-
Website
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/ -
Original page
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/maintaining-community-spirit-in-larger-communities/ -
Subscribe
All Comments -
Community
-
-
Top Commenters
-
Popular Threads
All Comments
I have some additional thoughts about this that I will blog about later as well.
[update- Chris Brogan added a link to Whitney's site]
Also, I have run Trek conventions in the past (yes, I said it, so there). Message boards are a great way to keep everyone in touch, even in a world filled with cell phones. And make sure there are "freebie tables". I can't meet everyone, but I can pick up their cards or flyers or CDs.
I have to admit, this list made me smile, because it covers everything that we're talking so much about as a team and working so hard to preserve.
To me, the true spirit of podcamp (and of barcamp) is the idea of making your own conference. Everyone has the opportunity to give the talks, fix the wifi (or whatever else is broken), and directly affect the event.
So, as we've grown beyond our wildest expectations, how do we ensure that everyone still feels empowered?
One of our goals is to create room for and encourage ad-hoc lightning sessions and talks. Steve Garfield's impromptu Ze Frank session at PodCamp Boston was one of the best parts of the day for me.
We're also creating an area just for "chilling out" with other folks, getting on the wifi, and having a chat. That seems like a no brainer, but, we want to be sure to leave space for the informal stuff. 15 minute breaks between each session should hopefully also spark some good hallway chats :)
So here's where we struggle:
There may be a point where it's just too many sessions in too short a time. We've got 12 sessions running at once. When you're speaking, 11 other talks are going on around you. I'm not sure how to advise other podcamps on that, because closing the speaker list felt antithetical to the event.
I have a feeling that when we send out the draft schedule later today and say "okay, what's broken, what needs to change?", a few folks may feel like it's intimidating to be scheduled against so many other talks and choose not to speak.
I don't want to lose those people! I don't want them to feel that they don't have something great to contribute and lose that amazing experience of sharing their knowledge.
If anything, I'm hoping that instead of dropping out, people team up with others and make "supertalks" on their topic, and I'll definitely be encouraging anyone who's nervous about speaking to do that.
Shaping the event from the first moment is very important as well. In your opening remarks of Podcamp Boston, you and Chris Penn made it clear that if something went wrong, not to find you, not to ask permission, but simply to fix it. That's a very different message from any other conference, and it really changes the whole perception of the event.
You're saying "we're not the final word here - you are," and that makes all the difference.
We're doing our best to be very true to that spirit!
Clinton- you raised a good point I'm horrible at recognizing. Shy people. I'm the kind who doesn't exactly SCARE shy people, but most of my suggestions on how to conduct one's self at an event are rarely easy to emulate should you be shy. Thanks for the kind reminder. In those cases, it's incumbent on people around the shy people to be as inclusive as possible without being brash, and as quick to point out similarities as possible, so that people have ways to jump in.
Great thoughts, everyone.
See you, and many friends old and heretofore not yet met, next week!
I don't want to be that guy who measures gatherings and events in terms of the number of awkward silences I left in my wake.
-Jon
That said, I'd LOVE IT if we can shift from the language about PodCamp NYC that infers we're in a negative place ("victims of their success" and so on from similarly themed posts).
Last week was my week to get defensive and say, "when we got to 500 people and closed off the list (as our then hosts were concerned about fire codes) we caught a ton of flack. So we opened the lists up, moved to a new venue TWO WEEKS before the event, and found a new place for our after-party."
But I'm tired of being defensive, especially because everyone knows our (PodCamp NYC organizers) hearts are in the right place, and people's concerns about community are utterly understandable and justified.
But let me tell you a story; as an actor for over 20 years, my job was to create an intimacy with an audience whether speaking to one camera or in a 2,000 seat theatre. The difference between these two audiences in terms of my role (literally and figuratively) was largely technical (T.V. is a smaller medium; every gesture looks huge on camera, whereas in theatre your voice needs to hit the final row in the balcony, etc.).
I did not have the luxury of thinking, "there are a lot of people here tonight; will my performance suffer because there are so many people?"
I think an ESSENTIAL aspect of this discussion is on the definition of 'community.' The word infers an intimacy or a fellow feeling (to me) more than a focus on numbers. In my opinion, an intimate community, in terms of having a bunch of people I talk to, is probably limited to 10 or 12 people around a diner table. I used to have a weekly brunch with friends (it's where I met my wife) that felt too big when 20 people started coming. I ended up only really having a meaningful conversation with the two or three people next to me.
