1 week until PodCamp WesternMass - April 7 - save and buy your tickets today!

I am part of the organizing committee for the social media learning and sharing event. If you would like additional details, feel free to reach out and ask. This is where I go to learn what is or isn't working in the social media world.

Tickets are $45 today, $50 April 1, or $15 for students. Holyoke is only a 90 minute drive!

April 7th at HCC

PodCamp Western Mass #10 April 7, 2018 Kittredge Center at Holyoke Community College April 2018 7 PodCamp WesternMass #10 is a week away... And in case you've been wondering whether PodCamp is for you, here are 5 Reasons why you should join us: If you're an absolute beginner (or nearly so), we have sessions for you. It's an unconference for everyone, at every stage of the game.  If you have experience or tips to share, your bringing that to the community is what fuels PodCamp. Help facilitate a session or just schmooze in the hallways. It's all valuable. Meet others who are on the path with you - running a business, starting a new one, doing community work, or just learning how to get the word out better. We're all in this together! Hang out and make friends. Seriously! This is an event that has the super-power of attracting the nicest people. We don't know quite why....we just know it's true. Did we mention the food? Your ticket price includes coffee in the morning, a delicious healthy lunch and happy hour snacks at our 4:30 gathering at Slainte. So, no need to pack a lunch, just grab your laptop, a smart phone, tablet or a pad of paper.   Your ticket price includes: Coffee and tea when you arrive 5 Classroom sessions of your choosing A fabulous, healthy lunch, including gluten-free & dairy-free options Networking happy hour with munchies If you already bought your ticket, we can't wait to see you! And because sharing is caring, please forward this to a friend or colleague who should be there with you! Get your tickets here. If you have any questions, just hit reply. We'd love to hear from you! See you soon, The PodCamp Organizing Team Copyright © 2018 PodCamp Western Mass, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: PodCamp Western Mass 20 Northampton Street Easthampton, MA 01027 Add us to your address book

PCWM granted permission to 110

Podcamp Western Mass #5 was held appropriately at the Kittredge Center on the campus of Holyoke Community College.

Michael Kittredge, Class of '73 gave back to the place that granted him to permission to accomplish what he did.

"HCC was there and accepted me. It gave me the important start I needed. For the first time in my life, adults not only gave me permission to follow my interests, they actually encouraged me and spurred me to seek excellence."

Kittredge Center

When folks were asked to declare how many had come to PCWM before, about half the room raised their hands. Which also was confirmed when the other half of the room raised their hands acknowledging that they were newbies! Hopefully, they were following in Kittredge's footsteps and PCWM was the event to enable them to "seek excellence!"

Who was Michael Kittredge?
For those in New England they may recognize the Yankee Candle Company. He founded it.

Christmas 1969. Seventeen-year-old Mike Kittredge, too broke to buy his mother a present, melted some crayons to make her a candle. A neighbor saw it and convinced Mike to sell the candle to her. With that small stake, he bought enough wax to make two candles - one for his mom, and another to sell. That was the birth of Yankee Candle.

Was it important to have some teenagers and students present and participate at PodCamp? Sure, it was.
Will they be as successful as Michael? Time will tell!

artfulness

The art piece hanging in the hallway provided an good setting for the session wall. The artfulness dripped down and spread!

Morriss Partee

Morriss Partee opened the event with an overview of the day and the event logistics.

brightness definitely within the room!

The nature of a podcamp or unconference is to create an overall structure within which flexibility, creativity, and serendipity can occur.

session wall

Many such conversations occurred at the session wall. Where are you going next? Oh really, that sounds good. Maybe they could do that together? Do you think they'll cover that? Do you know the speaker?

The community that is developing in and around PodCamp WesternMass I find special. There is an openness, a willingness to explore. It does help to have had the conference grow gradually. The 110 folks who participated this weekend are about the optimal size for an event like this. Enough variety and diversity. A larger group would force more structure into the logistics and take away from the spontaneity this size can facilitate.

My thanks to all the participants, fellow organizers and of course, especially to the sponsors: you came together learning, sharing and creating a great event!


