We were so excited to attend this year’s PodCamp Halifax that we’re kinda sad that it’s already over.
It blows our minds how well it’s put together and ........all by volunteers.
The organizers and sponsors deserve a big round of applause. There was at least 3 sessions per time slot that we would have loved to attend at any given time. Not all was shiny and bright throughout the day. There is still room for some improvements, the biggest being the no wifi connection in the big theatre room and the spotty internet in the library space. I hope it’s a lesson learned, don’t deny social media nerds their wifi connection because they get very angry and tweet about it!!
We decided this year that those of us who could attend would create our own reviews and rank each speaker according to the JediRanking System that we used last year. Thank you Wikipedia!
PS: It’s because we all can’t agree on how to rank each session
TheCaper :This session was funny and did convince me to start thinking about setting up a Tumblr. Now I did enjoy this session but I did not feel like I got a lot out of it, I was really hoping to learn about Tumblr but feel like I did not know any more then when I went in.
Jedi Ranking: Padawan
ThePubnisian: I’m not sure why I went to this session. I know Chris Campbell is a lot of peoples favourite on twitter. A lot of his tweeps were in the audience. But just like last year, I feel like I didn’t really learn anything him. I feel this session’s target audience is like my mother. Tumblr is so basic that you can basically learn it from a 12yr old in a 10 min youtube video. I wanted to learn cool and important stuff I can do on tumblr not why I should start a tumbleblog. I also didn’t like that he MAKES you participate and you feel like he’s going to point you out in the crowd at any moment. Dude, it is 9 o’clock on Sunday morning. I didn’t come here to share my worldly perspective... I’m here to absorb.
Jedi Ranking: Youngling
TheGinger: The first session we selected was the perfect start to the day in my opinion. I didn’t really know why I should start a tumblelog but by the end of the session I had an idea for a new blog in my head… actually, I had several. Chris was entertaining and engaging but the only thing is that even though his blogs were entertaining to me, I wasn’t really convinced that there is anything special with tumble compared to other blog hosting sites such as Blogger, Wordpress, etc except that it is incredibly simple to start one which I suppose is one of its major selling points. He did achieve his goal with me anyways, check out my new Tumblelog at http://pookiethepenguin.tumblr.com/.
Jedi Ranking: Jedi Knight
TheCaper: I went to this session hopping to be a wordpress convert but that did not happen. I will not blame the host for this one because I feel it was technology’s fault. The presenter was first missing the cable he needed to hook his computer into the projector, then when he get the connecter he had to sit behind the curtain. Given the not ideal situation he did try his best and asked lots of audience questions and focused on what people wanted to see.
Jedi Ranking: Undetermined
ThePubnisian: We’re a blogger blog and for some reason I always hear people raving about how much better Wordpress is than Blogger. I wanted him to show me something that would make me say... hmm, maybe that’s true..... But I didn’t. I’m not going to slam his presenting skills because he’s technology was faulty and he was doing his best. I give him a few points for his ability to NOT make his presentation a total disaster. Sigh... I didn’t get much out of this workshop besides listening to some girl ask questions about how to change things for her website that she had professionally done for her.
Jedi Ranking: Padawan I think he’s knowledgeable about his subject but just can’t make the bridge to engage his audience in a presentation.
TheGinger: I feel like I was on a roll here after visiting the Tumblelog session and then moving onto the Wordpress workshop until there were a few technical difficulties the host was experiencing. These difficulties were quickly resolved but as a result, Brad had to improvise. I do have to say I had a lot of interest in this session because I personally have a Wordpress blog (foreignmuckyuck.wordpress.com) but was a little disappointed because I found that even though he is very knowledgeable, and cute, I didn’t really take much from his presentation. Being somewhat new to the blogging world, I had so many questions that sadly, went unanswered.
Jedi Ranking: Padawan
TheCaper: This was a fun upbeat talk, focusing on Klout a tool to measure your social media influence over your peers and customers. Andrew the host was awesome, he engaged the crowd from the very beginning, offered pros and cons of klout and included group participation (looking forward to the results tomorrow).
