Speaker:

And crowd’s response: [Bull Shit]

I’ve been to a decent number of geek gathers in the last two years and Vloggercon is really feeling like one of the best. The diversity of the crowd and panelists. The rooms and halls are full of doers. Whether makes of complicated next-gen software or teaching non-profits how to take advantage of video to people sharing beautiful videos every day. The $60 2-day feel helps a lot and the fact that this is a technological push that is highly people-motivted and has yet to become big enough to be co-opted by corporate interests. (Though Intel is here … albeit a couch talking with people about what their needs and wants are).

Tim Pratt mentioned to me at lunch he had overheard 3 or 4 conversations amongst people wanting to know more about the economics of the technology. To put it bluntly I too heard lots of talk about how to make money out of this. Normally that’s a bad sign, but it’s an excellent one for this crowd of doers. The premies of video on the internet, citizen journalism, we the media, have all come true. There is no reason to philiophise what it will be like anymore. What it is important is to understand how independent media can become a profession. What’s so clear to me is that if you approach your project like a hobby it’s very likely to become too expensive and good projects die on the vine. So I think it’s great to hear so many people ready to learn what they need to know abou the business of what they are doing. Whether it’s finding sponsors, donors, grant agencies, subscription plans, good donations, etc. I think it’s a sign of a well-maturing community, one that will be here for the long run. I got my hopes up that is the case. Because without it, it’ll still be 500 channels on the TV and nothing to watch.

[Speaker and crowd shot by Chuckumentary]