2009 Presentations and Sessions

Session videos are now available in the media archive!

Who Can Speak at PodCamp Toronto?

You can. Yes, you. Everyone can. Unlike a regular conference where speaking slots are allotted only to the highest bidder, Unconferences are by you, for you. If you don't see a session here that you want, create one and present it! Share what you know and your fellow participants will do the same.

To add a session, simply select the EDIT button above and add it to the page below the sessions already listed. The editing password is canuck. Please include the title of your session and your name.

Types of Sessions and Presentations

Presentation: 30-45 minutes in a room of your peers. Help us all learn something new... The intelligence is in the room... discuss a topic that interests you... get everyone involved...
Lightning Talk: 5-minute impromptu talk in a quiet corner on a gem you've discovered and want to share.

To add a session, simply select the Edit Page button above and add it to the page below the sessions already listed. The editing password is canuck.

List of Sessions Offered and Sessions Wanted

Sessions Offered

Video Microblogging - Adele McAlear and Tracy Apps - Building community with video conversation networks. I'll talk about the evolution of video microblogging, the types of communities they serve, the main feature sets, and how you and use them to build your community. I'll give a tour of at least 3 different platforms (TBA, chosen from: Seesmic, Phreadz, Utterli, 12seconds.tv, more...)
Fostering Creativity - Michael Mistretta - How passion, creativity, and a little hard work can take an idea from conception to execution.
Monetizing Blogs and Communities: Ethics and Strategies - CT Moore & Nicky Senyard - Bloggers and podcasters often struggle with finding a way to generate a living off of their passion without compromising their reputation and credibility. In this session, I'll explore different ways in which bloggers and podcasters can actually generate revenues by giving engaging their audience in a way that respects the community ethic that's at the heart of social media.
Podcasting Tools 101 (Panel) - Moderator: Connie Crosby. Panelists: Ninja, Daniele Rossi and John Meadows. Experienced podcasters give you a peak inside their toolboxes, explaining what they use for recording, editing, publishing and hosting their podcasts.
The Social Media Funnel - Keith Burtis - Community manager for Best Buy Remix. I will talk about why traditional business communication methods break down in the Social media space.How you can Increase your network, build trust, and scale by serving one person at a time. 20-30 Minute High energy slide-free presentation then we'l use the Funnel approach to solve YOUR challenges. (You dont have to have business motivations to attend-Just passion for Social Media)
Forums and podcasting (Lightning talk) - Marko Kulik - 5 minutes of speedy tips on how a forum can compliment your podcast.
Canadians & Social Networking Tools - Catherine Moelker, comScore - Demographics & Canadian use of social networking tools.
Taking Control of Success (Panel) - John Meadows, Scarborough Dude, Keith Burtis and Katherine Matthews - Come hear how the four of us (who create very different kinds of content), define our personal criteria for success in podcasting and social media Come join the conversation -- how do YOU define success?
A Social Media State of the Union Discussion hosted by Collin Douma. What does 2009 promise for Social Media? Where's it all headed with Podcasting, Social Networking, Blogging, SMPRs, Blogger/Podcaster outreach Microblogging etc? This open discussion will start with a 10 min rant from your host and an open mic encouraging idea generation, technology mashups, social creativity and constructive criticism on the year that was. This session should provide you with several take away ideas to get you ready for Social Media Year 4. Join this session if you are interested in an intermediate to advanced collaborative discussion. Moderated by Collin Douma of Radicaltrust.ca and Hill & Know lton
Dear Toronto hosted by Adam Schwabe (IBM Interactive Toronto) of Dear Toronto Just before Podcamp 2008, we started Dear Toronto after all spending quite some time in the relatively more traditional blogging and photography areas. Since then, we've learned quite a bit about what works and doesn't work in producing consumable, fun video as well as some things that are perhaps unique about producing a podcast in Toronto. This session/discussion should provide some lessons learned and will build on some of our professional and formal education in user experience and design.
Podcasting in foreign lands - Michelle Sullivan a.k.a. 'Mimi' of the Montreal Bites restaurant review podcast and the Michelle Sullivan Communications PR blog shares insights about podcasting in unfamiliar places, as a stranger in a strange land. A talk about what, if anything, is happening on the podcasting front in India, as well as a glimpse into how social media is being used in the land of saris and samosas. An escape to the other side of the world for those who want to step away from Toronto for the time of a PodCamp session. Namaste! UPDATE : Given recent events in Mumbai, this session will include a look into how social media was used as a communications tool during the terrorist attacks.
Social Media Monitoring and Analysis - Dave Fleet - How do you get started with monitoring online conversations? What do you need to think about? How do you find conversations? How do you measure them? What does it mean? What do you do about it? We'll walk through all of these.
