Several months ago we asked for $2695 to make PodcasterCon happen. As of today November 28, 2006 we’ve raised $2610! We only need a bit more to make our goal. (More than $80 because PayPal has to take their cut too.) A GIANT Thank You to everyone who has donated money and time. The event WE MADE TOGETHER is almost here!
At the very beginning of PodcasterCon we’ll all be together in one room. One of the most important things we have to-do is create more session subjects. The fact is we can have more than five sessions. All you really have to do is find someone else interested in what you are interested in and talk about it.
But in an effort to encourage everyone to get creative and document our group knowledge I’ll ask for some session topics from the group and put them up on the blackboard and the PodCon wiki main page. The only requirements to propose a session are:
1) Take good session notes and put them on the wiki
2) Record audio of your session
3) Encourage a group discussion not a one-way lecture
Any ideas that remain that didn’t make it on the PodCon wiki main page can still be put on the MORE Sessions page. Matter of fact you can put session ideas here NOW. So go for it. Fill up this page with ideas you want to discuss. Just include a session title, a description, and your name. If you put an idea here get ready to really talk about it and fulfill the requirements I mentioned above. (Session “requirements” and methods may change some before and during PodcasterCon. Let’s be flexible.)
Also if you’ve registered you can add information about yourself on your own page. Goto the People Who’ve Registered page on the PodCon wiki and look for your name. Click on your name and edit away.
Today’s podcast is about what’s up right now as I prepare for PodcasterCon 2006. Find more info at [Main] www.podcastercon.org, [Blog] www.podcastercon.org/blog, [Wiki] www.podcastercon.org/share, [Register] www.webslingerz.com/podcastercon.
MP3 23m 41s 10.9MB 64kbps
Update #2 Here is the correct hotel info for getting a reserved room. Twenty rooms are available at this hotel.
Hampton Inn
6121 Farrington Rd
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
27517
1-800-HAMPTON
919 403 8700
email reservation info to laurie@atmahotelgroup.com
Use the group code “PodCaster Conference”
www.hampton-inn.com/hi/chapelhillsuites
Update: We have a slightly better nightly room rate. The hotel should recognize the group name soon. We needed to sign something and fax it in first. Also we have another hotel with a few reserved rooms. See bellow.
We have a block of rooms reserved at a local hotel for PodcasterCon. I sent an email to all the people who’ve registered - as of Nov.23, 2005 - and checked they need help finding a place to stay. If you havn’t registered please do. Here is the info:
Hampton Inn Chapel Hill
1740 Fordham Blvd.
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
27514
United States
Tel: +1-919-968-3000
Fax: +1-919-929-0322
The rooms are available for $79 $75 a night. Don’t forget to mention our group name - PodcasterCon - when making a reservation. They claim to have WiFi. 
The hotel is about 3 miles from the event site. We plan on picking up a group from the hotel the morning of the event and taking people back to the hotel later in the day. So please let me know where you end up staying. More info as we get closer to January 7 - PODCASTERCON 2006!
Second Hotel:
Candlewood Suites
1818 E. Highway 54
Durham, NC 27713
(919) 484-9922
(919) 484-9933
Big mad props to Mur Lafferty and Ryan Ireland for help with the hotels! 
Here is a list of other hotels near the event site. They should all be on a bus line.
The closest airport to UNC, where we’re having PodcasterCon, is RDU - Raleigh-Durham International Airport. It’s about 30 minutes drive from UNC. GSO - Piedmont Triad International Airport - is about one hour from UNC. CLT - Charlotte Douglas International Airport - is about three hours from UNC.
There are no quick and cheap public transportation options from RDU to UNC. There is a regional bus. Go to ridetta.org. It could take an hour to get from RDU to UNC, plus a fair amount of confusion if you take the bus.
Check with the hotel you are staying at and see if they offer shuttle service. Any local folks who are willing to pick up people at the airport let us know in the comments.
If anyone needs a ride post your arrival time here, airline, and cell number to hook up with people to share a cab. A cab ride from RDU to UNC will be about $30.
I just finished installing a new wiki for PodcasterCon. All the old information is there from the old one. This wiki uses the MediaWiki software and should be more robust. In case you hadn’t noticed the old wiki was acting up.
Here is the new URL. www.podcastercon.org/share/ Please update your bookmarks, but all the old ones should redirect to the new pages. All the most up-to-date info about PodcasterCon will be posted there. Get ready for more info on how you can add to it before and DURING PodcasterCon2006! (Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.)
Here is a link to Hotels that Google says are near PodcasterCon. I will put up a list of suggestions soon.
Here is a Google Maps link to PodcasterCon 2006 in Chapel Hill, NC.
This Google map doesn’t really help at all! I’ll find some better ones and augment them with good info soon. Here is the MAP page on the wiki.
A neat use of the Google maps API is called Frappr!
Add yourself to the PodcasterCon group map and lets see where ya’ll are coming from.
Blogging isn’t just a faceless virtual activity reserved for geeks. All kinds of bloggers actually meet in person the old fashioned way. These get-togethers known as Blogger Meetups can be a safe and fun way to meet the people who live near you. And no it really isn’t a new dating scene.
Before I went to the Triangle Bloggers Conference last year I only knew a few people in Chapel Hill. But now thanks to Anton Zuiker a.k.a. MisterSugar, the conference organizer, several neighbors meet every other week. These folks have become a very important part of my local community. Their blogs have become an important way for me to stay in touch and learn new things from them. (See blogtogether.com for details.)
On Tuesday, November 15 from 7-9 p.m we’re having a Triangle Blogger’s Bash at Durham’s American Tobacco Historic District. The event will include a walking tour of WUNC’s new studios, a catered reception, talking about podcasting, and drinks at Tyler’s Speakeasy next door. Everyone is invited. Come to learn about blogging, podcasting, and meet your neighbors who have those cool blogs you read all the time.