I was kicking myself, yesterday. My family and I took a day trip to Upper Canada Village, a heritage park and living museum of pioneer times, and I left my audio recorder at home.

It’s not the first time I’ve been to Upper Canada Village (nor the first time I forgot to carry my audio recorder with me). It’s an amazing place where, no matter how many times you go, you’re bound to learn something new each time. The equipment on display, much of which is well over 140 years-old, is still used everyday! They don’t make things like they used to. On this particular trip I was taken by the steel sawmill and — especially — the printing house.

The woman in the printing house described in incredible detail how typesetting was performed, which rules could be broken (and how) when typesetters ran out of specific letters, and how advertisements were put together. She also talked about the consequences of making a mistake. It was fascinating.

I also learned the origin of the words uppercase and lowercase. It’s simple, actually. Each letter was organized in cases so they could be found. The small letters in the lower case and the capital letters in the upper case.

We bought a family membership to Upper Canada Village. We’ll be going back before the end of the summer so I can get that audio.

I joined the Causeurs Sussex Speakers chapter of Toastmasters one year ago and achieved the goal I set out for myself: to complete my Competent Communicator manual in my first year. In May, I was elected club President of the 2008/09 year and today, served my first day in that role.

One of the first duties one must perform as President is to set a theme for the year. I struggled with framing the various ideas I had for the theme though I knew, somehow, the ideas were all connected. Then, as I was going through my correspondence with Marcel — a Toastmasters colleague whom I nominated for a position of Sergeant At Arms (he was elected) — in the week following his death in a car accident, I discovered the theme in one of his emails to me. In accepting his nomination, Marcel wrote that he looked forward to “expanding my comfort zone”. That was exactly what I was trying to say.

The board accepted my theme and today, I announced it to the club. Although… I still haven’t selected a logo that represents that theme (does anyone have any ideas they want to submit?).

The best way to create new experiences and discover your potential is to stretch beyond the safe boundaries you set for yourself. What are you doing to expand your comfort zone?

During her presentation at PAB2008, Whitney Hoffman provided her analysis of a fledgling and still relatively unknown podcast network that had great promise when it was launched last September. Whitney outlined what appears to be a breakdown in communications, lack of transparency and possibly the use of bloated claims to market the network to would-be members and sponsors. The problem is that the network never gelled as a cohesive group and has been unable to establish a community among members and audience.

In fairness, most podcast networks have had a difficult time making a success of themselves; the most public of these being Podshow which is trying to distance itself from its earlier mistakes as it goes through its reinvention as an entertainment company.

I believe that there are two types of networks in this space: the Rabbit Network and the Turtle Network.

The Rabbit Network seeks to build market share for financial reasons. These networks face two distinct challenges. First, the early adopters of new media (including podcasting) were hobbyists that struggled with the delivery and/or production of their content. This is in no way a knock at the content creators because most of the content that was (and still is) being produced was fresh and (in some cases) edgy. The content they were creating, though, was marketed to commercial interests that had a difficult time identifying any commercial appeal. This is particularly true where the second challenge comes in — the business model. It’s hard to convince potential sponsors and investors to take a financial risk on an unproven and relatively disruptive technology. The value couldn’t be measured so the potential sponsors avoided the risk. Traditional business models were used where new business models were merited. Because the big players preferred to play safe, the word about the podcasting didn’t move as quickly. This means that it was hard to establish, and ultimately appreciate, the value of the media.

Having said that, there have been some notable sponsorships. As Whitney points out, though, it is unclear whether the sponsorships were achieved based on genuine metrics. Regardless, there is data that suggests some so-called small scale podcasts have greater penetration and engagement than the shows that are getting the big sponsorship deals.

The Rabbit Networks usually make a big splash when they launch and become marginalized over time. Some people believe this is because mainstream media loses interest or that the latest and greatest Rabbit Network has come along to replace the one thatís making the same mistakes as its predecessors. Based on my understanding, the Rabbit Networks almost always disintegrate because of hidden agendas and lack of communication.

The Turtle Network is a group of like-minded content producers that band together in a show of support and to help promote one-another’s shows. There is no expectation of financial gain and in many cases the bond is a mutual (and sometimes vocal) disinterest in sponsorship and advertising. These networks have no specific goals and, for the outsider, appear to be nothing more than a public pronouncement of friendship and a way to help listeners identify content that the producer(s) enjoy.

It’s easy to be dismissive of the Turtle Networks since they never really seem to accomplish anything. However, their organic approach to building and engaging an audience, and their quietly-chug-away approach to creating programs, means that they serve a niche that will follow them and forgive them their absences and production mistakes. The Turtles survive because of their regular, honest and transparent communication.

Perhaps networks haven’t succeeded, yet, because noone’s figured out a way to cross-breed a Rabbit and a Turtle.