Becoming a Legitimate Media Outlet - Matt + Nat of YourGeekNews.com - Have you been brushed off by big business in the past for not being what they consider "legitimate media"? Matt and Nat show how a show that takes itself seriously on the web can get huge corporations, film and TV companies and mainstream media outlets to take them seriously too! Once you've gotten big business to recognize you as a media outlet, you can find as we did that sponsorship and monetizing your project is not a very big jump at all.
Government 2.0 - Mike Kujawski The latest examples of effective government social media usage in Canada and around the globe.
Social Media in the Public Service - Jairus Pryor (Bank of Canada) and Audra Williams (Parliament of Canada) - How social media can be used to communicate with external audiences, and to demystify public service institutions to encourage civic engagement.
Charting the History of Podcasting in Canada - Tracy Fuller (UBC School of Journalism) - An interactive session that hopes to chart the growth of Canada's Podcasting Community. Starting with Canada's first Podcast, I'd like to hear your stories about how the community evolved, how and when YOU got involved and where you think the medium is heading. Please come to share and hear stories that will connect the dots on Canada's map of Podcasters.
Social Media for Nonprofits - Elena Yunusov, Communicable.ca - An interactive session looking at how nonprofits use social media. What are the opportunities and challenges? The future of volunteering, fundraising, and social service. Short presentation followed by discussion.
Social Media for Artists - Keith Burtis and Julianna Yau. Discussing the use of new media and social media to promote your art.
Workflow and the Creative Process - Mark Blevis - A discussion on how to pull together recorded content, chop it up, mix it up and sequence it in a way that delivers a message and/or tells a story that engages your audience. This session is not about tools; it's about proven techniques and approaches for developing and producing engaging content -- whether the result is 60 seconds or 60 minutes.
Social Media in Higher Ed - Wayne MacPhail - A case study of using social media to teach online journalism at the University of Western Ontario and Sir Wilfrid Laurier University.
Edelman 2009 Trust Barometer - Rick Murray - A review and discussion of the findings from the 9th annual survey of the sources of trust and trustworthiness among opinion leaders worldwide
First Church of Facebook: an exploration of Faith and Social Media - Colin Carmichael (with Sean McGaughey and Heather Angus-Lee) - a look at how churches and para-church organizations are (or could be) using social media to engage their existing communities of faith - and to bring their message to a wider audience. We'll also talk about the social media adoption hurdles for churches and how they're different from the private, public, and non-profit sectors. See blog post for developments.
Hi-Fi for WiFi: Getting Great Sound - Victoria Fenner - from on-the street recordings to the quietest of studios, how to get sound that sparkles. How to choose the best mike and recorder for the job, record in the field, integrate background sound, edit and mix . Not just for audio podcasters -- learn how to make dazzling soundtracks for videos and slideshows too.
Podcast Novels 101 - Steve Saylor - An overview from start to finish on how to create, produce, and market your own podcast novel!
Puppetry of the Podcast - Brian Hogg - This is a look at the various ways that puppets are being used in podcasts; whether as a sidekick, the focus of the show, the member of a large puppet-only cast, as a musician, or questionable satirist, puppets are hitting podcasts in a big way!
Podcasting on a Budget - Russel Hale - (Ramble With Russel podcast) will discuss how to produce a weekly podcast and not have to spend alot of money doing it after almost3 years of doing it and why rambling is not necessarily a bad thing
Twitter: 140 Characters to Better Brands - Dave Delaney (Griffin Technology) - An explanation of how you can use Twitter to strengthen your brand. Plus, tools to enhance your productivity using the popular Microblogging service.
Finding Gold in the Unstructured Web: Using Social Networks, Semantic Search, and Communities to Find Information and Insight - Ilya Grigorik (AideRSS) - discussion of how user-generated content (sms, blogs, photos, wikipedia) is changing journalism / media as we know it, and how this affects how we discover, consume, and contribute to the unstructured web. In this session we will look at the fragmented social media space, engagement metrics that look beyond page views and clicks, explore ROI and adoption strategies in the context of the modern enterprise, and how it all affects the bottom line.
Audacity 101/201 - basic to moderate level - a demo of some of the key features plus explanation of Audacity's strengths and weaknesses - Sean McGaughey and Bob Goyetche will give a brief overview of the basics of Audacity. (as requested by Connie Crosby)
Stalking Your Audience for Fun & Profit - Monitoring Your Community & Competitors - Sean Power (Twitter) on the upcoming O'Reilly book "Complete Web Monitoring\" - Ever wanted to figure out who'se listening to you? Ever wondered what else they might be listening to? Ever wondered if anyone cares about you? This session covers the different ways to monitor your community and competitors. We'll cover how to build a working analytics strategy (it sounds more boring than it is!) and go over tools that can help you understand your community eco-syste. Bring your laptop or a notepad, because you'll hear about many companies that we've learnt from that you'll want to remember. I recently wrote a book on the subject with Alistair Croll (Twitter).
