Everyone's a Champ at EventCamp

I never went camping when I was a child. I never really wanted to because of all the bugs. Aside from the allure of fireside s'mores, I had a great appreciation early on for the comfort of a nice bed. My friends could keep their My Little Pony sleeping bags, I'd take 600 ct sheets or higher, thank you very much.

Making the rubber chicken drink coffee at EventCamp. Don't ask.

They didn't make me sleep in a sleeping bag. My first evening was spent at bar in Chicago throwing out song lyrics to an award-winning songwriter and rubbing elbows with all-stars in the social media world, like Liz Strauss and Chris Brogan (who politely asked if he could hang my coat when I got there). The rest were mostly all-stars in the events world, including many dear friends. The best of the best in the events industry from all over North America came to Chicago for an EventCamp experience that I will never forget.

 If you would have told me when I was 12-years-old that I would be at something called an EventCamp sharing a room with a brain & learning expert and spending the weekend at a place with a special room called "The Sausage Room", and with an American Gladiator Champion, several award winning authors, and a host of wildly creative people; I wouldn't have thought you were a liar...but I would have been very interested in finding out what I was doing as a career. My point is this: EventCamp National Conference deepened my already strong commitment to the online events community.

A special thanks to: Christina Coster (holla!), Michael McCurry, Jeff Hurt, Dave Lutz, Jessica Levin (hello doll!), and Mike McCallen for putting on a great show! Additional thanks goes to all of the speakers who inspired me...Brandt Krueger, Hank Wasiak, Erika St Angel, Chris Brogan, Liz Strauss, Lindy Dreyer, and everyone else who knocked it out of the park.

EventCamp Meltdown? Fire Away - Guest Post by Midori Connolly

Written by guest blogger: Midori Connolly, Pulse Staging and Events, Chief AVGirl, Owner

In the wake of the third EventCamp, a community meltdown seems to be occurring. Unfortunately, it appears that some of the observations and questions from the remote participants were construed as personal attacks rather than the open and honest exchange of ideas (see values #1-4 of the Five Core Values of EventCamp).

As I see it, the primary impetus for this controversy (and what initiated the string of questions and observations via Twitter) is largely a result of what attendee expectations within the EventCamp community: online community, technological integration, blended audience experiences, solid adult learning design, etc.

Let me illustrate with my own personal experience..

As a remote attendee of the first EventCamp, I was thrilled to participate in thought-provoking discussion and receive inspirational education without having to leave my young children to travel across the country to an event. Then, as a face-to-face participant at EventCamp Twin Cities, the energy and excitement of the engagement occurring between participants both in-room and from afar gave me chills!

So, perhaps this is the source of the confusion for many the inability to participate remotely in the knowledge sharing and conversation at EventCamp East Coast. And this could be a major issue for ALL event managers moving forward as new generations of attendee expectations continue to evolve.

I see three areas that might have instigated the breakdown:

1) Video Stream v. Backchannel: I completely agree that not every EventCamp or gathering need be streamed via Audio/Video. However, I think it's safe to say that most of us by now have become accustomed to a backchannel conversation. Taking that away was quite an unexpected shock for audience members both face-to-face and remote. I received several messages from attendees onsite who felt they were being disconnected from those who couldn't be there face-to-face and that was not what they had expected. The same happened with remote attendees who (for some reason or another) thought I could explain why there wasn’t a backchannel conversation.

2) Hashtag: After building a vibrant and engaged #ecec10 community, restricting the flow of conversation between community members during the event felt contradictory to the purpose of creating event hashtags. If there are issues of confidentiality, then perhaps Yammer and a closed community are a better option? Then the participants who were included in the promotional/before community building could benefit from the education and knowledge of the during phase…and continue the camaraderie of the after stage of the event when community has the chance to become strongest.

3) Knowledge Sharing: One of the most appealing aspects of being a part of the EventCamp community is the open exchange of ideas. While providing educational summaries of the sessions is so fantastic (particularly with the brilliant Mitchell Beer as the provider of said summaries), it still dilutes the joy of having many perspectives in the room helping to create that content. It also limits the historical recording to one person's voice and interpretation.

In summary, this is clearly not an issue of right or wrong, but rather lessons for all. I don’t have an opinion one way or another about whether or not this was the “right” format. I just offer these journalistic observations and interpretations from someone who participated remotely in the community. Those who were able to attend face-to-face had the time of their life and the unconference format inspired a transformative experience. In contrast, our online community has come to expect certain elements as a norm, one being the ability to participate remotely in some form or another. Over the course of two years many of us have come to rely on these backchannel experiences for staying connected to our socmed bff's J

Wouldn’t it be cool if someone could now blend Adrian’s Conferences that Work model of some of the unconference formatting and create a virtual unconference? Wooooo, now THAT would be cool!