Links and additional information on my session for Blogging 101 will be are posted separately
http://steves2cents.blogspot.com/2013/03/pcwm-blogging-101.html

Time to get your tickets!

Ticket sales for PodCamp WesternMass end on Monday, March 25th.

Why so early?
Since you as a ticket purchaser are helping to sponsor the event, we want to make it a good one for you. Good as in enough food, drink, snacks during the day. Enough t-shirts for attendees.
To that we need to know the all important planning number, how many are coming to PodCamp?

What will happen at PodCamp?
There will be learning and sharing and networking and all kinds of goodness! Learning about the new technologies mixed with the social part of social media in real life.

How much will it cost?
It is a great bargain. $30 for about 8 hours of learning, that is less than $4 per hour. Where would you pay so little for so much learning? Students get a ticket at half price ($15).

What is the schedule?
The schedule for the day is flexible. The photo here shows the session wall during the 2nd event at Westfield St College. Sessions can be added and changed to meet the needs and answer questions of the attendees. With the event scheduled to start at 9:00 AM, the Welcome desk will be open about 8:30 AM. Get your name tag, have some coffee, etc., propose a session or encourage some one to do a session.

#PCWM2 session wall

Should I go?
Yes, you should be there!

PodCamp WesternMassPodCamp is an un-conference about social media and online networking. It is an open and collaborative event with discussions and interaction from attendees. Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is welcome and invited to join. Some sessions will be planned ahead of the event, but plenty of spaces will be open for the topics YOU want to discuss and learn. Tickets are $30 ($15 for students), but all are expected to participate and/or present. You can participate by giving a presentation, demo, or joining into another cooperative event, being on a panel/roundtable, or in other ways helping out on event day.
Saturday, March 30 at Holyoke Community College

For registration and additional information visit http://pcwm5.eventbrite.com/
(Note I am helping to organize this event!)

SOBCon 2012

SOBCon is more than a conference, for me, it is a key entry in my personal learning network. This is my prime event each year to connect with new folks, reconnect with folks from prior years, learn and share. "Taking the blog off the blog" as Phil Gerbyshak is fond of saying. "Where the virtual meets concrete" is the tagline for the event and appropriately so.

Will I see you in Chicago?

The SOBCon event schedule, speakers and registration info can be found here  http://www.sobevent.com/

Place to be to learn and share

Unfortunately, my schedule has conspired against me getting to the 4th PodCamp WesternMA but I hope that doesn't mean you can't go. PodCamp is a wonderful thing. I truly hope that you can go!



Other events coming up:

PodCamp Connecticut is looking to set a date.

FiberCamp will be held March 9-11
http://www.commoncod.com/2012/01/31/fibercamp-boston-2012/

NewBCamp in Providence will be held Apr 28
http://www.freegeekprovidence.org/events/newbcamp/

#pcwm
#fibercamp
#newbcamp

PodCamp Western Mass 4

Yes, the fourth edition of PodCamp Western Mass is approaching. Tickets just went on sale for the event to be held at Holyoke Community College on Feb 25th.

Alas, I will miss this one as the Franklin Food Pantry will be conducting day 2 of our annual phone drive.

Just because I will miss this, doesn't mean you should too!