The Relationship Between Podcasting and Blogging: A Discussion - moderated by Jay Moonah - You're a podcaster. Or you're a blogger. Or you're both. How do you see podcasting and blogging as relating to one another? Are they completely discrete activities, do they inform one another, or are they variations of the same thing? Join an open conversation that will hopefully be as interesting as it is uber-nerdy.
Live from PodCamp...it's Inside PR - Join Terry Fallis, David Jones and Martin Waxman in a 'live before a studio audience’ recording of their weekly podcast on social media and PR. In this (hopefully lively) session, participants will suggest topics for discussion, ask questions or just add their two-cents.
Green Film & Video Production for TV, Podcasting or ?? hosted by Lance Carlson will offer a brief overview of digital and other technology that enables a new generation of media creators to be cool and green. From inexpensive camcorders that capture to Flash cards, notebooks and Macbooks loaded with a tonne of Post-production SW and LED lights that draw power from four double A cels; the emerging media guru has never had so many neat (and energy efficient) tools at his/her fingertips. Through a mysterious bit of syncronicity Lance just happens to be hosting an LED Lighting Workshop sponsored by RTA-RyersonU and http://www.greenscreentoronto.com in the Eaton Theatre and Studios A, B & C. Podcampers are also welcome to visit Studio C for live demos by professional videographers shooting interviews with the latest LED lighting fixtures as well as pick up dealer info on LED lights,cameras and other cool production gizmos.
Community Sites on a Budget -- Facilitated by John Sheridan, Managing Partner of Social Media 404 Inc. -- the requested session was "options for building a community site with tons of dynamic user-generated content (a la Craig's list) without having a team of coders. Best platforms to get started. How to incorporate forums. Things of that nature. (proposed by Susan Abbott who wants to focus on content, not construction)" -- this session will be 1/3 options for creating a no-budget site, and 2/3 creating one. A hands on workshop, so bring your laptops. We'll look at the various options and technologies available, and how you can use them to do what you need to do -- achieve your objectives, not become a Web 2.0 programmer. You can even leave with something to keep building right away.
Social Media for Special Causes -- Margaret Mead said "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Are you looking to rally around a cause? Change attitudes? Gather support? Raise money? Make changes happen? This session will focus how how social media is helping people to connect across geographic locations and demographic backgrounds to discuss, frame issues, take action, and make a difference. Facilitated by John Sheridan, Managing Partner of Social Media 404 Inc.
Setting up Wordpress for Podcasting - Angelo Mandato (twitter) host of the Plugins Podcast will discuss how to setup and configure a Wordpress blog for podcasting. This will be an interactive presentation, audience participation is strongly encouraged.
Building Relationships with Word of Mouth and PR Practitioners While Maintaining Credibility with Your Audience – As bloggers and podcasters, are we really the new influencers and subject matter experts? What does it all mean for businesses and consumers? Join Anita Clarke, David Jones, Eden Spodek and Matthew Stradiotto for this interactive panel as they share their experiences with the good, bad and the ugly of Blogger/Podcaster relations from both sides of the equation. Moderated by Keith McArthur.
Creating a collaborative work environment
Updated Look at Women and Social Media - Kim Vallee -- A look at the latest metrics and what is happening in the world of women and mom marketing and blogging. See how blogging and social media enhance the life and the daily activities of modern women. I will share great initiatives but I also want to hear about yours.
Mixing traditional media and social media - Mathew Ingram, communities editor of the Globe and Mail - I'd like to talk about some of the ways the Globe is trying to use social media to connect with readers, including our Public Policy Wiki, as well as our live-blogging experiments, Twitter, etc.
Heresy, Hipocracy, and Sin - Chris Brogan gives 'er a big fat rip, and talks about money, business models, plans for world domination, and pirate ships. Dammit.
Mini Book Expo - a Case Study, or how my little social media project took over my life. Bloggers start projects all the time. Some fizzle and some catch on fire. Mini Book Expo turned from a small book give away on a personal blog into Mini Book Expo - a site sending over 1100 books from 50+ publishers to over 500 bloggers world-wide. Alexa Clark, Host of Mini Book Expo and Managing Partner at Plethora Press will share some of the growing pains in dealing with a small idea gone wild, managing expectations from bloggers & PR professionals and the success-failure of this online initiative that started as a little "give back" on her personal blog.