I know I will personally have a whole new insight as we move forward with developing EventCamp Green. So thank you to the ECEC10 organizers for pioneering yet another frontier in the brave new world of meetings and events!! 

Next it will be your turn to provide constructive observations and insight on our interpretation of the EventCamp model...and, as Pat Benatar would say, Fire Away so we can all grow and improve together!!

Why You Already Love EventCamp HQ

They say they are just everyday people, like you and me.

The EventCamp Headquarters Team includes industry thought-leaders, innovative meeting planners, and knowledge-management heavyweights.

Part of a dynamic, ongoing online conversation using the hashtag, eventprofs; Christina Coster had an idea…why couldn’t a group of event professionals come together for a face to face meeting using all the talents they had for a creative learning experience similar to the social media bar camps she’d attended?

And they did it.

We’ll hear more about the history of EventCamp on Monday when I will have the chance to interview the leaders of EventCamp Headquarters for Social Media Sweet Spot Radio at 11:30 am ET. You can tune in on your computers or by dialing in and there will be a chance for the audience to ask questions. Feel free to tweet about the show using #eventprofs or #sweetspot hashtags.

Monday’s show will feature:

Christina Coster is an award winning special event and meeting planner based in New York City. She is a blogger on Eventcoup.com and is the founder of EventCamp. She's a social media enthusiast, lover of all things tech, and an avid Mets fan. You can connect with her on Twitter at @Mizcity or on LinkedIn.

[Editor’s Note: She is also someone whom others refer to as brilliant, but who doesn’t seem keen to promote herself that way…I’ll love talking with her on Monday!]

Michael M McCurry is a 30 year veteran of the meetings and events industry. McCurry is currently a Strategic Account Manager with Experient and is responsible for oversight of the relationship between Experient and numerous corporate and association clients. He has been an active member of the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) since 1993 and most recently 2009 President of the Greater Midwest Chapter.

Mike has a special affinity for technology and has become a strong social media advocate and active blogger. Outside of work, he is an accomplished musician, guitarist and songwriter. When he’s not riding his Harley, he’s rooting for the Chicago Bears and Cubs.

Jessica Levin - With a background in marketing and event planning, Jessica’s dual forte is networking and netweaving. She has a reputation as the “Go To” person re: marketing, meeting planning and anything involving trends in technology. Jessica uses social networking tools to build and strengthen both personal and business relationships and teaches others how to embrace social media as a way to create both corporate and personal brands.

Jessica’s professional background includes experience in the professional services arena, association management and industrial marketing. Her strategic approach to marketing includes a mix of both traditional marketing channels and web 2.0 tactics. She focuses on creating, strengthening and maintaining relationships for business and for the people that drive them.

Jessica is the President of the New Jersey Professional Marketers Association (NJPSMG) and the social media moderator for the MeCo list. She is also a member of the Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM) and the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA). She was named Planner of the Year by the New Jersey chapter of MPI and is a JASPER Award winner in the special event planning category. Jessica holds the designation Certified Meeting Professional (CMP). She was named New Jersey’s 2009 Top Forty Under 40. a 2010 Planner to Watch by Convention South magazine and was inducted into the New Jersey Social Media Hall of Fame in 2010.

Jeff Hurt has worked in events/nonprofit arena for more than 20 years including Keep America Beautiful as a consultant/trainer/writer; Keep Texas Beautiful as Education Coordinator; Professional Development Manager for Meeting Professionals International; Professional Development Manager for Promotional Products Association International; and Director of Education and Events for the National Association of Dental Plans. He has also served on several board of directors for several North Texas, state and national charities and organizations. Currently he serves as Director of Education and Engagement at Velvet Chainsaw Consulting.

[Editor’s Note: He is also one of my all-time favorite bloggers with his Midcourse Corrections blog.]

Mike McAllen helps companies save time, energy, and money for Meeting Production. The focus is on educating, motivating, networking and smart budgeting. He has a passion for helping meetings and event professionals through production solutions for live events and meetings...also through the internet with his show, MeetingsPodcast.com.

McAllen has been producing events and meetings, videos, and new media for 15 years. Co-founder of Grass Shack Events and Media 8 years ago - A corporate meetings and video production company. Co-founder of MeetingsPodcast.com and internet radio show which is in its 3rd year and more than 135 weekly shows. He is co-founder of EventCamp.org a "wordcamp" style event put together from the Eventprofs Twitter group.

[Editor’s Note: I am still waiting for an official headshot from Mike. So far, I’ve only found shots of him with other people online, including one photo titled, “The Godfathers of Eventprofs” from www.michaelmccurry.net/]

Do you have questions you would like for me to ask this crew of EventCamp leaders? I’ll be happy to include them for you!

EventCamp HQ - Why You Already Love It

Date / Time: 10/4/2010 11:30 AM

Category: Business

Call-in Number: (347) 884-9582