STBD's "How to Make a Web Series" Session from PodCamp

At PodCamp Pittsburgh 2, STBD creator Justin Kownacki hosted a session on how to create a sustainable web series.

Alterna-tv's Tony Letizia was in attendance, and he wrote up a lengthy recap of that session here.

“All social media, whether it’s journalism, whether it is a family blog, whatever it is, everything that’s been successful has been successful because you’re telling a story,” [Kownacki] remarked. (More)

A Week Until VON

Next Monday, I'll be at Video on the Net in San Jose. I've been asked to speak during a segment called "Meet the Producers," which occurs on Wednesday, March 21. I'll be sharing the stage with Steve Garfield and Brian Conley, among others. It's great company for Something to Be Desired to be in.

The last VON conference was in Boston in September. It's hard for me to believe, but that was 6 months ago. Since then, numerous things have changed for me and my fellow new media creators, including:

- Chris Brogan was hired by Jeff Pulver to help launch Network2,

- PodCamps were held in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Toronto and abroad,

- Blip TV became darlings of the new media startup set, and

- Amanda Congdon went "mainstream."

Things have also changed for STBD in that time:

- 20 new episodes were produced.
- WANT was shut down.
- Dierdre was hired at Affogato.
- Lloyd has come and (for the most part) gone.
- Our audience found new favorites in Rich and Tim.
- We created our first Halloween episode.
- We took a 6-week hiatus to better plan for the future.

That future is now.

On March 26, we return with all-new episodes to close out Season Four. After that, who's to say where we'll go next?

We have some ideas. We have some projects in the works.

All we know is, in six months, STBD -- and the new media playing field as we know it -- could look VERY different... Stay tuned!

Creative Treehouse, and Why I'm Not in Toronto Right Now

PodCamp Toronto kicks off tomorrow morning and I'm not going. This makes me immensely frustrated, not just because Toronto is one of my favorite cities OR because most of my colleagues from the first two east coast PodCamps will be in attendance, BUT because my absence is entirely my own fault.

Due to mismanagement of both time and money, I find myself without enough of either to justify making the trip and leaving my other loose ends dangling for three days. So, I'm buckling down to get work done.

In reality, it makes sense, especially because I'll be out of town for Video on the Net (which I'm speaking at) in March AND PodCamp NYC in April. With so much potential travel on the horizon, and a weekly web series to restart, priorities are a must.

But, unfortunately, I could have prioritized much better about 4 weeks ago and had both the time AND the money to cut free for 3 days now.

(I'll also miss SXSW again this year, which continues to be the annual Event I Keep Meaning To Get To...)

HOWEVER...

I WILL be in attendance at ONE event this weekend, at least -- and it's a local one to boot:

Tonight (Friday, Feb 23), Creative Treehouse launches its kickoff event: a 24-hour art extravaganza! Starting @ 8 PM, artists of all types will begin working on all new, original works... Then tomorrow (Saturday, Feb 24) @ 8 PM, those works go on display -- only 24 hours later!

Come down and see the works in progress! Or come celebrate the space's grand opening! Food and drink will be provided @ the opening, along with music from Jon Miller and Sean Atkins

All art created overnight will be available for purchase. Half the proceeds go to the Treehouse!

WHAT: Creative Treehouse's "Creative Marathon"
WHO: Artists from across Pittsburgh -- and you!
WHERE: 517 Lincoln Avenue, Bellevue, PA 15202 (2nd Floor - rear entrance)
WHEN: Marathon begins @ 8 PM Friday, Opening @ 8 PM Saturday

For more information, visit CreativeTreehousePGH.com or their MySpace!

PodCamp is to BootCamp as...

Last night's PodCamp Meet-Up went very well, as far as I could tell. Due to a transportation delay, I wasn't able to get there until just past 7, but we packed a lot of conversation into a relatively short amount of time. It was great to see so many familiar faces, but also great to meet so many new people as well -- Pittsburgh's new media community is definitely growing.

The big topic of discussion was BootCamp, which is what we're calling the one-day immersive introduction to new media that we're planning for April. Since PodCamp is a multi-day event, targeting new media creators of all stripes and levels of expertise, we realized that absolute newcomers might be intimidated, confused or frustrated by the variety of information available. The last thing we want is for a PodCamp attendee to come away feeling like they DIDN'T learn what they intended to. So the best solution seems to be a preamble to the main event, where newcomers can get up to speed on all the basics of blogging, podcasting, social networking and other new media buzzwords and processes.

That way, when you're at PCPGPGH2 in August and you're trying to choose between learning more about Alive in Baghdad or attending a panel on the future of content licensing, you won't have to stop a volunteer and ask them what, exactly, IS a podcast? (Although, if you're still not sure, you certainly can.)

For more details about what you missed, including the first wave of planning for the upcoming BootCamp in April, read the summary at our PodCamp Pittsburgh Forum.

A New Direction

Some of you know that I also keep a personal blog, in addition to the STBD blog.

Lately, I've noticed my thoughts straying further and further from STBD as I write more often about the new media evolution and other off-topic concepts. Meanwhile, my personal blog was primarily devoted to Pittsburgh's cafe scene, on which I hadn't been writing much lately because my lifestyle has somewhat changed.

So, I'm making a big distinction: My personal blog is evolving.

From now on, I'll keep most of my new media and motivational observations there, and I'll keep most of my STBD-specific news and updates here. There will always be overlap, but the lines are more clearly drawn.

(This also means you may want to bookmark my personal blog, which kicks off today with a new direction and an important question: What drives you?)

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REMINDER: Last week's PodCamp Pittsburgh Mini-Meet-Up was postponed due to snow. It's actually taking place tonight at 6:30 at Affogato in Bellevue. If you're a podcaster, blogger, photographer, designer or other new media creator -- or fan -- and would like to join the conversation, you're welcome to join us. We'd love to chat with you.