After a short while at PodCamp Pittsburgh 2, my ears were already overfull of emphatic platitudes and in-jokes:
- “Your social media is you.”
- “If you can’t delegate, you are dead, in this business, or non-business.”
- “Did I just break the InterWebs? I hate when I break the InterWebs.”
- “It’s all about where you are, and who you know—that hasn’t changed. That’s been Hollywood’s mandate for…120 years.”
Fuzzy math aside, I think the problem is that nobody quite knows what to say about social media, podcasting, web video. When things grow without top-down intervention, when new development comes from the periphery (or when there is no center, you might say), it’s hard to imagine how a conference like this one can amount to more than information sharing.
That can be valuable, and I suppose there’s something to be said for lonely bloggers getting in a room together. But so far, everyone seems to feel pressured to disseminate wisdom rather than to share insight.
Maybe I’m just grouchy ’cause I got here too late for any of the good schwag. And I really shouldn’t complain, anyway; I got to catch The Wailers playing a couple tunes for free at the DiverseCITY festival.
Don't Look Now 