On the Road to PodCamp Boston

Zipping along to PodCamp Boston, in the car with Locobone and Tommy Vallier of TalkShoe. Trying to explain to the Canadian border guards the rationale for driving 13 hours from Erie, PA to Boston by way of Kingston, ON, is not an easy task...

Our first (and thus far only) near-death experience came when a woman decided we didn't exist and tried to merge into our car at 85 mph. Thanks to Locobone's swift reflexes ("Um, Tom..." *ssssswerve*), we're still in one piece and none the worse for the wear. To her credit, the woman did the honorable thing and fled.

Now we're at a rest stop near Syracuse, NY, at which point Locobone will nap in his own backseat while I drive his car across New York with a Canadian co-pilot. Social media is all about putting yourself in other people's shoes / nations / cars, so I guess we're right on schedule. Should be in Boston around 10 PM.

(If anyone wants to meet up in Boston tonight, Twitter one of the gents linked above -- my phone is not Twitter enabled.)

Bare Basics Tech in a Blue Collar Town

Great observation from expert marketer John Wall: "PodCamps are a reflection of their cities."

Considering Pittsburgh is a city caught between its past as a steel town and its future as... well, we're still figuring that out... it makes sense that we cling to the traditions we know will work: namely, alcohol.

Granted, that's not the only reason Wall calls last year's PodCamp Pittsburgh "the best conference I have ever attended" -- it had something to do with the caliber of talent on display from around the country too. But the post-party at the Tiki Lounge certainly didn't end the event on a down note.

Peel back the bravado for a moment and you'll realize what really makes events like PodCamp tick: the community. People LOVE to come together and share ideas and information. We love to be "in the club."

That's why we're so excited about BootCamp PGH, next Saturday's "bare basics" guide to new media. We realized a lot of people still need a helping hand in becoming comfortable with the web media world, so we decided to offer a FREE event to ease them into the conversation.

Some interesting characters are already on board for BCPGH. Chris Brogan will be there, talking about entry-level podcasting and the value of community. Matthew Ebel is coming to town to share his success as a podsafe musician -- did you know he recorded his last album using GarageBand?! -- the ladies of Spreadshirt will offer their marketing and merchandising expertise, and iJustine will share some of her social networking secrets, guaranteed to help you generate your own rabid following.

Even TalkShoe ambassador Tommy Vallier is coming down from Toronto to help acclimate new faces with new media.

What are YOU doing on April 21st? There's still time to register for BootCamp. Bring yourself, bring a friend

(And yes, if you're wondering, there will almost definitely be another alcohol-fueled celebration after BootCamp. This IS Pittsburgh, after all...)

Why Break Down When You Can Build Up?

Since it's so easy to find information about anything -- or anyone -- online these days, each of us now has a certain responsibility every time we type a word, record a syllable or post a video to the web: we have the power to create or destroy.

I Know I've Got a Bad Reputation... And It Isn't Just Talk, Talk, Talk...

By now, we all know the power of Jeff Jarvis's dissatisfaction with Dell: he complained about their poor customer service on BuzzMachine and became the leading spokesperson about their business practices.

If someone is dissatisfied with YOUR business, product or services, the damage they can do to your brand and reputation is far greater than the good they could do if they were madly in love with you. Why? Because it's been proven through numerous consumer behavior studies that customers are nearly 10 times more likely to tell their friends about a BAD experience they had with a business than they are to relate a GOOD experience.

People take good service for granted. People EXPECT you to deliver what you promise.

But if there's a wrinkle in the plan, their good graces go out the window.

Suddenly, your five minute delay or minor hiccup could cost your customer time or money -- and their vitriolic review of you online (or to their friends, who could ALSO bash you online) could cost YOU even more.

And yet... instead of sitting around complaining about the ills of the world, think of how much more productive we could be if we all spread the word about the POSITIVE experiences we have.

Pass It On

Someone you know is taking part in a cancer run. Someone else is volunteering at a daycare or a homeless shelter. And someone else is trying to figure out what, exactly, to do about Darfur.

Does everyone else in your social circle know about these compelling individuals? Does everyone you connect with have an avenue to assist these folks in whatever way they can?

Probably not.

Probably because you took your ten minutes of blogging or Twittering time today to update people about how lousy you feel, or how pressured, or how something important broke, or how angry you are at a waitress or clerk or civil servant who didn't move your day along as fast as possible.

So, instead of linking the people you know to the information you KNOW they should be aware of, you instead become yet another voice of dissent in their lives. You may be amusing, you may be insightful, you may be hysterical -- most of all, you may be RIGHT -- but the one thing you're NOT doing is ADDING to the conversation.

Think about it: would you rather your friends all go to bed tonight knowing that TalkShoe is helping Kiva finance small businesses in developing countries through their Talkathon, or knowing that traffic was horrible both to AND from Wendy's, and that your hamburger was undercooked?

There are millions of people out there who are dissatisfied about something. That's why spreading good news tends to stand out so clearly: no one else is doing it.