“It’s a Change”

We’ve had a few reactions to a change we made for this years event. We figured we would get some questions about that and already had ideas as to what we’d say but wanted to sit back and gauge what the community had to say.

So we announced the date and opened registration, sat back and watched. It didn’t take long to get a few comments. Actually, less then I had expected. After a bit I said I’d get a post up explaining our move. I had every intention on doing that last Friday, I had the post mostly written, lost it and got distracted by some personal issues, sorry but somethings take precedence.

So, if you’ve made the jump over to register you’ve seen that this year PodCamp London costs money to register.

Short answer, we want to create a barrier to make the conference better.

Longer answer. It’s hard to plan a conference when you don’t really know how many people will show up. Take last year for example. With 250+ registrants, we know there will be no shows which is fine to a degree. When it’s 25%, or more, it makes it very hard to budget things like food. Our hope is to stop people who don’t add value to the overall conference

…

PodCamp London 2011

It’s that time of year again, PodCamp London time.

The Oompa Loompas hibernated over the past 10 months but are now back at work trying to make sure that PodCamp London 2011 tops last year’s event.

When

This time around PodCamp London will be happening a little later, so mark on your calendars Saturday June 11th, 2011 as PodCamp London Day. Why later? Well we wanted to shake things up and make sure we had super nice weather this time. Who knows, you might want to ditch an afternoon session and go and frolic outdoors. Yes, we said frolic. &nbsp

Where

Because it was such a great venue last year we’ve decided to return to the Convergence Centre at the UWO Research Park for this year’s instalment. Not only will we have an opportunity to teach, learn and converse in a beautiful building but everyone will get a chance to see what has developed with UnLondon and the UnLab over the past year.

Who

Wondering who will be attending, speaking and sponsoring this great event? Well the simple answer is YOU! Registration is open now, space will be limited. We are actively seeking sponsorship, if you or anyone you know is interested head to the sponsorship page. And sign up to speak here. Stay tuned to this website and Twitter for the most up to date news on PodCamp London 2011 happenings.

What

Oh, and for those of you who are asking “Whats a …

Time to Interact!

So you’ve had a teaser of the Twitter application that rtraction’s worked hard to build that will be featured at PodCamp London tomorrow; but how exactly are we all going to use it? When you show up nice and early to register and get a t-shirt and badge, you’ll see a highly interactive floor plan showing avatars of everyone whose using Twitter at PodCamp.

When you tweet a message with the hash tag #pclo10 a personalized avatar is generated and you become part of the game. As you attend a new session you are encouraged to “check into” the room using the room’s name as a  hash tag. For example tweet the tag #maple to move to the maple room. The application also has a schedule built in, so you can find out whats going on, what’s coming up next, and where its all happening.

If you want to be taken off the screen then you can can leave by tweeting “#pclo #bye” and you’re avatar will be removed.

A big part of PodCamp is interaction so be sure to connect with people. Hopefully you can also take the time to meet new people and strike up new friendships.

Bill Deys Talks To TechAlliance

Podcamp London organizer Bill Deys talks to TechAlliance’s Katrina Hass about community, the event, and why TechAlliance has chosen to support this year’s UnConference.

Download: MOV

Thank Yous, Directions and More!

Here at PodCamp London Headquarters we wanted to take a moment to thank our Community Partner TechAlliance as without them PodCamp London 2010 would not be possible.

TechAlliance empowers London and Southwestern Ontario’s technology sector. We prepare today’s entrepreneurs to launch new ventures, provide education and networking opportunities to accelerate business growth for small-to-medium enterprises, and serve our 150+ members as advocates for the region’s thriving technology, life sciences and advanced manufacturing companies.

TechAlliance’s support throughout the weeks and months leading up until PodCamp London has been invaluable. Because of their commitment to both the technology sector and the local social media community, the PodCamp Organizing Team has been more than happy to work with them to bring you PodCamp London 2010.

Location & Parking

When you arrive at PodCamp London on Saturday you might want to have some details of where to go and where to park.

If you are anything like me, you may get lost when trying to complete simple tasks like trying to find your sunglasses when they are on top of your head. Because of this we have put together a little map of the venue area to help out those who might be “geographically challenged”.