PodCamp Toronto was an interesting enough day on Saturday, showcasing the new social media society present in Toronto as Saturday saw almost 600 people in attendance. I arrived relatively early with enough time to secure some wall space and listen to Jay Moonah offer up the introductions and best practices before shuffling us off to our rooms. Sadly, I think I largely picked the wrong sessions as I ended up spending more of the day on Twitter than paying attention to the sessions. Utilizing the Unconference format the event allowed anyone to get up and speak, lead a session, or just contribute. Apparently one of the sessions was run by a 16-year-old. I even contributed during the ‘Monetizing Blogs and Communities’ session that ended up being about affiliate marketing, something I have more than a little experience in.
My contributions there brought the speakers – Nicky Senyard and CT Moore – to me during the after party to discuss things. Turns out we share a little history from a previous industry, and they were surprised to find out that had been the first time I’d spoken up and contributed at any conference. Being that the last 12 months have been geared towards doing things I always said I’d do I’m fairly confident I’ll be leading a session at PodCamp 2010, but time will tell. Interest parties can take look at some Flickr photos of the day. Eagle-eyes will certainly find a few of yours truly.
The other story of the day was food and drink. Two gents took me up on my open offer of lunch at Volo where Andrew and I had the opportunity to get to know them over a very nice Italian lunch. Lucky for me one of my “must try” beers that had evaded me for so long – Black Oak Double Chocolate Cherry Stout – was available on cask. The after party was sponsored by my friends over at Molson Canada and would feature sampling of a number of brands: Rickard’s White, Rickard’s Red, MGD, Corona, Corona Light, Canadian, and Negra Modelo. I spent about an hour chatting with the brewmaster of Rickard’s along with Andrew and my new Volo friends, getting our fill of information from the inside, some of the secrets (yes, THE secret of Rickard’s White) of the beer. All around a good time!
Now Listening
Chris Isaak – Mr. Lucky
Today’s Random Links
Arizona’s Heart Attack Grill is freaking disgusting.