The first time I went to a film festival, Planet in Focus in Toronto, it was a truly eye-opening experience. It was like looking through a window to a world I previously had no concept of, and by that I mean the film industry. Up to that point, I was a Hollywood movie watcher and was learning the basic tools of production in school but I couldn’t have told you anything about what made up the industry or how it worked. Obviously, I am enamored with this world since I continue to make exploring it my business. This experience is familiar to everyone, as at some point we are all beginners at something that we hope to make our work or hobby or whatever.

Yesterday’s PodCamp NYC was another such experience. I’ve written a lot about how SXSW 2006 opened my eyes to new thinking in new media, web 2.0 and building communities online. But PodCamp was a window into the business of new media. It wasn’t that helpful in terms of figuring out how to launch a new podcast, which I’m hoping to do at Renew Media, because I already know most of the tools - from actual production to dissemination and building audience. I didn’t have any issues to work through with the podcast as I haven’t started it yet, and I couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity to meet the “big” names there because I didn’t know who I should be looking out for.

Who am I talking about? Chris Brogan, C.C. Chapman, Christopher Penn, Jay Moonah, Leesa Barnes, Jason Van Orden, Bryan Person and many more. They are folks who are on the frontlines of the new media industry and have a lot of experience to share. I didn’t hear all of them speak but no matter, because all of them are recorded and online in sessions from various previous PodCamps - Boston was first, Toronto was recent, if you want to start exploring; NYC media archives will be up shortly.

I don’t want to go too much into the Camp phenomena; it’s branded as an “unconference” meaning anyone can add a presentation and talk about what they are an expert in and others come to learn and share, not just sit like blobs. It’s kind of odd that these guys who kicked it off continue to travel around to speak at them, so in that regard, it’s the same as any other industry conference. That was one of my revelations.