I posted a paragraph in my earlier ‘To Fee Or Not To Fee’ post, which really summed up where I think PodCamps ought to be heading, and promised I’d expand on it. The paragraph in question, just for reference, said:

To me, PodCamps seemed to be designed to bring new people into new media. To TEACH people what a podcast was, what blogging was, how to get your video podcast started or some basic SEO to ensure your blog didn’t get lost in the fray of the web. PodCamp, to me at least, wasn’t about the free food, or the free t-shirt, or the after-parties, or even the “fishbowl” people coming together to see each other. To me, PodCamp was about taking OUR community, and sharing it with others, to GROW the community, and bring new people in. It was the “new media school” in a day or two, and should have been used to expand the fishbowl into the aquarium. Then a pond. Then a lake. and, well, you get the idea.

So what of that? I’ve been tossing around the idea in my head (and out loud) to a few people that I’d like to open up here for discussion.  The idea is simply a new media crash course. A handful or organizers, a single room, and a draft schedule. Free food? Not required, but awesome if it’s present. A free tee? Again, not needed – but a cool addition. Essentially, bring PodCamp back to it’s basics. The only costs, really, would be the room rental (At say a local school or library), advertising (Because, as you’ll see soon, the web won’t necessarily work), and name badges. Tadaa. Instant Mini Podcamp.

So what do you talk about? Everything – but in it’s basic form. So you’d run a session on the web in general, then one on getting started in blogging, podcasting, and video podcasting. Perhaps you can toss some web tools (Delicious, flickr, twitter and the like) into a session, some basic SEO perhaps, and maybe a touch on the new media business models. Just enough to whet someone’s appetite, but not enough to sustain them. Why? To get THEM thinking about this space and the medium.

But, I can already see the comment being typed, won’t that create new content creators? Well, maybe. But it will, in any case, create the potential for new content consumers, too. This is where the advertising comes into play. You don’t WANT to have this be a “fishbowl”/”echo chamber” gathering. What these events need to be is a door opening to extend the community. The podcasting/new media space won’t grow if it’s the same folk listening to and participating in everything all the time. And it seems to me like new adoption levels are really tapering off.

But what to call this event? I tossed around the idea of PodCamp ODOT, short for One Day One Track… But have never really liked the sound of it. BitCamp? PodCampMini? PodCampFire? Having a look at the official 7 6 rules for PodCamp, it could simply be called a PodCamp. Anyone who wants to speak can, release the whole day under CC-by-nc-sa, open the doors until your room is full, don’t charge a cent, allow people to come and go as they please, focus on new media, and disclose finances in an open ledger.

So who is the market here? Local folk. Because you don’t want this to become a “fishbowl” gathering, the event should really focus on getting a local audience. Advertising in local newspapers, on radio and on tv would be a great start. Remember too, that community event listings are often free. Posters at local colleges, universities and high schools are great too. Maybe local like-minded businesses would allow a poster to go up. The point here is to keep things local.  Who can host one? Well, anyone, really. Would Toronto be a candidate? Or Boston? Or NYC? Maybe – it would depend on how it was done. Perhaps Mississauga, or Cambridge, or Manhattan. Or Kingston. Or Erie, PA.

Feedback?