Podcamp Ireland was a huge success

A week ago today I was in beautiful Kilkenny attending the inaugural Podcamp Ireland. Many other bloggers took better notes than me so I won't go through the talks in detail but want to pay tribute to the organizers for bringing a wonderful bunch of talented and creative people together under one roof.

I've been enjoying attending Barcamps and OpenCoffee clubs for the last year but Podcamp was refreshingly different and put me in contact with fascinating people outside of my usual techie circle. People like Dave Dunn,  Michael Byrne and the wonderful Grannymar (pictured below with Keith Bohanna)

I'm delighted to note that Podcamp Ireland '08 is already in planning but agree with Conor O'Neill that the under-planned nature of this year's event was a key ingredient to success. That's not to say the organizers didn't put in a huge amount of hard work, rather that they adhered to the unconference ethos. Here's hoping that '08 doesn't deviate from that.

One final observation. If the live video feed is announced a week or two in advance I'm convinced it will attract 30+ virtual attendees. Last Saturday we had 11 or more for much of the day and at times the backchannel was on fire. I know this kind of thing has caused controversy at some unconferences but in my view it would be a shame if plans weren't made to weave that participation more tightly into the programme by projecting it on a screen behind the speakers.

Comments

[Krishna De]

Thanks for the feedback and I agree - letting people know it is possible to watch the event live and also engage in debate and input through Jaiku or Twitter is a great idea.

Only sorry we did not get the chance to spend any time together - I hope we get chance to talk some other time and some other place in the not too distant future!

[James Corbett]

Was very sorry I didn't get to meet you on the day too Krisha but I could see you were up to your eyes for most of the day. Well done in particular on the panel chairing, I think you did a brilliant job.

[Grannymar]

It was a wonderful day!

I hope Keith told his wife he was hugging an ould biddy.