Tomorrow, I’m going to be sub-hosting for Alec Saunders, host of the podcast, the SquawkBox. It’s a daily morning podcast that anyone can join in and participate in via conference call. All you have to do is be a member of Facebook and install the Free Conference Call application. You’ll have to register with your mobile phone number. The application alerts you about upcoming calls by sending an SMS to your phone just before the call. But you don’t have to call from your mobile phone. You can call from a landline or from your computer. Once you’ve installed the application, here’s the invite to join us on the call.
The call is tomorrow, Friday, March 14th at 8am Pacific, 11am Eastern.
Call lasts from 30-40 minutes.
Tomorrow’s guest: Patrick Kearney of the PJK Podcast and the VP of Technology and Platforms for Participant Productions
Tomorrow’s subjects:
1. Twitter is the digital peanut gallery – The Zuckerberg-Lacy fiasco at SXSW showed how Twitter has allowed those people in a room to talk collectively about what they’re watching, and let those who are “following” them to listen in as well. It’s the equivalent of passing notes back in forth in class, but letting everyone know who’s not in class. Will this event put event producers and panelists more on their toes? Will they be more prepared? Or should there be a “no Twitter” policy like in class when teachers wouldn’t let us pass notes? It’s a great topic for our guest Patrick Kearney, because his show, the PJK Podcast constantly poses the question: “Is technology making our lives easier or more difficult?”
2 . Reinventing conferences and panel sessions – We have all suffered through interminably boring conferences and panel sessions. The conference producers do very little to make sure their panels are interesting. They simply leave it all up to the participants in the session. I’m looking for a roundtable of ideas to give a shot in the arm to the conference industry. What are some new and inventive ideas to make conferences more interesting and engaging? Most of our conference call participants have been moderators, speakers, or panelists at conferences. They should all have some valuable input. In addition, it’s a subject near and dear to my heart as I’ve written a few pieces of this very subject.
- How to deal with rough crowds: A stand-up comic’s advice for Sarah Lacy
- How to “Web 2.0-Enable” your Live Event (PDF)
- More Schmooze, Less Snooze: How to Deliver “The Most Talked About” Conference Session
3. Hulu launches. Should iTunes be worried? – They said iTunes couldn’t be defeated, but the launch of Hulu is ushering in a new model for video distribution. Sure it doesn’t have the iTunes-iPod connection, but it does have some great content, and it’s for free. Will it work? Are you watching? From the development side of a film production company, Patrick Kearney will offer his viewpoint on what it takes to launch a site incorporating video.
I look forward to talking with all of you at 8 AM Pacific / 11 AM Eastern on the SquawkBox