Tickets can be purchased here   http://pcwm4.eventbrite.com/

You can join the Facebook group http://www.facebook.com/PodCampWesternMa

#PCWM4
#PCWM

WhereCamp is next week

I Spatial Boston

It's only a week away Hi everyone, I am very excited to remind everyone that next week is the first WhereCamp Boston. So far we have around 50 people signed up for each day and some great keynote speakers to help give us perspective on spatial technology. We are currently limiting the registration to 150 people and need you to register ASAP to make sure that we have enough refreshments and to add you to the security list. Looking forward to seeing you there, Guido Stein Lead Organizer Register For WhereCamp Boston Now Please register ASAP before tickets run out. If we don't get your registration before Wednesday, you run the risk of going hungry on Saturday or Sunday, and nobody wants that! What is WhereCamp Boston WhereCamp Boston is a volunteer-created unconference for anyone interested in geography and technology. This year's event will be happening October 29th-30th, with a two full days of unconference sessions and keynotes at the Microsoft NERD Center in Kendall Square. An unconference is a conference planned by the participants through an online wiki and at the event. The event is open to anyone, but you don't just attend WhereCamp Boston — you can host or participate in discussions, demo your projects, or join another cooperative event. WhereCamp Boston topics include: GIS, web mapping, technology, marketing, startups, development, social media, gadgets, communities, design, hardware hacking, entrepreneurship, open source software, mobilecomputing, social software, and much, much more! For more about this event please visit http://wherecampboston.com IgniteSpatialBoston 89 followers 133 tweets following 84 people follow Latest Tweets Just posted some screencasts about participating on the wiki for #WhereCamp #Boston http://t.co/xakJAqnK7:03PM THIS WEEKEND: #Local #Food #Fun for everyone http://j.mp/dtDcKt #blff #Boston #Event #Yum (pls RT)1:41PM WhereCamp Boston is looking for sponsors, can you help out? http://j.mp/oTGUYd #wherebos8:19AM WhereCamp Boston 2011 Registration is Open - http://t.co/YnkMfatR12:59PM #WhereCamp #Boston is coming together, will launch website after #FOSS4G1:13PM Share this email Contact Us info@ispatialboston.com

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You are receiving this email because you registered for an I Spatial Event. Copyright (C) 2011 I Spatial Boston All rights reserved.

Another successful event

Many were not sure what they were getting into. What is an unconference? How come the schedule is not complete? How will we know what there is?

Those who came and were willing to let things happen found out how good it was. They ended up with choices of good sessions to participate in. If they had a tough choice, and wanted a session repeated, in many cases it was.

We started the day with about 9 sessions already filled in on the board with others ready to go depending upon the wants and needs of the group. At the end of the Job Search Jam Sessions 3, this is what the schedule board looked like. We had provided 22 sessions over the course of the five time slots providing choices for each time slot and repeating many of the sessions.




(Yes, the sticky notes didn't want to stay on the shiny white board and even with masking tape, they had trouble staying in place.)

How many people came? 49 people participated, 31 of the 35 who pre-registered showed up along with 18 walk-ins.

A great big thank you to the other organizers and speakers who made this event possible.

Job Search Jam Sessions 3 - tickets available

Online event registration for Job Search Jam Sessions 3 powered by Eventbrite

For additional information about this event, please visit
http://jobsearchjamsessions.blogspot.com/

Three C's in Beantown

The second annual WordCamp Boston was held this weekend on the campus of Boston University. What is WordCamp? A real diverse gathering of folks with a single unifying interest, WordPress. An unconference focused on the tool as the gathering point, the subject matter, the content.

Once you gather folks around content, you get conversation! It just happens. It is a human thing. People talk. What do you do? How did you do that? You don't say, I know so and so too!

The conversations can go in many directions and many do. The conversations can be short. A passing "hello, how are you?" in a corridor or just get started over a question. To be continued by exchanging contact information with whatever is handy when business cards are not available.

The conversations occur in forums like this. In scheduled meet ups. Online in any number of places utilizing any number of tools. Over time the conversations build a community. It grows organically. People step forward to lead, others having done what they wanted to do can step aside. Some folks participate more than others. All of this is known and understood as a human thing.

There are many opportunities for these kinds of gatherings, folks coming together to learn and share. PodCamp Boston will occur on Sep 24, 25. Spread out your radar to look for key words in your subject area. Follow up with the folks you met, ask them "where else will they go?"

The first step is yours.

#wcbos

RI Community Camp - photo recap

Some balloons marked the entrance to RI Community Camp at RISD:




Great advice from @cspenn to help set the context for this event:




One of the major tenants of the unconference concept is explained by @saranicole




In the facilitated but purely unconferenced session on Facebook, Kevin Vine gets into the conversation:



A great event, lots of good conversations. If you have not had the experience of an unconference, you need to do one. Stay tuned for unconference information as I hear of them in New England.