Jedi Ranking: Jedi Knight
ThePubnisian: Personally, I’ve never cared about my klout score... or anybody else’s for that matter. But after Andrew Konoff I felt like I should. I left with at better understanding of the purpose of Klout and how to use it as a enhancing tool for own blog and our own....personal brands (Gawd, I hate those words). I also thought it was cute that he was a little nervous and he kept looking at the wall of books while he talked. He didn’t have any reason not to be confident. He knew his material and we was well prepared. Andrew Konoff tweeted us earlier this week that he thought he was a Padawan. He was wrong.
Jedi Ranking: Jedi Knight May the force be with you buddy!
TheGinger: I LOVED THIS SESSION! I had no idea what klout was, what it did, why people should get it or even know to pronounce it but by the time I left that presentation I was already signed on, had my Klout score and was already pondering on how I can increase it. Andrew was entertaining, organized, knowledgeable and interactive, well done Mr. Konoff, well done.
Jedi Ranking: Jedi Master
Session 4: Keynote Speaker Julien Smith
TheCaper: By far my favorite session of the day you could tell within the 1st 30 seconds of the talk that Julien was a true professional. This talk was inspirational and really gave me drive I needed to do something… not 100% sure what yet but I definitely something. One of the more enlightening points was that this is the first generation that is not only consuming media, but are creating and owning it. I had never thought about this before and it really got me thinking. Two other great take aways from this session is to adapt, change in inevitable and to be smart but take risks.
Jedi Ranking: Jedi Grand Master
ThePubnisian: I need to see his presentation again. No... I must see his presentation again!! I see that it was recorded. Where do I find this video. Amazingness!! Everything about his session blew me away. His insight to social media and the evolving interwebs is incredible. I was just so fascinated by his presentation that I couldn’t believe it when the time had run out. I need to read his book, The Flinch ASAP! Downloading it tonight... might stay up all night.
Jedi Ranking: YODA!! Jedi Grand Master
TheGinger: failed to provide us with a write up... will add soon
Jedi Ranking: Jedi Grand Master
Session 5: How We Started a Million Dollar Buisness in Halifax? Hosted by Patrick Hankinson
TheCaper: This was an interesting talk about a Halifax based company who created a product that I had heard of many times but had no clue that it was Nova Scotian, Tether. Tether is an application that allows you to use your Blackberry or Android to connect to the internet without a separate data-plan. This was a story of a couple of young guys who saw a need and created a product to fill it. He went through some of the trials and tribulations that they came across but focused on how they built a brand.
Jedi Ranking: Jedi Knight
ThePubnisian:Nothing seemed to jump out at me in the last section of sessions. I basically just stayed in the theatre after Julien Smith’s presentation just so I had a seat for the closing statements. I’m thankful I did. I found Patrick Hankinson intriguing. He is one of the creators of tether.com, an App that will allow you to connect you smart phone with your laptop. I’ve heard of it before but have never tried it. Nor did I know that the creators were from Nova Scotia. Now I really want to try it. I also think he’s exceptionally smart and knows his shit. It was the best session choice I made all day.
Jedi Ranking: Jedi Master
Note: Ginger went to a different session
Podcasting: Put Yourself Out There! Hosted by Joel Duggan and Lara Killian.
TheGinger: The final session of the day and boy, was I exhausted so I feel like I wasn’t able to fully appreciate this presentation. Joel and Lara were very organized and spoke about how they got into podcasting and how they expanded and if I wasn’t so exhausted, I would have found everything very exciting, but honestly, I spent most of my time trying to stay awake. I really liked how they had their twitter handles, fellow podcaster’s handles and the local audio and video podcast websites rolling in the background, it was a nice touch.
Jedi Ranking: Jedi Knight
Yeah, sooo.... when can we sign up go next year?
Let us know if you agree or disagree with our ranking. We’d love to hear yours as well.
Hi, there's an easy way to find everyone on twitter that had something to say on this ranking using itweetlive! see how http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yu4JpV5sHo&feature=related
ReplyDelete