Speed Mentoring/Ask a Geek- Whitney Hoffman and an array of other veteran New Media types will be available for any and all questions you might have about your New Media/Social Media projects. We all have times were we get stuck, or want to bounce ideas off of others who might have ideas or solutions to speed us on the way. (Anybody interested in participating as a Nerd mentor, please add your name here.) John Meadows (Audacity, Garageband/Music creation, Linux/Open Source tools), Daniele Rossi (podcasting, blogging, Twitter, Mac OS X, strategy) (Mike"The Birdman" Dodd, Podcasting,PR,Adobe Audition,community strategy,traditional radio broadcasting) Steve Saylor (Creative thinking, community building, web design, wordpress, all things abilinism)
How Does Money Affect Content? Whitney Hoffman (with Andrea Ross, Jay Moonah and others TBA) would like to have a community discussion about whether money affects your online content production.There's lots of talk about how to monitize podcasts, blogs, websites and the like, but when money exchanges hands, obligations inevitably follow. There also seems to be deeply held feelings regarding what constitutes "selling out" and "transparency". When do you sell your content short of its true potential? When does accepting money mean tailoring content to a client's wishes? Without industry standards, how do you value yourself and your skill set if you wish to freelance for clients? There's no simple answer to any of this, but it's something we should all talk about as a community.
The power of the niche: - Sylvain Grand'Maison - Why niche content do better than general content and what knowledge you can get from the niche that you wouldn't learn anywhere else. A bullet-point-less conference that may help social media dudes, podcast producers and business folks.
Learning from The Beatles: - Sylvain Grand'Maison - What you can learn from John, Paul, George and Ringo to produce a killer podcast and interact better with social media.
I Got the Job because of Social Media Ryerson University undergrad Daniel Patricio talks about the importance of social media and personal branding for students and new grads as they look to find their way into the business world.
PodCampToronto 2010: An Open Discussion - A frank conversation about the business side of running this event, with an opportunity for members of the community to voice their opinions.
What's Next in Canadian Social Media, Word of Mouth and Community Building - Sean Moffitt , Agent Wildfire - I'd like to chat about the key findings from our Buzz Report annual survey results on what clients and experts are telling us about what's next, provide some expert analysis from friends and rap with attendees on possible implications for the future
The Secret World of Domain Names - Bill Sweetman, General Manager of YummyNames - Domain name expert Bill Sweetman, who manages one of the world's largest and most valuable portfolio of domain names, presents a marketer's guide to domain names. Bill will shatter some common domain name myths and show you how to buy, protect, and rescue your domain names. He will also explain how to use domain names to generate a steady stream of targeted traffic to your Website, blog or podcast. Finally, Bill will take you behind-the-scenes of the domain name investing industry, a secretive, billion dollar industry that you can get a piece of for less than $10.
Making Video: Light It, Mic It, Shoot It - an introduction to essential video production skills and techniques. Geo Perdis, Mediamaker.
Editing Video Using Apple's Final Cut
Make Enjoying Podcasts more Social with CastRoller - Will Spaetzel and Bill Deys talk about CastRoller, the online podcast subscription tool. And how CastRoller can make enjoying podcasts a lot more fun and more social. We will also demonstrate some advanced features of CastRoller giving you the edge to get the most out of the site.
Social Media 101 - If you're a social media newbie and are having trouble telling the Facebook from the tweets, Palette PR president Martin Waxman's intro session provides an easy-to-understand overview of the social media landscape and explanations of the latest tools. Also including ‘live’ demonstrations designed to ease you into the social media sphere from a PR practitioner's POV.
Using Google Analytics to Increase Your Audience- Do you know what your audience likes about your website? Who are your visitors and what keeps them coming back? Helen M. Overland of non-linear creations will help you find out how to plum the secrets of your Analytics Data to increase your traffic. NOTE: this will be an Intermediate session for people already familiar with the basic use of GA.
You're Not Ready for New Media - Jay Moonah - Tentative session... I may not do this session if everyone figures out new media by Saturday morning. Feeling uncomfortable? That's good, let's stay with that...
Jedi Mind Tricks & You - Mark Farmer. The biggest challenge in implementing social media often isn't the technology or know-how, it's engaging and getting buy-in from the organization involved. How to help clients embrace the risks & opportunities of social media is key. Mark Farmer delves into the psychology of organizational change and getting your clients to make the leap.
Journalism New Media Communications Learn how to create digital content to deliver C L E A R L Y the written and spoken word. Dawn Boshcoff BOSHmedia Communications
Video Game Journalism- MIke "The Birdman" Dodd, Correspondant with SCREWATTACK.com & Producer for The Game Heroes.com Talking about being a game journalist and establishing yourself in this industry- W

