PodCamp is to BootCamp as...

Last night's PodCamp Meet-Up went very well, as far as I could tell. Due to a transportation delay, I wasn't able to get there until just past 7, but we packed a lot of conversation into a relatively short amount of time. It was great to see so many familiar faces, but also great to meet so many new people as well -- Pittsburgh's new media community is definitely growing.

The big topic of discussion was BootCamp, which is what we're calling the one-day immersive introduction to new media that we're planning for April. Since PodCamp is a multi-day event, targeting new media creators of all stripes and levels of expertise, we realized that absolute newcomers might be intimidated, confused or frustrated by the variety of information available. The last thing we want is for a PodCamp attendee to come away feeling like they DIDN'T learn what they intended to. So the best solution seems to be a preamble to the main event, where newcomers can get up to speed on all the basics of blogging, podcasting, social networking and other new media buzzwords and processes.

That way, when you're at PCPGPGH2 in August and you're trying to choose between learning more about Alive in Baghdad or attending a panel on the future of content licensing, you won't have to stop a volunteer and ask them what, exactly, IS a podcast? (Although, if you're still not sure, you certainly can.)

For more details about what you missed, including the first wave of planning for the upcoming BootCamp in April, read the summary at our PodCamp Pittsburgh Forum.