Kennedy-Spaien, Dot Com

It has been over a week since the end of PodCamp Boston 3, and I’ve had some time to collect my thoughts on the experience. Here they are in no particular order:

1. It is rewarding to run a 1-on-1 101 session for a newbie.
2. Creating content on the fly is exciting, even if somewhat daunting.
3. Use websitegrader.com
4. That rule of 2 feet? Use it. Ruthlessly.
5. Chris Penn is a font of amazing practical knowledge. (Seems I re-learn this at each PodCamp I attend!)
6. Spend time in the brainstorming area.
7. See a useful freebie? Pick up an extra and then give it away on day 2 to someone who missed seeing them.
8. If at all possible, attend any extra social events in the evenings.
9. Occasionally, the Fail Whale can be amusing!
10. I’m not the only human with social media overload issues.
11. Never, ever doubt the power of a focused and like-minded group of creative thinkers (to crash a Harvard University load balancing server).
12. If you have a question, keep asking around until you get an answer.
13. Don’t assume presenters are recording the sessions they lead. Bring a media device of your own.
14. Don’t concentrate on networking with just A-listers or just peers, bring everyone into your social network, Today’s newb will probably be tomorrow’s Rock Star/Ninja.
15. Don’t condescend. You’re not all that.
16. Don’t get involved with melodrama: you’re here to learn and share, not star in a soap opera.
17. Have a ready answer for the question: “What do you do? / what are you working on?”
18. Polish up that elevator pitch!
19. Not everyone with an elevator pitch knows what he/she is talking about!
20. Give and give freely - it comes back to you.
21. Link to stories on CNN.com. They link back.
22. In July Heat, get specific directions to meetup places before setting out on foot to find them.
23. Bring a camera, even if audio is your shtick.
24. Bring a lanyard with a badge-holder.
25. Stuff your business cards into that badge-holder for quick access.
26. Drop your card in the raffle bowls!
27. Understand that a lot of the sessions may focus on Industry. If you don’t like that, create breakout sessions on stuff like “Using Audacity” or “WordPress SEO 101″.
28. Yes, your XYZ business should have a social media presence to one degree or another.
29. Is your site’s Raison d’Etre hard to succinctly describe? Figure out a simple way to say it and put it on your front page.
30. Guido Stein is a mensch - Find him and befriend him!
31. Whitney Hoffman’s kids are fully capable of leading a 101 “What is a PodCast” session.
32. No matter how good the alternatives are, Twitter is too sticky to go away (any time soon). They could drop the whale on a bus full of children, then bake their parents into meat-pies and people will still use Twitter over anything else.
33. Chris Brogan is not only a competent rhythm guitarist, but is amazingly good at extemporizing on social media themes. Search for a recording of the “New Media VS. Old” breakout session he moderated on day one to see what I mean.
34. Use Ping.fm to help avoid social media overload.

I’m really pleased with the current batch of projects I’m working on, and thought you might be interested in some of these yourself.

First, as always, I’m neck-deep in producing The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show With Jimmy Moore. This has gained a lot of prestige in the last few years. The show airs on Mondays and Thursdays and is currently featuring interviews with various low-carb celebrities and physicians. [I also did the theme customization for this site.]

Also, I’m producing the Twin Peas Blog and Podcast for host Kelly Damron. Kelly shares knowledge and experience dealing with issues of infertility, premature birth and parenting twins. I’m very proud of this one- it has tons of original music (by me) and the overall effect is similar to “This American Life”. [Another customized theme, here.]

Recently I completed a blog setup for the amazing Phoenix Gilman, author of Diet Failure: The Naked Truth.

Hmm, a common theme - everyone I’ve worked with lately is a published author!

Anyway, please check these out and, as always, please consider giving the shows a review in the iTunes store!

Links:

Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show Site and iTunes
The Twin Peas Pod site and iTunes
Diet Failure: The Naked Truth Blog
My company, Disc of Light Media and Consulting

Whaddaya think of them apples? Let me know in the comment section below!

I just got in from a drive. I was listening to NPR (which I always do unless listening to a Librivox Audiobook), and I tuned in to a truly ridiculous statement by John Ridley.

Ridley said –and I paraphrase– “In the future TV networks will earn money online, not from the content, but from owning web sites.” (around 4:23 of this clip)

I could not believe my ears! I wanted to rush home to blog this right away, but kept listening in hopes of gleaning some context for this really daft assertion. In actuality I had no idea who Ridley is, or why he would hold such a position.

As it turns out he has formerly been a screenwriter and director, but is currently a contributor of Morning Edition. He was guesting as a commentator on Talk of the Nation during this interview, where he came out against the Writers Guild’s leadership.

I’m glad I listened through to the end because a caller (Chuck) near the segment’s end (11:30) did challenge him on the statement. Ridley’s response was very muddle-headed, but seemed to be essentially:

“Yes, ads pay money. Yes advertisers are paying because people come to the site. Yes people come to the site because of the content. Still no money can be said to be made from the content because people are not paying dollars to view it. Therefore the striking writers are making a mountain out of a molehill.”