Personal branding - 2nd session notes from Community Camp

My notes from the second session of Community Camp held on Saturday, Apr 23 at RISD.

The seats have cushions in Room 412, yes!

set up your account, go out and listen
pay attention to what others are doing

get into a LinkedIn Group, in medical equipment, go to a buyers group and listen
Glide can understand slang or the context with slang

follow key targeted people within the company and not just the company
keep it social, don’t just send a sales pitch

Dr Sam Lam
http://lfp-blog.com/

http://lfp-blog.com/


Other examples
http://garyvaynerchuk.com/

http://danschawbel.com/

http://www.davidmeermanscott.com/bio.htm

if you want to be found and recognized, use the same image everywhere
some folks change it far too frequently

for those with visual work, this is a good site to look at
http://www.behance.net/

Klout provides a rating for social presence
http://klout.com/home

somewhat controversial - look at Charlie Sheen’s score of 90, how?

JoAnn says “Klout is a mood ring”

Twitter Counter, even the free version gives better info
http://twittercounter.com

Driving Traffic - sessions notes from Community Camp

 Driving traffic to a website

questions
how to use social bookmarking sites
website referenced with LinkedIn

local search and the professional directors are the places to be
engage with the positive reviews, do damage control for the negative reviews

http://www.thumbtack.com/

http://www.hotfrog.com/

http://www.yelp.com/

http://www.merchantcircle.com/corporate/

http://www.brownbook.net/

Youtube links are highly rated, consider using video, create a channel
http://www.youtube.com/

if you don’t have time to do this full time, how much of this is a one time setup and then let it go with minimum maintenance

a lot goes into setting it up, local search can take care of itself once set up

https://foursquare.com/

http://hootsuite.com/ up to five accounts for free, can assign team members to accounts

posterous
https://posterous.com/

http://nutshellmail.com/

Google Alerts
http://www.google.com/alerts/

Radian6 is not for the local personal blog, company

BatchBlue
http://batchblue.com/

Go to where your audience is, comment on their blog, they'll find you and come to your page

FiberCamp Photos

I did a brief write up telling some of my adventures at FiberCamp on Saturday. Here is the full photo set from the day.




Enjoy!

Adventures at FiberCamp

Fiber Camp?
Yes, using the unconference format folks come together to share and learn about knitting, crocheting, spinning and other aspects of working with fiber. Wool, cotton, rainbows or colors, or white (which can also be dyed later).

Why do you go to Fiber Camp?
I go to volunteer to work the welcome and registration desk. The check-in process helps to set the stage for the conversation and experience of the day. And oh, I do get to meet a lot of folks. This is the second Fiber Camp, so I got to see some new folks and get re-acquainted with some I met last year.

Guido Stein (@guidos) tries out one of the spinning wheels at a vendor table just before his own drop spinning session.

There are showcases of finished projects.

There are displays of colored yarns of all kinds

After the opening session, the 'campers' came back to the main corridor

Sarah shows her current project

Sarah records how to do a particular stitch

Alisdair talks with Hilda about double knitting

If there isn't a good session to go to, there is also an opportunity to just hang out

Why knit?
This bag says something that has been echoed in many conversations during the day.

If you get a chance to participate in a #fibercamp, please do so.

Attention: knitters, crocheters, weavers, spinners, dyers, and anyone curious about fiber crafts

For the fiber crafters amongst us, a good event this weekend at MIT.

FiberCamp Boston is a PodCamp like community un-conference for fiber craft enthusiasts including knitters, crocheters, weavers, spinners, dyers, and anyone curious about fiber crafts. Fibercamp is based on the fact that everyone has something to share and teach. Connect with the community by sharing your passion.

More about FiberCamp on their website


You can register via Eventbrite here


The FiberCamp blog with information from last year's event can be found here

PodCamp New Hampshire recap

I did not get to PodCamp New Hampshire this weekend. Unfortunately, the Food Pantry and family commitments took priority on Saturday. Due to the wonders of the PodCamp participants and use of technology, I could find out some of what was happening. Bruce Garber did this recap of his day. Following the Twitter hashtag #PCNH helped to catch the conversation. Now, post event, searching for that hashtag should turn up other recaps like this one.



