Being Amber Rhea

There’s so much I want to say, but I feel a bit overwhelmed. I’m not sure where to start!

I guess I’ll start by directing you to the PodCamp Atlanta media page, where you can find links to all podcasts, vidcasts, etc. from PodCamp Atlanta. The page will be updated constantly as new stuff is posted. Click the Flickr and Technorati links to see photos and read blog posts. There’s also a link to Google News, where you can see all the MSM outlets that picked up the AP story.

Oh, and on Sunday, “podcamp atlanta” was the 8th most popular search term on Technorati! Woohoo!

Well, since I can’t think of some profound way to launch into the “Here’s what I learned…” homily, I’ll just do a bulleted list:

Stuff I learned / take-aways for next year

• Length of sessions should be variable depending on the topic (anywhere from 45 minutes to 90 minutes), and there should be padding in between sessions.
• Prize drawing: The tickets were kind of a PITA. We should do it differently next year, but I’m not sure how yet. (Just draw people’s names, maybe? Put each session leader in charge of one or more prizes?)
• People didn’t drink nearly as much coffee on Sunday morning. No idea why.
• Sponsorships: I’m thinking the best way to handle it might be how ConvergeSouth is handling it this year… have a set of items and let potential sponsors pick which ones they want to sponsor, rather than waiting around for them to toss $50 at you. Individuals, smaller businesses, etc. could make donations in any amount as a “friend of PodCamp” or something. But, on the other hand, I also like the idea of having different “levels” of sponsorship, like PodCamp NYC and some other uncons. So, I’m not sure about that yet.
• Paypal and other money lessons… basically, let whoever the money’s going to (in this case, Elemental Interactive) pay whenever possible, instead of writing a bunch of checks back and forth. I bet my bank thinks I’m laundering money by now.
• Let’s not have it on St. Patrick’s Day again if we can help it. (We couldn’t help it this time.)
• I didn’t know it would be such an emotional rollercoaster!! Next year I would like to start planning a little earlier, and enlist the help of more people (that is, delegate more stuff rather than trying to do so much of it myself). Delegating has always been hard for me, but I know it’s necessary, because when I don’t delegate enough, the emotional toll on me is too high.

What was a smashing success:

Really, overall I think the whole weekend was a success, but here are a few particular things…

• Friday night pre-party at Manuel’s was awesome! There were so many people there, and it was just a damn good time!
• People really liked the lunch both days. This makes me happy, because I have to admit I was a little worried about the catering situation. We didn’t have much choice in which caterer to use, since the venue had an “approved caterer.” They were pretty expensive and this led to some stress on my part that we’d end up in the red - and I’m still not sure whether or not we did. But the food was great, and the caterers were prompt, professional, and made sure everything was just right.
• The diversity of the crowd was great! I am really happy about that. And, next time, I would like to have even more topical sessions (e.g. queercasting).
• Thanks to Sam Chupp for stepping in for Rob Safuto, who was stuck in Newark due to bad weather, to lead the “Podcasting on a Budget” session! Hopefully Rob will be able to make it next year.

General notes / questions / pondering

• The most common complaint was that the wifi was flakey. All I have to say about that is, “eh.” I think the minor inconvenience of the network apparently having some kind of load capacity was well worth the trade-off of having the event in such a nice venue. (And I would love to have it in the Miller-Ward again next year, if they’ll have us back!) I’ve been to paid conferences where the wifi was even flakier, so I can’t really get too worked up about it. People can deal.
• Someone suggested having music. We tried but weren’t able to get anybody to do it in time. Planning ahead and delegating should take care of this next year. I’d like to assign this out to someone like Heather, Cable and Tweed, or someone else who is more “plugged in” to the local music scene than I am.
• There was a minor kerfluffle with the guy with the dog, but we seem to have sorted it out in the relative public space of his blog. Talk about stuff we never in a million years expected, much less planned for! I guess there’s always something.
• A lot of people are still trying to grasp the unconference concept. Len Witt did the right thing by taking the reins and making something happen instead of just complaining about it. Also if people want hands-on stuff, it’s their responsibility to schedule it ahead of time.
• Shelby says there were too many sales pitches. I don’t know, because I wasn’t in all of the sessions. Sales pitches at unconferences annoy the shit out of me, as I mentioned when I wrote about BlogSavannah and probably a few other times. But how to prevent this? Thoughts? Here’s what I wrote on Shelby’s blog:
  

  In the opening remarks on Sat. I said that thing about, “if someone is saying something crazy, it’s your responsibility to grab the mic and put a stop to it” - or whatever it was I said. I meant to also say, “No selling!” - but I forgot. Anyway, the beauty and the sometimes annoying thing about unconferences is that it really drives home the point that you can’t control what other people do.

• Finally: I love coming together with people like this and having fun. Sunday lunch was my favorite part of the whole weekend, because people were sitting around eating, talking, and laughing - A LOT! Quote of the weekend, from Penny: “It’s called social media for a reason.”

I’m sure there’s something I’m forgetting, but this is long enough already.

Actually, one last thing… the emotional rollercoaster aspect of it all has triggered some of those “OH WHY ARE WE HERE” crap moments again… bleh. Then I get carried away and start worrying about death and it just gets waaaaay too emo to handle. So, I’m trying to remember what Steve Eley always says at the end of a conversation, and how he signs all his emails: “Have fun!” I am going to make that my mantra. Because really, that’s what it’s all about.

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