PodcasterCon 2006

As of today, 60 of the 187 people who have registered are coming from out of state! Thank you all so much for traveling to attend our small one day conference. I realize that it’s not cheap to get here.

The fact that so many will travel so far illustrates the uniqueness of podcasting. It can be useful to so many people with very diverse backgrounds. I’m seriously amazed at how virtual communities can overlap our physical ones and transcend boundaries. To say that I’m excited is a HUGE understatement!

I’m working away on the final details of PodcasterCon. Check out the nifty name tags I’ve been making. They are made out of old floppies, orange twine, green tape, silver marker, and hot glue. We should have two hundred of these suckers when I’m done. When you receive one of these you’ll be able to write your name, url, or what ever else you want on them. I hope you dig the D.I.Y. reuse aesthetic.

Cutting and applying the tape.

The first batch is done and ready to go.

Two sizes of name tags, big floppy and little floppy.

We just received a donation of books from O’Reilly! Specifically we have the title Podcasting Hacks. There are approximately 50 books to give away to PodcasterCon participants.

I’d like to clarify the fact that I do not consider these books to fall under the category of swag. The original description of PodcasterCon included the sentence, “The event will not have traditional speakers, commercial product pitches, or bags full of conference swag.” I truly believe that well-written books are a valuable tool and many people will benefit from them.

In an effort to keep overt product promotion out of PodcasterCon AND to provide a useful tool to participants I’ve decided to give away the books at another location just after PodcasterCon. Another very important motive of this sub-event is to promote a wonderful non-profit organization in Chapel Hill, The Internationalist Bookstore and Community Center. (Please see the PodcasterCon schedule for time and location.) Plus I’d like to encourage people to go out into the Town of Chapel Hill and have a good time. (Thank you Justin for giving me the contact at O’Reilly.)

Thanks O’Reilly for helping us make PodcasterCon even better!

We now have over 150 people registered for PodcasterCon! Check out the People Who’ve Registered page on the PodcasterCon wiki. If you’re one of the people who’ve registered add some info about yourself. Yeah!

When we first started talking about creating PodcasterCon we recorded some of our discussions. I put them into our podcast feed right away. A week or so ago I recorded a podcast to give an update. After PodcasterCon we should have LOTS of audio recordings of sessions, discussions, interviews, fun, etc. It’s a rather neat way to document the whole process I think. Hopefully we’ll fill in the blanks better as time moves on. [BTW… I fixed the link on the PodcasterCon front page. The Podcast Feed link goes to the RSS feed for the category ‘Podcast’. http://www.podcastercon.org/blog/category/Podcast/feed/]

We just received a donation from Judy Hallman. Thank you for helping to make PodcasterCon happen!

We just received a donation from Dennis Croft. Thank you for helping to make PodcasterCon happen!

I reserved a van last night. It’s purpose is to help you get to PodcasterCon. Especially if you are coming from out of town via airplane, train, or bus. Please contact me and let me know if you’ll need a ride. (info (at) podcastercon (dot) org) I took Friday January 6 off from work. So if you’re coming into town that day let me know.

Here is the email I sent to everyone who was registered as of yesterday evening and from out of the state. We will do our best to accommodate everyone.

Dear PodcasterCon Guests,

If you could use a ride from the Airport or train station &/or need a ride from your hotel to and from PodcasterCon please contact me. In your email provide the following info.
* Your name
* What rides you need. Airport to & from, hotel to & from
* What Airline you are on
* Which airport you are flying into
* When your flight is scheduled to arrive
* When your flight is scheduled to depart
* Which hotel you are staying at. Street address would be helpful too.
* A description of what you’ll be wearing at airport (optional)
* Your cell phone number (optional)

Alternatively you can go to the following PodcasterCon blog post and leave you info.
http://www.podcastercon.org/blog/?p=52
This is the place to find help from locals. Lots of friendly people here who may be able help you.

Looking forward to meeting you all! Thank you for traveling so far to attend.

-Brian R.
PodcasterCon Organizer

PodcasterCon will now start at 9:30 am. Coffee and snacks will be available at 9 am. Also the main event will end at 6 pm. (Fun stuff afterwards) Changes where made in an effort to provide more time for sessions and accommodate the arrival of more people than planned. Here is the PodcasterCon Schedule on the wiki.

We did it! We raised the money we need to make PodcasterCon 2006 happen. So far we’ve received $2790. (before PayPal takes their cut). Just in time to pay for everything. A HUGE thank you to everyone who has donated. Check out our budget to see how this money is being used.