I will get to PCNH sometime, it is the only New England one that I haven't been too (yet).

You can help PodCamp CT

You can help PodCamp Connecticut get out of a classical Catch-22. They are an ad-hoc group trying to run a non-profit event and caught up in the financial restrictions around that.

What can you do?
Commit to attend PodCamp CT on October 16th here and make arrangements to get the $20 to one of the organizers.



Please spread the word they need 50 registrations by Sep 30th.

Thanks for your help!

You're invited to attend PodCamp Boston 5, Sept. 25-26, 2010

Are you ready for the future?


Are you new to new media like blogging, podcasting, Twitter, Facebook, and wondering where to get started?
Are you a veteran of all things 2.0 and wondering what to learn next to propel you into future success?


PodCamp Boston, now in its 5th year, aims to help you answer these questions and many more. On September 25-26, 2010 at the facility of Microsoft New England Research and Development Center, PodCamp Boston will bring together the best and the brightest - including you - for two days of learning, sharing, and growing your social media skills.


Who should attend PodCamp Boston?
You. It doesn't matter where you are on your social media journey, whether you just starting Tweeting yesterday or whether you're one of the decade-long bloggers. It doesn't matter whether you're the CEO of a Fortune 50, a director of a non-profit, or a guy who likes to knit on the air. What does matter is that you are an expert in something. You have questions AND answers, and PodCamp Boston is the best opportunity to contribute and learn all at once.


What will you learn at PodCamp Boston?
PodCamp is driven by what YOU want to learn and share. Twitter? Sure. Facebook? Of course. Blogging? Definitely. Podcasting? By the bucket. Last year we introduced a way to have more conversations and less presenting with discussions.  This year we want to continue that success and give you the opportunity to learn about the things that would help YOU.


More important, we want you, as you register, to consider leading a session in which you pose a burning question that you absolutely must get the answer to. Maybe you need to know how to figure out the ROI of Facebook. Maybe you need to learn how to make great Internet video. Whatever your burning question is, we want you to ask it at PodCamp.


Take a look at some of the planned topics:

• Clearing the Hurdles - on pitching social media marketing initiatives 
• Blogging 100/101/102 
• Preparing for the future - What tips, techniques, tactics, and ideas can we share for preparing for the future? 
• Monitoring, Management & the Promise of Social CRM 
• Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare... It's Taking Over Our Lives! 
• Social Media for Fundraising and Nonprofit Marketing

Ready to get started?
PodCamp Boston 5 is a mere $50 to participate, but we guarantee you'll get so much more. Not only will you benefit but the net proceeds from the event will be donated to the Greater Boston Food Bank feeding some very hungry kids in the Boston area.  Register today, as we've only got a little over a hundred spots left, and they're going wicked fast.


Register now for PodCamp Boston »
After you've registered, share this with your network and invite them to come to PodCamp Boston with you!

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We'll see you there!

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One Memorial Drive
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Cambridge, MA 02142

job search notes: Jam sessions progress

Job Search Jam Sessions 2 will be held on Friday October 1 at the St John Evangelist Parish Center in Hopkinton, MA.

The registration and networking will open at 8:30. The event will begin at 9:00 with an overview of the unconference format and completion of the session topics for the day.

There will be five session blocks with eight rooms available for each block. Plenty of room for big topics and small discussions.

The last session will wrap up about 3:45 PM and after a recap of the day, you should be free to take what you have learned and put it into action by 4:00 PM.

The schedule outline for the longer day for the Job Search Jam Sessions 2 is complete.
http://jobsearchjamsessions.blogspot.com/2010/08/schedule-ready-to-be-filled-in.html

We also set up a quick survey to gather suggestions for session topics. You can lead a session or suggest a topic that you would at least like to see covered during the day.
http://jobsearchjamsessions.blogspot.com/2010/08/wanted-session-topic-suggestions.html

Is there a topic you would like to see addressed? or would care to lead? Fill in the survey!