It was not so much a great day in my humble opinion. Having attended the PNME (podcast & New Media Expo) 2006 where Leo Laporte would gather a crowd that would be standing room only at any given time, this year there were about 20 people standing around him watching him and Amber MacAurther recording a live TWIT event. What is up with that?
The number of booths for the PNME on the Exhibit floor has dwindled as well, by half from 2 years ago in my estimation. The two sessions that I attended today were less than 1/2 full if even that. A good crowd of 50-60 I would say, but not what I expected.
I wonder if Las Vegas actually over shadowed the Expo. Many fellow podcasters brought their spouses as did I, and it may be that when not attending a session, they are, like me, sight seeing. Boy is there a lot to see here, and my wife is not into podcasting but is into the casinos. Well, more for the architecture and sights rather than the gambling. I have dropped a few dollars into the coffers of the Luxor, New York New York, and Excalibur.
Vegas is bigger than itself I think eclipsing everything around it. And it is just getting bigger. There is so much construction going on here it is ridiculous. There are literally dozens of tower cranes building several more high rise hotels, casinos and condos here. There must be about a BILLION dollars in construction going on at least.
But I digress, the NME might be having its last hurrah this year. Could having the Expo at a place that has more to do on the outside even with 100+F heat than in the Expo be worth it? With what I have seen so far I can not see myself attending another Podcast Expo, which is sad as I love seeing all these great people. Let’s hope Friday and Saturday are better attended than today. For podcasting’s sake.
15 Second Promo
August 14th, 2008 - 8:07 pm
I hear ya. Watching the Tweets show less cohesion in goers this year.
August 14th, 2008 - 8:21 pm
Its a shame. Although not unexpected in my opinion. The entire podcasting community seems to have segmented themselves into small groups. The NME hasn’t done its part either by having lots of sessions that really had little to no valuable information. Unless there are large events that everyone will attend, its not a convention, its an excuse to take a vacation. Enjoy the vacation.
August 14th, 2008 - 8:37 pm
Very interesting post Norb… I’ll be interested to hear reports back from other attendees. Personally, I had my own concerns about moving the expo away from Ontario and to Vegas — I thought Ontario was the PERFECT place to hold it. It was a very economical venue and lets face it… what is there to do in Ontario? As you pointed out, there’s nothing to compete with the event. Vegas… there’s just way too many things competing for ones interest.
Enjoy the Expo.
-KHD
August 15th, 2008 - 10:31 pm
George is right. I did not see much in the way of cohesion except for the FIT (Friends In Tech) group. Mad Marv, Chuck Tomasi, Kreg Steppe, Steve Riekeberg, Steve Holden and Victor Caijo all got together and hung out for a good time. I was happy to run into them and chat for a while.
I did not have an opportunity to attend last year and can not compare it to Podcast Expo 2007, but as compared to 2006, this one is less attended and fewer booths. Friday’s crowd was much stronger than Thursday’s, but I guess that can be expected as not all podcasters can take off a Wednesday or Thursday from their day jobs. There are some good classes going on too. I’m glad I paid for the full sessions as I will get an audio copy of all sessions. Made playing hookey much better. Besides, I had a panic attack with all the people from being in the casinos and stuff. Needed to get out and away from it. Went to Hoover Dam. Was very impressed. Had not seen it in about 35 years.
Kevin is right. As I was telling my wife, I could get food and do other things very cheaply in Ontario compared with Vegas. Heck, just being in Vegas is costly, then there is the food ($$), the transportation costs ($$), the gambling ($$$) and buying souvineers for everyone inthe family who did not get to come to Vegas ($$$). I vote for Ontario, heck maybe even Denver which might be an even more central location for folks on the East Coast.
I would love to have a Pod Camp where I live. I think they had one in SF a while back but I missed it. They might be better and more grass roots. What do you think?