So I'd urge, nay, ENTREAT folks like you, Chris, C.C., and other luminaries in our core community to recognize that the vision created at Podcamp Boston is the REASON there are so many folks signed up! How freakin' cool is that??? I would not DARE to think this many people are coming because of me or the other organizers, no matter how hard we worked. People are coming because they are infatuated with the IDEA. When I call potential sponsors or whoever, some of the first things they say are, "That's really cool." Then it's typically, "You don't get paid? And it's free?" (half amazed, half pity as they wonder if I'm an idiot).
BUT I'M NOT! Tough noogies to you and Penn, Chris! YOU created Podcamp and made us all fall in love with a transformative event that changed (at least in my case) my adult life! You're the victim of our success. :)
And you should be! You guys created a paradigm which can only insulate and support everyone who comes to PodCamp NYC. Do you want to know who I think the real rock stars are? The 40-60 teachers coming to the event (K-PhD level). These are the folks 'taking the tech' back to the kids who will likely have ALL our jobs in a year or so. They are the ones helping kids discover their voices and how to utilize this technology to transform the world through DIY and Citizen Journalism, etc.
I have some news for everyone reading and it may come as a shock: Community is as lean forward and DIY as Podcamp - PodCamp NYC cannot create community. Period. If you're worried that we may not be able to, you're right. Stay home. Cancel your flight.
COMMUNITY STARTS WITH YOU.
That said, Chris, as always, your specific ideas KICK BUTT and as Eric pointed out we're doing as many as we can (lighting sessions in the mezz, focusing positively on the sponsors as part of the community, etc.)
But we do desperately need you and other voices to understand/blog about the KEY difference between logistics and philosophy and that if we cater to the former we by NO MEANS are unaware of the latter. Even when we had 500 signups and 100 speakers, we wondered how best to make sure people knew where to go without discouraging a participatory feel. So we VERY MUCH NEED your/others' support if/when the core/grassroots community understandably disagrees with whatever we do, which (don't tell anyone) won't happen until later today. (Quick side note here; I have heard from dozens of our speakers asking when they're going to speak due to their travel arrangements and wanting to let their friends know when they're going to speak - so remember that sometimes a philosophical decision/preference on one end doesn't always cater to others who have given time to your event; good side conversation).
But I digress. GET PUMPED, WORLD! (Yes, just had coffee). Podcamp is coming to NYC and you best hope to heck you can be there because the community, content, last-minute mayhem, parties, learning, networking, bagels, taxicabs, and whatever else will BLOW YOUR MIND.
So can we just focus on that now? Please? PRETTY PLEASE???
CHRIS BROGAN ROCKS!!!!!
John C. Havens
Participant, PodCamp NYC
-Jon
So... what's a sponsor to do?
My PodCamp baptism was in Toronto, and I could pick at least 20 different parts of the event that set precedents for me, but the best one was the new definition of 'talks'. 'Talks' were conversations: if there was a part that was formal (and trust me, that word is used here as loosely as possible), it hardly took up half the allotted time, with the rest of the session becoming a conversation among the people in the room. THAT was the participatory element, and those were the moments that brought everyone onto the playing field, evenly and enthusiastically.
You can bask in the rockstar metaphor if you want, but I propose that we all look up at ourselves with wonder and leave the rockstargazing for others. Everybody has experiences and insights to share, everybody is as important as the next person, and everybody still puts on trousers one leg at a time. (And if you don't, I'll be looking for a demo in the hallway!)
(And even then, people still said afterwards, "Oh, I wish I'd heard about that," which proves you can never get in front of everybody fast enough...)
Having such a huge number of people at PodCamp NYC shouldn't be a problem as long as everyone remembers the basic tenets continually mentioned above: be social, be friendly, ask questions.
The biggest problem I see is the sheer amount of information available, and the trouble some folks may have in deciding what to see.
Solutions? Encourage people who arrived in groups, or from the same company, to NEVER attend the same session. That way, those folks get double the information to discuss afterwards, and meet double the people in the process.
Also, if the presentations are being recorded, make sure EVERYONE knows that so they can catch up on what they missed afterwards. It'll take a lot of the anxiety of choice out of the equation.
I love hearing people's discoveries after they leave a session. I love brainstorming ideas with those who are jazzed about what podcasting can do. I love being in a position to help someone figure it out as they go from podvirgin to podenthusiast.
My idea of community is to be available. So, if I can't attend each and every session, I don't bother. Instead, I'd rather be evangelizing and networking, so that people take their enthusiasm about podcasting to their businesses, their workplace and to their colleagues.
That's right! We were even picked up by some news outlets in the UK... international, baby!