02.21.09
Posted in Access and Disability, New Media and Tech
at 12:25 PM
A couple days ago, I saw a Twitter message advertising AccessCamp, an unconference focusing on digital accessibility. At first,my response was a bit sarcastic: camps seem to proliferate like weeds, I observed. But the more I thought about it, the more an AccessCamp seemed like a brilliant idea, and one I wish I had been aware of earlier. Having fought and defeated inaccessibility in various ways all my life, I have a few thoughts.
The camp environment, where people choose the topics they want to address and learn about, and in which interaction is prized, is especially exciting in a field where lots of people have limited information, but where good will abundant. In short, most folks embrace the idea of accessibility, but few understand it, orhow to make it happen. And the experts in what’s needed, my fellow disabled citizens, often lack other forums in which to discuss the topic.
Right now, I’m watching on uStream, very happy to have a window into what’s going on in San Antonio, and happy that I was in the right Twitter place at the right Twitter time. Many others who surely could have benefited, were not.
Before I go on, let me acknowledge those who had the idea for AccessCamp. It is a lot easier to provide critical feedback than it is to organize such an event. I offer what follows in a spirit of good will, and I have every intention of being a part of any future AccessCamps held in central Texas.
A few folks at AccesCamp have asked the organizers what efforts were made to get disabled people involved in the event. The response was that most unconference events are publicized via social media and that there is no budget for more traditional publicity. What I take from this is that the unconference movement, grassroots though it may be, relies too heavily on the social media tools its proponents use daily, and the networks of people they are connected to there. Twitter and Facebook may be the currency of the realm in social media circles, but they are more casual information sources for many disabled people, even those who have email and Web access at their fingertips. Also, I wonder how many unconference enthusiasts can say that their social media networks include numbers of disabled people, as mine does. Disabled social media users are out there, but, like all of us, they tend to find those with similar interests and perspectives. And because they are often marginalized in the work world, the average social media enthusiast tends either not to know any, or not to be adept at seeking them out.
Being a constant social media user does not automatically make you the ideal attendee for an uncomference. That ideal attendee may, for example, participate in mailing lists, Web forums, or live chats, but may not have bothered to acquire a Twitter account. We always risk talking only to the people we know in the social media world, and the AccessCamp experience is for me, an amplified example of that risk.
How to make things better? The AccessCamp organizers are right to remind us all that unconferences do not descend, fully-formed, from on high. They are built by those with a passion for “the movement” and a knowledge of how such events should be organized. If, however, you’re unconfernecing about topics that profoundly affect people to whom you are not personally connected, and whose issues you do not fully understand, it’s important to reach out; to find people outside your own network who can make connections directly to individuals and organizations who require accessibility to get their work done on a daily basis.
Those folks will be invaluable advisors and leaders, as well as attendees. You can find them with a minimal amount of research.
They will remind you that your chosen facility needs ramps, accessible bathrooms, greeters who can guide folks to meeting rooms, transit access, a place on the wiki for rideshare planning, walkable access to lunch spots, etc. They won’t be afraid to step up to volunteer their time and skills. But they need to hear from you first.
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01.26.09
Posted in Announcements, New Media and Tech, Podcasting, Random Personal Nonsense
at 2:55 PM
I just learned that I’m listed in the Austin Social Media 100, in the tech category. I can’t say that I know much about this set of rankings, but I’m flattered to be included. I’m also mining the rest of the list for fun and interesting people to follow on Twitter or elsewhere.
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01.19.09
Posted in New Media and Tech
at 10:26 AM
Over the weekend, I do something I rarely do: I got involved with a Facebook meme. It didn’t require an app install, nor did I receive “points” of any kind for inviting my friends. I simply played along when a friend tagged me in her LifePod post. Create a note, copy and paste, do some tagging, and you’re done. It was fun!
The fact that it seems very natural for those who enjoy social networks to tag one another, share links, or make things for other people to look at online, is one of the more central reasons social media and marketing are so often mentioned in the same breath. I can practically see the drool when Twitter people or bloggers get going on the possibilities these voluntary networks offer to marketers. And these days, the number of people like me who reject being marketed to in this way, is a shrinking demo.
