetche, Maurizio Ortolani & Jeff Parks, the unconference is limited to 80 attendees.

Schedule:

• Date: Sunday, November 25, 2007
• Time: 10:00am – 4:00pm (welcome at 9:45am)
• Location: National Arts Centre, Panorama Room

More details are available at the Podcamp Ottawa site. The symbolical $10 attendance fee goes to charity.