A Day at PodCamp Boston 2

This was the first time I've had a chance to attend a PodCamp Boston UnConference and after being there, it was a great way to spend a Sunday in October.

Here are some pics I took from the sessions I attended. The rest can be found on Flickr.

Chris Penn gave us a snapshot of his social graph during his talk on Social Networking 101. Chris spoke of how social networking platforms (software) like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace can be used to launch and foster your personal brand. He mentioned that it didn't make a difference which platform you used; it just depended on which need you had. His best advice was to get a "Primary Key", or a solid email address, so that when your social networking friends do take the plunge to sign up, you'll be findable.

Laura at Pistachio Consulting with her Z. Z kept anyone from getting too serious and was the lightning for David Culter and I to get a chance to meet.

A bunch of folks got together for a quick jam session. They drew a good crowd and the music was a nice distraction while passing from room to room. They need to get set up on BandDigs.com.

One of the top sessions for me was Jeff Pulver's "Lessons of Serial Entrepreneur". Jeff gave us his story about how he launched the companies he has over the years. During his talk, he spoke of all the "accidents" he's had as an entrepreneur and based on what Jeff has been able to do, "accidents" are good.

His key takeaway was, believe in yourself and let your convictions be your superpower. He mentioned to not let anyone or anything get in your way of communicating your ideas to friends, colleagues, and investors. He wrapped up his session with "be serious about having fun" and I couldn't agree with him anymore. What's the point if what you're doing isn't any fun.

Here I think Jeff was participating in "lolsaur" with Chris Brogan.

During Jeff's talk he invited anyone who had an idea and wanted to pitch it, to see him after his talk. A couple of folks took him up on the offer.

Isabel Hilborn of MarketHum takes us through some "Crappy" marketing stories that show how not to interact with your customers. Some of them were real bad, especially the sleeping Comcast technician one. Amazing how some companies just don't get it.

__________________________________________

Overall, PodCamp was well worth the time spent. From all the great talks, to the "unSession" with loudmouthman, to having Z serenade us with her little voice. If you've never been to a PodCamp, you should. Follow along at their site for the next one in your area.

Thank you to everyone I connected with yesterday. It was a pleasure sharing ideas and conversation with you throughout the day and I look forward to our next meet up.

5tacos