I played along with LifePod precisely because I knew that no new apps would be installed, and that my friends would not be bombarded with requests to match their IQs or test their film knowledge or even throw sheep, with some Facebook gadget as an intermediary. Social networking with marketing and sponsored gadgets is like a government with a bloated bureaucracy. At some point, the structure created to organize a fun or useful activity tends to weigh it down, making people less willing to buy in.
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12.11.08
Posted in New Media and Tech, Podcasting
at 9:29 AM
As promised, here’s part 2 of my prescription for the newly podcast-infused BlogWorld Expo. Check out part 1 here:
Thriving in spite of Vegas. Opinions about Las Vegas vary. For many, the bright lights and myriad attractions confer bigness and importance on a trade show. More people will come, the theory goes, to combine work with pleasure, and more people from all over the country will be able to find discounted travel options. But Vegas is not conducive to community-building. From the awkward layout of the LV Hilton/convention center, to the sheer size of the venues, Vegas tends to swallow people and communities up. That certainly happened at this year’s NME. and BlogWorld Expo, from my observations of the 2007 event, was far less focused on interactions between people and groups than it was on the content of its events, and its “name” speakers. Making recommendations on this topic is hardest, because you must essentially offer people compelling reasons not to wander away from the trade show. And that’s incredibly difficult.
BlogWorld-sponsored social events and BOF sessions, as I’ve already suggested, will help. and it may be that scheduling more informal events inside the cavernous convention center would keep people together. Finally, using the SXSW model of pre-expo meetups around the country could help attendees make connections in their own areas before they arrive in Vegas, giving them pre-made connections that stem from their commitment to supporting Blogworld Expo.
Loosen up and think outside the box. From my perspective, BlogWorld is a less welcoming and open environment than NME has been. There, I said it! Even in its first year, BlogWorld seemed burdened by the hierarchy of blogging’s A-list, and a set of relationships that existed long before the show began. It lacked the genuine enthusiasm and innovation of BlogHer, or the community focus of NME. It was, in short, a bit of an old boys’ club, that was also burdened by some procedural weirdness, such as onerous session signup and verification measures, and keynote sessions held in dark, echo-filled spaces. I also sensed a lack of participant diversity, despite the event’s heavy focus on political blogging. In a nutshell, I did not feel that BlogWorld Expo met my needs as a publisher who does not operate within the celebrity strata of the blogging world.
Spend some time at a BlogHer event. Even in an environment where I knew few attendees, the contagious enthusiasm of attendees, and willingness of organizers to engage all comers, whatever their blogging specialty or level of fame and expertise, came through. The show was efficiently run, but laid back.Use the addition of podcasters to broaden the speaker pool, focusing, as I suggested previously, on tech, content development and business topics.
Listen to passionate podcasters. If podcasting is to become a vital part of the BlogWorld experience, the event’s organizers need to integrate the collective wisdom of the podcasting world to build good conference programming and exhibit hall experiences. Besides the kinds of technical content I wrote about yesterday, I see great opportunity for podcasters to learn how blogging and other media tools and methods can be used to build their shows, their brands, and their world domination infrastructure.
Seek out formal and informal advisors from within podcasting; people who can enhance conference content, exhibit hall programs, and after-hours social opportunities. These advisors should represent monetizers, hobbyists, techies, advertising brokers; the widest possible range of podcasters and podcast businesspeople. Survey Tim Bourquin’s mailing list to find out what past NME attendees want and don’t want. Use social media tools to facilitate open discussions between now and next year’s expo.
I wish Rick Calvert and BlogWorld Expo a lot of success. I also recognize that Rick is first and foremost trying to run a business. I sincerely believe that excellent content and attendee experiences are the first requirements for a successful event.
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12.10.08
Posted in New Media and Tech, Podcasting
at 11:23 AM
In a move that was first rumored back in 2007, Tim Bourquin has sold the trade show he created, New Media Expo, to BlogWorld, producers of BlogWorld Expo (link currently not working).
The 2008 New Media Expo, the fourth annual event that was aimed primarily at podcasters, did not quite live up to expectations, and Bourquin had not announced a 2009 event, leading to speculation that the show would either disappear or be moved from Las Vegas to a more conducive venue.
