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PodCamp Does Not Have to be Free

posted on October 29, 2007

PodCamp SignA quick sharing of information as I have a million things to do post PodCamp, but had to share this bit of information.

During the closing of PodCamp Boston 2 it was announced that Rule #4 of PodCamp is now gone. That was the rule that said “must be free.”

A certain level of commitment needs to be put in place. When you book venues, food and people book flights from around the globe to attend something it is important that everyone is commited. When seven speakers just don’t show up for an event it’s obvious that there is not the level of commitment that needs to be there.

This isn’t about making money. It’s about making sure that people who register will in fact be there. I’m sure Chris and Chris will be talking more about this, but I wanted to help get the news out there.

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  • http://inoveryourhead.net julien

    @steve rhodes: dude, as if. the people who are flying in can afford 20 bucks. and the locals who can’t afford it can get friends to pitch in.

    neil gorman couldn’t originally afford to come in, but we put together like 400 bucks to get him there. that was about 4 donations, afaik, so there’s plenty of ways to get people who are broke to the event.

  • http://www.markblevis.com Mark Blevis

    @steve rhodes, @julien: To Julien’s point, there are some conferences that have offered scholarships that were well publicized and that very few people applied for. In one case, five scholarships were available, two people applied.

    As Julien points out, there are many ways for the community to support and sustain itself. The trick is to be creative. More importantly, if you feel that a free event is necessary, grab a few folks and organize one in your area. Prove that PodCamp doesn’t need to be for-fee even though it could be.

  • http://www.bobgoyetche.com Bob Goyetche

    I don’t get the anger over this decision. If you are podcasting, you have the $50 or whatever.. Let’s not forget that we’re in a luxury space here folks.. If you can afford to have the equipment to podcast, you’re doing fine. If you can’t eat because you’re podcasting, there’s a bigger issue than rule #4.

    No shows like we saw this weekend are quite simply disrespectful to the people putting the event together and to those sponsoring it. Things can come up, but when it happens to 50% of the people, it means the process is broken, and needs to be fixed. You can’t force people to act a certain way, but you can put things in place to mitigate their actions.

    If a simple deposit or fee is used to assure that a chair someone brings into a room is used, I’m all for it – otherwise that person’s (volunteered) time was wasted.

    As I see it, we’re lucky to have the content for free, having to cover infrastructure shouldn’t upset anyone.

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  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan…

    Folks who know us and have been through it know what it’s about. Folks who haven’t can say what they will. I sure know that I talk smack about things I don’t know enough about.

    That said, I dare someone to say to me that I don’t love the community.

    This is pure logistics and speaks to the fact that people who matter to me deserve the best experience we can provide.

    That’s all I have.

  • http://www.christopherspenn.com Christopher S. Penn

    If you don’t like the idea of a PodCamp that has some kind of commitment requirement, please, by all means, host a PodCamp in your area that is completely free. As long as it obeys the 6 rules, you can add back rule 7 to the event you will be organizing.

    There’s my dare. Go create a PodCamp. The reality is that 99% of the complainers (not here, but on the general interwebs) have zero initiative to get off their asses and DO something. Brogan and I -did- something about what didn’t work for us with BarCamp.

    If you don’t do, don’t organize, and don’t even attend PodCamps, then sorry, your complaints are falling on deaf ears.

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  • Geoff

    Maybe podcamp isn’t meant to scale within the context of a single event. What’s the problem with them being more manageable and more cosey gatherings (but remain free)?

    Geoff

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  • http://www.chelpixie.com Michelle / chel pixie

    I know it’s more than late to come here and post but I needed a long break after Podcamp Boston to come to this discussion and give it the attention it deserved.

    Podcamp wasn’t free. Podcamp was sponsored by companies and time by people who volunteered to step up. That time cost something to those of us who were expecting 1300 people and did the work accordingly to make sure that the weekend went as smoothly as possible.

    I’ve never attend a BarCamp. This was my first Podcamp. Instead of just walking in and attending I saw the value of putting my time into something that I saw as good for my community. To help make that happen was rewarding and special to me.

    And folks, let’s face it, if you invite 1300 people you better be damn sure that you have enough space, etc. for 1300 people. As Whitney is fond of saying, it’s like preparing for a wedding. All of those people may not attend but you have to prepare for them anyway.

    That said, it’s important to have some control in place that allows for better estimation of no shows. If that means charging a fee and then donating it or refunding it or whatever, I believe that’s a hell of lot more sensible.

    Chris and Chris aren’t evil and aren’t trying to make it hard for anyone to attend Podcamp, they are just trying to make it work for everyone. Sometimes that means changing the rules.

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