Hmm. And I thought NPR really grokked online content delivery.

Not that anyone should care if I follow them on Twitter, but because people are adding me at an alarming rate since PodCamp Boston 2 (and I’m talking about strangers, not people I met and swapped cards with) I’m going to be frank. If I don’t add you back, there’s a reason and it isn’t because you are a horrible person (I actually do follow some horrible people - they can be funny!).

When I get a notice that someone is following me, the first thing I do is go and check their last page or two of tweets. If it is all about their kids, dating, what they ate with no content that is related to social media, new media, web 2.x or something at least tangentially related, I probably will not add you back, although I will check your blog or web site and may still add you if that knocks my socks off.

Now, please understand that I am spoiled. For a long time I followed only a handful of folks and an even smaller subset of those followed me. I was able to maintain a twitterstream with a ridiculously clean signal-to-noise ratio. As a necessary evil I accept that as I follow more people there will be an increase in tweets about sporting events and favorite foods, even the antics of pets!

Rest assured, I want to follow you. I’m sure that by virtue of your being interested in what I have to say, I’d be interested in your thoughts and perceptions. So help me want to follow you, by tweeting those thoughts and perspectives. You can still post about the Patriots or the Celtics, but try to have some meat in there, too!

This is a response to a great post by Nicholas Butler called A Social Network Startup Pack.

Nicholas presented on the Social Media Startup Kit at PodCamp Boston 2. I sadly did not attend this session, but read the above post, and the following occurred to me:

Here’s a hint. If you are just starting to get into Social Media, by all means add the folks recommended in Nicholas’ blog. But you may find that many don’t add you back.

If your web presence is new and you haven’t yet really wrapped your brain around this whole “Social Media Thing” there may not be much in your Twitterstream that is of interest just yet.

Now, Many of these fine folks WILL add just about anyone back, but understand that with 2000 followers, they may not have the bandwidth to read all the stuff addressed to them on Twitter.

Many have secret profiles for those whose words they value most.

But, fear not! After you have become more established and have a body of relevant Tweets and blog posts linked to your Twitter profile, you can drop people and then re-add them. This gives them a second bite at the cookie of recognizing you as the valuable community member you are.

Fantastic. Met up with Ellen Moschetto and Pistachio and many more. Attended 3 sessions so far: Viva La Vida freelance (www.freelanceliving.wordpress.com - join the fun!), The Bigger, Better Deal Of Podcasting with Chris Brogan and David Eckoff (touchy feely wellness and empowerment goodness) and The New Rules Of PR with David Meerman Scott, which was invaluable. Grab his free ebook at http://davidmeermanscott.com/.

I’ll edit later to add more links.

I will be at PodCamp Boston’s Kickoff party (Thanks to sponsor The Student Loan Network) at Tequila Moon in Kenmore Square this evening. Look me up, shake my hand and tell me your life story… I’m always looking for material!

… but hey, that doesn’t mean I’m not ready and eager for any leads that come my way! I’m toiling away at some labor-intensive tasks at the moment: I have CD orders to fill, I’m hand-coding (yes, people still do that!) a new Disc of Light Publishing Group corporate web site and my good friend Becky McCray has asked me to submit a case study on going solo for her blog. Link to follow.

In the mean time, while you may not see me on Twittter as much as I’d like, I’m still available via phone and email!

As of October first, 2007, I am no longer an employee and am making the Disc of Light Media Group, run by myself and my wife Eve, my full time focus.

Wow, that was a scary sentence to write, but an exciting one as well! It is auspicious that PodCamp Boston II is happening so soon, as lots of my friends will be there for support (and networking - hint, hint!).

What does Disc of Light Media Group do? Well, several things. First, it is a music label dedicated to personal growth and meditation materials. We currently have a wholesale trade with certain New England area hospitals, but our retail program has become moribund, and I will focus some energies there.

Also, I am carrying on executive producing the podcast “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show With Jimmy Moore” and the video program “Healthy Helpings TV” that originated with Grasshopper New Media. I am glad to take on more clients of this type on a consulting basis. [In the previous sentence, "consulting" should be construed as "fee-based".]

I create custom music and provide audio pre- and post-production for audio and video projects. Need your audio of that important interview cleaned up? I’m the guy!

In addition to hundreds of podcast episodes of original music and theme songs, I am an alumni of the film-scoring department of the Berklee College of Music.

Lastly, Disc of Light performs consulting services for bloggers and podcasters. We are particularly interested in adding clients in the area of Food-related projects and cooking shows.

I am planning on developing the www.Disc-of-Light.com website to reflect these changes. Currently that site is exclusively for our music label.

For the curious, a “Disc of Light” is either a chakra or a reference to optical media (CD, DVD). Take your pick!

Please keep Disc of Light in mind for any opportunities you may have or hear about!