I’ll be honest with you here. I’m fighting the temptation to rain on the BlogWorld Expo parade, even before I hear what organizers might have planned. It’s not that I begrudge Bourquin’s desire to cut his losses, or to recognize that the NME cannot continue in its present form. Under the circumstances, Tim did the right thing. He ran a good event that earned the support of podcasters, ranging from the most committed monetizers to the strong contingent of community-oriented folk, both business-focused, and hobbyists. He listened to the suggestions of many podcasters and would-be podcasters and worked hard to weave socializing, technical and corporate-focused sessions, and exhibits into a trade show and conference that worked on many levels, and for many budgets.
The parade-raining part comes in as I consider the difference between NME and BlogWorld’s content and zeitgeist. I firmly believe that if BlogWorld is to truly embrace the podcasting side of new media, its producers will need to learn from Tim, and from those of us who supported and benefitted from New Media Expo.
Here’s the first of a two-part to-do list for integrating the best of NME into BlogWorld Expo.
Community, community, community. I’ve argued among friends that podcasting isn’t really an example of social media. But it is true that from the very beginning of the medium, producers were creating and participating in communities, building things collaboratively, creating meetup groups, attending PodCamps, and referring to themselves collectively as “the community”. The social aspect of podcasting, I would argue, earned the first Podcast Expo (later to become NME) more broad acceptance than it otherwise would have had, giving the show the push it needed.
BlogWorld Expo should develop or encourage more social events, both on and off the exhibit floor, and encourage show sponsors to get involved, too. Conference sessions should feature speakers with roots in podcasting; people whose names and reputations were built by working actively with other audio and video producers.
Strong podcasting-specific content. Like many trade shows, BlogWorld Expo organizes its conference into tracks. Many of these are focused on content genres; politics, military blogging, mommy blogging, etc. Of course, there are also plenty of sessions about blog advertising and other business strategies. Podcasters will certainly gain from the expertise of bloggers, but their needs diverge in some key areas. Podcasting has a strong technical component, for one thing, and the BlogWorld folks will need to incorporate these topics into their session tracks. To this point, podcasters have been less likely than bloggers to organize themselves around the content genres they work in. The exception to this rule are the sci-fi/spec fiction producers, who have not only built podcasting tracks at Dragon*Con and Balticon, but have even gone so far as to hand out awards within their ranks.
BlogWorld organizers should do two things with regard to genre-focused producers: rely on the leaders of the spec fiction podcasting community for advice, and develop Birds of a Feather, or SIG sessions where genre podcasters can meet informally and exchange meaningful advice and information.
Continued technical focus. I’m a geek. I like to sit in sessions where the slides or live demos feature waveforms, or where a presenter does “show and tell” with a table full of podcast gear. Both new and experienced podcasters need outlets for their technical questions and discoveries. As podcasting has matured, the number of opportunities for tech talk aimed at wannabe producers have diminished. Even the PodCamp movement, where larger discussions of social media and marketing have, to some extent, smothered discussion of podcasting, has de-emphasized the tech.
BlogWorld has an opportunity not only to help NME refugees get their tech on, but to empower its blogger base to begin podcasting. Tech sessins at the begining and advanced level, led by experienced podcasters and audio/video producers, should occupy their own conference track.
Coming next, loosen up, listen, and ignore Vegas.
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10.14.08
Posted in New Media and Tech, Politics and Public Affairs
at 10:40 AM
I met RocketBoom founder Andrew Baron in the press room at Portable Media Expo in 2006. He recorded one of those “This is Andrew, and you’re listening to…” IDs for a podcast I was producing. Later, as managing editor of Blogger & Podcaster, I interviewed Andrew for a feature I was planning. The article was killed by higher powers, unfortunately. What I didn’t know when our paths crossed, was that I had a much older connection to Andrew. In 1991, when I worked for the Texas Attorney General’s Office, I met a wonderful woman named Joan Baron. Joan is Andrew’s aunt, sister of his father, Dallas attorney Fred Baron. Joan, like me, was “passing through” state government, which made for a simultaneously detached and earnest approach to the place and to the work. We talked politics. A lot! We snarked about the byzantine and petty ways of state agency project planning, and the foibles of people who worked the bureaucracy in cynical ways. Joan talked a lot about her brother Fred, a high-powered lawyer who had made his reputation (and a lot of money) going after companies who had exposed workers to asbestos. Fred was a big-time Democratic party fundraiser, and flew folks like Texas Governor Ann Richards around in his plane. I got the sense that Fred was a larger than life figure in their family.