So much has been said at PAB2008 that I wondered whether another post would add any value. And then I received an email asking me to share my thoughts on the weekend.

I have many highlights from the conference including the addition of the Jolts, the 90-degree turn of the room layout, the couches, the amazing presentations and the engagement and insight of the entire community.

As I sat down and considered all of my hightlights, I realized that there is a common thread in the changes that took place this year: ideas and attitudes. There was very little discussion about skills and techniques. Those details were hidden inside the more substantial dialog and didn’t need to be said.

It was time for that discussion. It was time to hear about the constructs and rules that we’ve been consciously and subconsciously operating on, and how and why to reach beyond them. It was time to hear about the elements that make an engaging audio program. It was time to hear about the balance of action and emotion, that the content is the audience and that PAB is very much about attitude.

It will be interesting to see how the participants and their content production will change over the next while.

Almost since the moment PAB began on Friday, we (Bob, Cat, Andrea and I) have been approached in person and through email by people who would like to help out with PAB09. Here are my unfiltered thoughts:

1) Start thinking of the topics you’d like to hear or speak about. The speaking sessions this year inspired creativity and community. The presenters didn’t show us what to do or how to do it — they explained what could be done, why it’s worth exploring different approaches and to innovate on your own, and ways in which to move beyond the production and hosting constructs of traditional radio. I feel that there is so much more to explore and we’ll be looking to you to help us find those topics and speakers. You may be one of them!

2) Register early to reduce pressure on the organizers. PAB is a not-for-profit event. The conference is paid for by registration fees and a small number of sponsors and we don’t spend money we haven’t collected. It can be difficult to coordinate with the hospitality and catering departments of the hotel, the A/V requirements, swag, social events and related catering, etc… when we don’t know our registration numbers and revenue collected. It would be amazingly helpful if you sign-up and pay as soon as possible when we open registration.

3) Spread the word about PAB by showcasing its value. We spend a lot of energy organizing the event to make sure that we have the best possible speakers, topics, environment, etc… Partly because we’re busy and partly because we like to keep the event small, we haven’t spent a lot of energy on promotion. We count on word of mouth. While word of mouth by simply telling others why PAB is worth attending is extremely valuable, the greatest value is in acting on the things you’ve learned. What I mean is, more than talking about it, showcase the value of PAB in your social media and content production activities.

4) Send us your authentic feedback. We can only improve PAB if we know what you think needs to be removed, fixed or dropped added and what shouldn’t be touched at any cost. We’re not going to blast the community with a survey because surveys are generally structured around the vision of the survey’s creator not the needs of the participant. Please send us your thoughts in an email (podcastersacrossborders@gmail.com). While we may not be able to act on everything, we can at least guarantee that we will read and consider every comment, concern and suggestion.

5) Recommend sponsors or direct sponsors to us. We consider ourselves to be champions of the community, not salespeople. We look for sponsors that connect with the ethos and energy of the community and because they’re legitimately invested in helping advance creativity, innovation and thought leadership — not because they want to plaster their name on another event. And, as champions of the community, we want to limit the number of sponsors to a small and committed few. This means that our preference is for a small number of silver and/or gold level sponsors that believe in the event.

6) Keep following PAB and CPB. The PAB website will likely be dormant for the most part until we make decisions about PAB2009. Nevertheless, it remains the best site to follow for updates. PAB2008 conference audio will be published on the Canadian Podcast Buffet throughout the summer and PAB2009 announcements will be made on that podcast when decisions are made.

Photo: Christopher S. Penn

There are so many things I want to share about PAB2008. I’m just too tired right now to do that. However, I didn’t want to waste any time to say that this year’s conference exceeded any and all expectations I could have imagined. Everyone was engaged and engaging.

One thing that I have been thinking about is the lofty vision I had of PAB being the TED of social media. I am absolutely blown away by how the presenters delivered on that vision. PAB2008 was truly a motivational, inspirational and creative weekend.

Thank you to every PABster and PAB sponsor for making the conference necessary and possible. And, thank you Bob, Cat and Andrea for another great collaboration and for all of your amazing support and patience.

Expect some posts about PAB on my blog this week.

Yesterday I reported that Daniele Rossi (Stuttering is Cool), Melinda Mason (My Marilyn) and I will be on the Friday edition of CBC’s Sounds Like Canada.  Unfortunately, we’ve been rescheduled for Monday (June 23).

The number of conferences with a social media slant has been increasing over the last few years. I have attended a few of them and have found each to have their own unique style of promoting knowledge, community and collaboration. I decided that I’d take a few moments to share my experiences and offer my thoughts on three social media conferences.

