452- Podcast conferences — change of the guard or agendas

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss an opinion that was promoted on The New Media Show dialog that concerned the podcast conference speakers — naturally, it had to do with the selection results and why the presenters today are possibly in the “changing of the guard” as far as speakers at events.

In the episode # 397 of New Media Show, Todd Cochrane and Rob Greenlee (the co-hosts of the episode) mentioned that a podcaster from a show told them that they should “move out” and let newer podcasters be the presenters at the show. This begs the question of whether speakers should deliver value or just be part of an agenda. In other words, the value of the presentation is diminished, while the agenda and political correctness becomes primary in the decision making process.

For this podcaster, my opinion is that VALUE should be the primary determinant from the viewpoint of the attendees. And for myself, this means that education, training, new strategies and podcasting-relevant topics should deliver value to the podcasters (and that means ALL podcasters, including new and aspiring ones and veterans).

So when I saw the first listing of the speakers selected, it looked to me like the AGENDA and political correctness have sneaked into the selection process, and that the value for education and training for podcasters has now begun to diminish.

I also look at Gary Leland, who was one of the founders of the Podcast Movement conferences, and what he said was the real value to the podcasters — and that meant to provide the excitement for PODCASTING to the podcasters and content creators. There was no room for AGENDAS or political correctness in the selection process, because the excitement and VALUE to the podcasters was primary.

Well, since Gary Leland has left the Podcast Movement team in driving the conferences, the agenda-driven focus has moved in to steer the conference toward agendas. At least, that is my opinion and that is how I see the podosphere today for this conference.

Now, I have purchased my ticket to be an “attendee” at the Podcast Movement Virtual conference. Why? Because I had attended the PM 2014 (and I was a speaker at this conference) event. I also had recently attended the PM Evolutions conference in California in February. So I decided that I would be a virtual attendee at this new virtual event.

For the upcoming PM-Virtual event, I am thankful that at least two speakers will provide great value in the event and are NOT part of an agenda — these are Todd Cochrane and Tom Schwab. And that is just my opinion. But I ask “where are the rest of the experienced podcasters that do deliver value to podcasters in topics in which they are subject matter experts in their field?”

But if the direction goes farther into the AGENDA-driven focus for this conference, I feel that I will perhaps stop participating in this type of event. Why? Because the value for podcasters has begun to decrease, and the value to the AGENDAS has begun to replace this. And so, I will keep my focus on VALUE to the podcaster in terms of education, training, strategies and other value-based themes and topics for ALL podcasters — and not just for the Social Justice Warriors or those who have modern AGENDAS.

So, if the pendulum does swing back to the original themes of PM conferences, then I may go back to supporting that event and participate as an attendee again. But for now, I plan to distance myself from the agenda-driven conferences and steer myself toward the value-based events that do deliver podcasting gems to the attendees.

So thank you for your attention.