Joan and I remained friends when I moved to California. Homesick as I was, I returned to Austin often, and spent many evenings drinking beer with Joan and her then-husband, Doug, and ranting about politics and over-crowding in California. Those were good times, and kept me sane during a tough patch in my own life.
I made the connection between the Texas Barons and the new media Baron in the most devastating way possible. The tech media world, and my Twitter stream, is buzzing today with the news that Fred Baron has final stage multiple myeloma, and that his son Andrew is working to convince drug maker Biogen to allow Fred to be treated with Tysabri, a drug that is not approved for Fred’s illness, but that has been shown to have promise in experiments.
From Andrew’s post:
In what can only be defined as a miracle in timing, a few days ago, one of his doctors who has been studying his tumor cells in the lab for years found an antibody with an exact match: Tysabri which is manufactured by your company, Biogen Idec. In the test tube, it attached to the antigens on the surface of the tumor 100%.
Though the drug has never been used before in this way, and because time is running out, the head of the FDA, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach has granted special approval for use of the drug for this purpose but you have personally decided “no”.
Andrew Baron asks his blog readers to contact Biogen CEO James Mullen or anyone else at the company they may know, to plead that the drug be approved for use by Fred Baron’s doctors. He is also seeking support from elected officials, as well as treatment alternatives.
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09.09.08
Posted in New Media and Tech
at 2:40 PM
Am I really the only person who finds Apple’s frequent tinkering with the iPod nano design tedious? The first nano had physical problems (read, it got scratched a lot), the second was a thing of beauty, the third was chunky and awkward, and the fourth, well, I haven’t seen one, so I’m withholding judgment. Other than an altered menu system and the ability to play video (do y’all play video on your nanos?) it’s essentially the same device that was released in 2005.
I love the nano. In all versions, the size was just about right, both physically, and in terms of storage. It is (for Apple) affordable, and it’s mostly a pretty tough little device. But unlike the iPhone or iPod Touch, which really does need to progress along a design and technology curve at frequent intervals, the regular rejiggering of the nano line just doesn’t feel necessary. I’m a happy second gen nano owner. In fact, it might just be my favorite iPod, all things considered. It does its thing and it does it well. And I think my little blue friend is plenty good-looking.
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08.22.08
Posted in New Media and Tech, Politics and Public Affairs
at 10:36 AM
The collective press, and even my Twitter stream has been infected by veepstakes fever, mostly on the Obama side. It’s become a little annoying at this point, I’ll admit. And by the way, I haven’t given my cell number to the Obama campaign for this purpose, though I’ve been on his text message list in the past.
What I realized this morning, as I read the Mashable story about fake iPhone lines in Poland, is how similar this week’s veep frenzy has been to the run-up to an Apple launch. Of course, the iPhone lines are not Apple’s doing, but are bought and paid for by the local carrier, Orange. Apple, like Obama, has not had to resort to fakery as yet, counting more on the genuine excitement of its base customers. What happens after the launch, well, that’s another story.
It’s not a new observation that Obama is the Mac of this election season, to John McCain’s PC. But who knew that the Obama campaign was so in tune to the Cupertino company’s marketing strategy? Take a situation that has generated real buzz, and withhold as much information as possible until just the right moment. To heighten the effect, taunt the press mercilessly. They’ll play along.
Is that my phone? BRB
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08.20.08
Posted in New Media and Tech, Podcasting
at 9:20 AM
Last week’s New Media Expo was, to a large degree, what I expected it to be. Frankly, I had hoped that my original expectations would be proven wrong, because I like attending this event, and I think its focus on the podcasting aspect of new media (despite the more inclusive name) is a valuable concentration for those who are more interested in making and producing audio and video than they are in finding new ways to market themselves in 140 characters.