Sessions Wanted

Final Cut 4 (Pro or Express (don't think it matters)) - mostly a basic to moderate users guide to editing (I'd like to see some Multi Camera Stuff Too) - Bill Deys (seconded by Colin Carmichael) Added!
Equipment swap - an opportunity for people who want to sell or giveaway gadgets and other gear they aren't using any more to people who can give them a good home. If someone wants to organize this session, space will be provided - Eden Spodek
What is the best way to sell Podcasts? So you've got a great Podcast. People will want to buy it, as you're offering something they want to learn about, and can't find elsewhere. How can you set up your website to facilitate payment and automatic downloads to your customers once their payments have cleared? Without having to hire someone? PayPal can't do this for you. Which companies can? I'd be willing to pay a company a small percentage of every sale if they could facilitate this. If any of the Sessions currently being offered will tackle this, please let me know, and I'll be there. That's my I'm coming to PodCamp. Thanks - Rufus Glassco

Scheduling is NOW OPEN! Please add your session to the 2009 Schedule.

The Law of Two Feet

Simply put: your experience at PodCamp is what you want it to be. At any time, if you're not learning what you want to learn, if you're not getting what you need, you have every right to depart the session you're in and move to a different one, or none at all.

Session Recording

As much fun as attending PodCamp is, there are some who can't make it to the party for various reasons. As well, some people would love to grab an audio of video file of a session they were in, or one that was going on at the same time as one they were a part of. Please feel free to record the sessions and post them to the wiki for public use!

Quick Links: FrontPage 2009 Registration 2009 Sessions

PodcampTorontoSessions