PODCAMP

Even within the PodCamp unconference movement, each event has its own style. PodCamp Boston 1 and 2 were strong in their efforts to promote community and the media of podcasting. PodCamp Toronto 07 and 08 catered very well to the marketing interest and had strong focus on podcast promotion and technology. PodCamp Philly had a decided education and community flair. PodCamp Ottawa was truly unplugged. Of course, these conferences had a lot of breadth of coverage in many domain areas and became the catalyst of conversation that stretches beyond what I mention here. What PodCamps have in wide-angle scope, they lack in specific depth of focus. Being a free event that is community organized offers the ability for the community to decide what it wants to share and that gives the movement a lot to grow on.

MESH

This event attracts a lot of key players from pop-culture, marketing, communications and social media. Mesh was packed from end-to-end with innovators and thought leaders who were excellent at delivering on the promise of the Mesh motto, “connect, share, inspire”. The panel discussions and keynote format (in which there was no real speech, but a discussion between a guest and co-organizer) offered the audience some amazing insight into some incredible projects and people. However, I felt that because there were so many panels and keynotes, there was little opportunity for many of the speakers to dig deep into their subjects and propel innovation beyond its current state. Those sessions where more a discussion of the past and present and offered little to push the envelope of innovation. For me, the best sessions at Mesh were those delivered by an individual or team that shared details of a specific project or idea. They made me want to get up and do more.

PODCASTERS ACROSS BORDERS

What started out as a grassroots event aimed at helping the community advance together in a meetup-meets-conference format has become something more credible and formal. Being a co-organizer, I am both proud and critical of our accomplishments to date. Our first two years were vastly different from each other and that has allowed us to examine the stuff that works (lots of engagement with the community) and the stuff that doesn’t (too much programming, insufficient breaks) and find a way to make the best of our event meet the stuff I love most about other events to hit one out of the park with PAB2008. My lofty vision is that PAB establishes itself as the TED of social media — a conference that changes the way people think in twenty minute segments and then offers a forum to explore those ideas as a group. I believe that this year’s program represents experience and a maturing of the conference and community. I’m looking forward to this year’s conference which we can almost start counting down to in hours.

PARTING THOUGHT

People often talk about the best part of conferences being the networking and socializing. In fact, I often hear of people attending one conference in particular (name withheld) just to socialize and have given up attending the sessions because, for them, the sessions lack substance. I believe that conferences should always excel at providing worthwhile networking opportunities, but never at the expense of offering high quality sessions and high quality speakers.

Daniele Rossi (Stuttering is Cool), Melinda Mason (My Marilyn) and I will be on the Friday edition of CBC’s Sounds Like Canada with current host Kathryn Gretsinger.  We’ll be talking about being independent producers of audio content and this weekend’s Podcasters Across Borders conference in Kingston, Ontario.

Turn your radios to CBC Radio 1 this Friday between 10:00am and 11:00am.

I had the chance to hang out with Saul Colt and Mike McDerment of FreshBooks yesterday. They were in Ottawa to be remarkable with their current and prospective clients. It may not seem that traveling to eat a meal with people is particularly remarkable. It is. It’s just one of the many ways in which FreshBooks engages in something that Saul calls Karma Marketing.

While I learned a lot about their approach from Saul during a lunch gathering, it was the insights that Mike and Saul shared at Third Tuesday Ottawa that brought it all together. They talked about driving from Florida to Texas in a van, stopping in fourteen cities along the way to dine and engage with customers. During that trip they unwittingly connected some of their customers to work on their own projects and engage in new opportunities. They talked about following their customers’ online activities (not in a stalking kind of way) and making sure to acknowledge personal and corporate victories, and do token gestures for people having bad days (sending flowers) or pining for something Canadian (shipping mustard and Triscuits around the world). In many cases, they use the phone, noting that email is an incredibly ineffective way to communicate.

If Karma Marketing is the umbrella to the FreshBooks approach, then two powerful statements offered by Mike outline an approach to make that happen.

• “I take care of my team; my team team takes care of our customers; our customers take care of our business.“

• “Engage in extraordinary experiences everyday“. There is a great blog post by Mike here that further explains his 4E philosophy.

The FreshBooks approach of having all new hires start by answering the phones and handling customer calls is a brilliant way to ramp up new hires on customer engagement and relationships, as well become familiar with the service that FreshBooks sells. It doesn’t stop there. Each employee does their reserve period on the phones on a rotational basis — like milu’im in the Israeli army.

As the evening wrapped up and people started to disperse, Saul joined the group I was with and offered some advice he suggested will save us spending $20 a year on a new Seth Godin book. “Be remarkable”, he said.

As I walked home, I remembered the book, Creating the Service Culture, which I’ve blogged about before. The premise of the book (written in the 1980’s) is that services and products are becoming more homogeneous so companies must distinguish themselves by how they manage their customer relationships. That sounds like FreshBooks.