I’ve been to a few BarCamp.org styled User Generated meetings in my time, and I’m by no means an expert in this field. (I wasn’t at the 1st official BarCamp – nor have I been to any “official” camps). I have been involved in the planning of a few of these camps and hope that this post will serve as your unofficial guide from my observations at past events.  At the heart of the issue these are User Generated, yes by attending them you become a user – but semantics aside let’s take a look at these 5 points that will make sure your not “That Guy” at the next camp!

1.) These camps are not about you, they are not about your company!

At some point you need to learn to leave your soap box at home – come to share, but not to preach or pitch! Even if your company is a sponsor of the said camp – no one is there to hear about you! Pitching your company or hard selling your widget is a cardinal sin that will (or should) get  you booted from most of these meetings.

These camps are all about the community, if you feel that you can help someone with your widget – you should ask them to talk about that at a later date, get their contact information and tell them you can talk sales later.  The important thing is to talk about the topic – and you can do this without selling your product!

2.) These camps are not for you to show off your power point skills.

These camps are about starting public discussions and not a place for you to talk to the back wall as you show your slides.  Community is the focus and public conversation is key – you’re not leading a talk, but shaping the conversation as a discussion facilitator.  If you have screen shots of what you know is going to be brought up or if you’re talking about a case study and have slides that’s one thing – but please don’t just talk along with your 20 – 30 slides and not involve the room with discussion (especially after lunch – as it will become a snooze fest!)

3.) Tweet, Live Blog & Interact on the meetings Live Stream
(take Photo & Videos too)

Most people show up to these events and they look like they have no clue as to what’s going on outside of that little room they ended up in.  I keep saying this but it’s about community – so while at an event, become the live blogger for the rest of the world (who’s not in that room) and tell us all what we’re missing out in.  Many of the break out sessions that I’ve been involved in evolved as people would join in via Cover-It-Live or Twitter with other questions an comments.  Also if you’re taking photos – don’t just shoot crowd shots, be sure to get in close and make sure that you tag your photos so people can find out who was there.

4.) Bring your business cards

I’m always shocked at the amount of people who come to networking events and don’t bring any means of sharing their contact information with those that they meet.  This seems rather old school, but it’s still a necessity! There’s nothing like trying to land a client or make a meaningful contact by writing down your contact information on a scrap piece of paper!  Is that really the best way to transmit your brand?!

5.) Stay on topic with the conference

If you are attending a conference that is central to a specific topic you have to remember that everyone else is there to talk and learn about that topic – please don’t focus on tangents that can could lead to you being able to pitch your business.  User generated conferences work best when there is a central vision and goal, a singleness of thought and everyone can add their perceptive to – if you come with a hidden agenda to talk about something else (i.e. yourself or your business) you will stick out like a sore thumb and hopefully asked to leave the event.

So there it is, my 5 tips to get the most out of user generated conferences (BarCamps). Follow these tips to make your experience and the experience of those around you a pleasurable and worthwhile!  I know that this is a short list and there I must have left something out – please add to the conversation by making a comment here on the post…  Please don’t hold anything back (except for profanity – my Mom reads my blog so keep it clean).

Additional Resources

Link to great stuff concerning BarCamp:

BarCamp.org – Find upcoming camps in your area / in your country
The Rules of BarCamp – A must read page – don’t follow these, and you’ll be “That Guy”
The Pocket Guide to “Organize A Local Bar Camp”

Photos used in post:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/franzlife/ / CC BY 2.0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/monsieurlui/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lox/ / CC BY 2.0

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mathplourde/ / CC BY 2.0

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffmcneill/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

http://www.flickr.com/photos/71737580@N00/ / CC BY 2.0

Imagine a breaking story, and the shot that CNN uses isn’t the ENG truck that was a block away, or the helicoptor that they have a few miles away- but  live video from a teenagers iPhone 3GS! Don’t think that it could happen? What’s to stop us from having better coverage than the networks – if were at the right place at the right time?

Is it just about being at the right place at the right time?

Recall the downed plane in New York (US Airways 1549). The TwitPic that were sent from the ferry, crashed the website – when 7,000 people tried to view the photo at the same time – I didn’t take a screen shot of the views at the time, but I recall it had more than 100k with-in one week for the event happening. I wonder how much they made from adverts on the page…

Now, Imagine if there was live video from the scene and how that would have changed the news coverage of the event online. I think that this will be more than being at the right place at the right time, and to be willing to put yourself out there to capture the event.

Live Video Via Facebook or Qik or where ever…

Regardless of where it’s from or what service it’s deployed with – these video devices are a game changer, their are here to stay, and they are changing the face of video production as we know it!  If you don’t believe me, and you’re holding to your hard and fast rules of what a real camera is (like I have been) then you have to see what the guys over a Pixel Corp (link to article about the rig) have cooked up using a RedRock Micro shoulder rails kit and some other accessories.  Camera Rig maker Zacuto is also getting in to the game with their new hand grip for the 3Gs.  And a new player – Owly, turns that shinny new phone into a mobile media work horse!

What will Live Video do to the way that news and events are covered, how long before we all see a shift social news?

When you start to produce live programming you’ll find yourself watching TV in a new and crazy way!   You start to look for every cut, every transition, and every camera position to find the motivation that lies behind each of them.  As a Director, it’s your role to pull everything together to produce a cohesive mix.  The question that I’ve found myself at many times is what makes for great live production?

“There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.”

Ansel Adams

When you are Directing, your show will only be as good as you prepare!

1. Show prep One of the critical things that I learned during my career in radio broadcasting, the more show prep that I did, the better the broadcast went.  The more prepared you are going into a show the less that can go wrong that you’re not already going to be ready for. You cannot prepare for everything, but for most things. At the height of my radio career I was the executive producer of my own two hour prime-time Saturday night show, “Binary Radio” was a live DJ mixed radio program there was no safety net, no live delay, my one and only line of defense was a prerecorded mix CD only to be used if I needed to re-boot Final Scratch.  Because of this there were times which  it was like juggling five chain saws and 3 bowling pins, and on rare occasion it was like watching a train wreak in revers and in slow motion.  The weeks that I would afford myself a 4 hour session of practice and programing my show it would go so nearly flawlessly  that it was scary.
2. Pre-Flight Checklist
   

   “I’ve got a checklist with 3,200 items on it. At any time, 150 of them are burning.”

   Fred Reid

   When you work from a checklist – it’s like having a silent assistant that keeps you on task, reinforcing your preparation.  (Provided that you make the time to make a worth while checklist that is.) What are things that you need on your checklist? During the course of your show prep you will run into areas that need work – marking a note of things that could go wrong, and what you can do to get around it.

3. Limited Stimulus before, during, and after the show This, honestly is just a personal thing that I’ve done dating back to my live theater experience.  I try to lay low before an event, to reflect and rehearse what’s necessary to execute the show as best I can.  Also during a show – I don’t want any kind of stimulus, and once I even had to spit out my gum as I ran out of things that I could do at one time (which at that time was seven.)
4. Post show exit meeting After you wrap a show, it’s a good practice to strike while the iron is hot and capture as much feedback about the show / event as you can – going over every triumph and tragedy that occurred.  The process of debriefing is critical to growth as a director, if you want to grow you’ll have to learn to take the good with bad.  This often is not a very comfortable meetings (when things go very wrong), and things can get heated – the important thing is to not take it personal, and not to make it personal!

So, What’s the “One” thing that makes for great live production?

Prep, prep, and more prep!

Your show will only be as good as you prepare for it to be.