The story of (another) conference: PodCamp Nashville

Wade Kwon at PodCamp Nashville

Wade Kwon speaks at PodCamp Nashville.
Photo by Mitch Canter of Studio NashVegas.

I love speaking at conferences. I love meeting people at conferences.

And … I love curating conferences.

As a first-time attendee and speaker at PodCamp Nashville in 2012, I had the opportunity to cover it in two ways at once: Pinterest and Storify.

A few definitions …

PodCamp is a volunteer-run grass roots conference that focuses on new media: blogging, social media, social networking, podcasting and video.

Pinterest is a social network that allows pinners to visually curate finds from the Web and from other pinners.

Storify is a platform that allows users to collect links, tweets, photos, videos and other elements to create stories around social media and website items.

I put together two different super-narratives of the conference (included below).

My first one was my PodCamp Nashville 2012 pinboard, which included every slide deck, Instagram pic, video and blog tour post I could find. It’s rich in content for those who attended and those who missed out.

The pros of Pinterest include tagging of other pinners (for example, the speaker who made the slide deck), active hashtags (so #pcn12 could be used to find all pins), instant metrics (Likes, comments and Repins) and great visual appeal (see the conference at a glance).

Embedding into a blog post took some work, including the installation of the WP Pinterest plugin. I’ve included 15 of the 122 pins you’ll find on the original pinboard.

My second one was a Storify feature, My trip to PodCamp Nashville 2012. I selected a handful of photos and added my own narrative throughout to take you through my first visit to this conference.

The pros of Storify include showing off great photography (with photos shown at close to full size), full control over the sequence (though you’re stuck with a vertical format) and easy embedding into your own blog (I encourage others to embed my Storify posts on their sites, too).

Plus, anyone (even non-Storify users) can Like or Share any element in my post. Try it below.

Maybe someone is already curating their take on PodCamp Nashville 2013 (with threeblogposts already published for the blog tour). They may be pinning them to Pinterest or saving them on Storify or even just writing a good old fashioned blog post.

And maybe someone is already shaping their own social story of Y’all Connect. I can’t wait to read their stories …

Pinboard: PodCamp Nashville 2012

 

 

Storify: My trip to PodCamp Nashville 2012

My trip to PodCamp Nashville 2012

Highlights of my trip and presentation in April

Storified by Wade Kwon· Mon, Apr 16 2012 12:12:10

I had always wanted to visit a tech event in Nashville, but I’ve missed all the BarCamps and PodCamps to date (and I used to think PodCamps were about podcasting).

Fortunately, I managed to squeeze in PodCamp Nashville 2012 on April 14, including a chance to present “How to Win Awards and Influence Readers in 439 Days and 668 Posts.”
The weather was perfect, a beautiful day on Broadway.
Always make sure to grab a shot of the batman building after a camp. #pcn12alexpatindesign
The traditional venue is Tequila Cowboy (formerly Cadillac Ranch). Most of the speaking rooms were good, save for the open air second floor space, which competed with the bar’s crowd noise. Glad I didn’t have to present there.
Seizing the day at PodCamp Nashville (Taken with Instagram at Cadillac Ranch)cityofthedes
The bar area itself (complete with Caddy overhead) is big, though attendance was down this year by at least 25 percent. I was told this made for a less crowded but comfortable event.
Setting up at #pcn12jasonamyers
DSC_0064Wonderdawg777
DSC_0622Wonderdawg777
DSC_0404Wonderdawg777
DSC_0452Wonderdawg777
DSC_0517Wonderdawg777
Volunteers make this event happen. Daniel Weigh @jaf0, on the right, and I finally got a chance to meet after tweeting to each other before the conference.
DSC_0150Wonderdawg777
My presentation was straightforward: Hop onstage and do my thing for 30 minutes. I’m glad I was able to attract several photogs to my 1:30 p.m. talk. 🙂

I didn’t capture video, since I already had a good one from giving the same talk at WordCamp Birmingham.
Wade Kwon rocking out #pcn12studionashvegas
The slides for my talk on advanced content marketing.
How to Win Awards and Influence Readers in 439 Days and 668 PostsAdvanced content management. Presented at WordCamp Birmingham 2012, Jan. 14, 2012, in Birmingham, Alabama. For more, visit http://birming…
Great tweets from the audience sum up the key points.
@wadeontweets #pcn12blog Blogging: Don’t have a plan, have a direction, focus and an objective. Good advice for life. God laughs at plans.Dr. Syb
more diversity = more chances to succeed #pcn12blog.Daniel Weigh
"I think negative comments are ok because comments are love." @WadeOnTweets #pcn12blogEmily
DSC_0666Wonderdawg777
Mentions of Birmingham’s excellent dining scene always pique excitement.
Def agree with @wadeontweets. Birmingham has awesome eating. #pcn12 blogCindy Wall
@wadeontweets http://itswa.de/bhamsbest #pcn12blog blog baby blog!Daniel Weigh
Me in the upper left!
More reasons why I love #pcn12!alexpatindesign
Engaging an audience and blogging #pcn12sinizine
Me on the right!
More awesome pics from #pcn12!alexpatindesign
As you can see, super crowded. 🙂

My joke for speaking gigs: I get paid the same whether 5 people or 500 show up.
Great discussion about diversity in your blog. @WadeonTweets #pcn12 #pcn12blog http://pic.twitter.com/Wk6nr5Y3Chris McCulley
I missed the first two sessions, thanks to my sleeping through the 5 a.m. alarms. But I did sit in on other sessions, as well as meet some of the great folks working in the Nashville area. I hope to return to Nashville in the fall for BarCamp, one of the biggest tech events in the region.
•••

Resources:

My post with the video of my talk from WordCamp.
More from WordCamp Birmingham 2012: Video on advanced content managementYou’ve seen the slides, now own the movie. Check out the 30-minute video from my WordCamp Birmingham 2012 presentation, "How to Win Award…
My Pinterest board with slides, more photos, more blog posts and other odds and ends.
PodCamp Nashville 2012Presentations, slides, videos, blog posts and more from PodCamp Nashville 2012. #pcn12

PodCamp Nashville 2013 takes place May 4 at Hotel Preston. The event is free and open to everyone, but advance online registration is required.

Be sure to sure to say hi, because I’ll have a special $30 Y’all Connect discount code for PodCampers, plus a bonus $5 discount if you buy your tickets on the spot.

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About Wade Kwon

Wade Kwon, chief haiku writer

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