Despite assurances to the contrary, it has seemed to me since the announcement that NME would move from the isolated Ontario California to the bright lights of Vegas, that the change would not produce the kind of cred the show needed in order to grow. I think I wrote at the time that a move was inevitable, and a good idea, but that I questioned Vegas as the next step in NME’s evolution. The basis for that conclusion, borne out by the 2008 show, was that a city like Vegas, with its myriad distractions, and a venue like the Las Vegas Convention Center/Hilton, with its cavernous spaces, could not hope to support the networking and community aspects of NME that most repeat attendees prize.
In my blog drafts folder is an unfinished post about the NME conference program. In it, I suggest that despite the innovation inherent in the Podcamp format, NME’s nuts and bolts attention to the tools and techniques of podcasting make the conference a better choice for serious (hobbyist or pro) podcasters than the most recent batch of unconferences. It’s fair to point out that many of NME’s speakers are repeat presenters, and that’s a bit disappointing, and frankly, indicative of the lack of growth in the podcasting world. But it’s also clear that at NME, marketing from the front of a seminar room is kept to a reasonable level, and that the focus is less on trendy “social media”, and more on making, distributing, and selling better content.
But a respectable group of speakers and an organizer who I sincerely believe wants to produce a conference that is good for podcasters (Tim Bourquin is a podcaster himself, after all) is not enough to leverage the successes of NME past. Like it or not, the community aspect of this event is integral to its success. It’s not merely a warm fuzzy for what Bourquin calls hobbyists. Podcasters have tended to create formal and informal alliances, reference one another in text and audio form, and evaluate the viability of attending a conference based on “who else is going”. Then too, a lot of podcasters think of themselves as “social media” creators, and that demands, well, some socializing.
Much of this community-centricness was baked in at the crowded Ontario Marriott bar, and on an exhibit floor that served as a daytime mingle spot for those who couldn’t afford the sessions. This year, the usual social networking tools made it possible for people to plan meetups, but the lack of natural gathering spots, and a dearth of sponsored evening parties made it hard to find the people I wanted to see or meet, beyond a group of friends who communicated via Twitter and text message, all pre-arranged. The tepid show floor experience ensured that visits there were shorter, depriving attendees of another chance to see and be seen.
How to fix? Linda Mills of Podcast User Magazine twittered about rumors that the next expo might take place in San Francisco. And at this writing, no dates for a 2009 show are posted on the NME site. Further, Tim Bourquin, in a very informative post on the difficulties of running trade shows on a small scale, suggests that he might be leaving the business.
I for one hope that NME can be revitalized. San Francisco is a great choice for next year’s event. I would also like to see a Midwest (Chicago) or East Coast (Boston) event. Podcamp attendance patterns could provide good gudeance about locations that could best support a podcasting conference. Finally, I would like to see Tim hire a community-builder for NME. This person’s job would be to develop events and venues that would be conducive to more social options. Two important parts of this job would be finding sponsors for open events, and seeking out affordable, public meeting places that would draw NME attendees willing to socialize on their own dime.
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07.10.08
Posted in New Media and Tech
at 11:45 AM
I was excited to find a link to a list of the 50 most influential female bloggers. Of course, such lists are both totally subjective, and super fun to read. I was very proud to see that the Top 20 includes Blogger & Podcaster Magazine interview subjects Arianna Huffington, and BlogHer founders Lisa Stone, Elisa Camahort Page, and Jory Des Jardins, and one of my very favorite contributors to the magazine, the irrepressible Lorelle VanFossen. I’m choosing to ignore the presence of viper Michelle Malkin. To each her own, I guess.
Aside from gilding my own lily, I bring up the list because I was impressed by the diversity of subject matter represented there. Other “most influential” lists, the kind where you get 48 guys and two women, tend to be weighted very heavily toward tech and political blogs. There are plenty of women on the new list that fit this description, too, but you’ll also find self-help experts, international issues advocates, knitters, moms, and a lot of entrepreneurs who have turned one blog into many. Four women who are primarily podcasters—three tech-focused, one about sex—also made the list.
An RSS feed of the most influential female bloggers would make for fascinating, challenging, and diverse reading.
Update: It’s been brought to my attention that Playboy put out a “hottest female bloggers” list. Glad I didn’t know that until now. I’d have to make some sort of allegory to the list I featured, and that would just bore me and you.
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