I’m writing this a couple of days after attending the UK conference for podcasters and other podcast industry people.

Of course there are plenty of reviews and breakdowns of the event all over the web from many of the people (around 150) who attended so I won’t bore you with a blow by blow account of what went on. In fact, in all honesty I didn’t pay much attention to any of the talks, discussions and so forth.

I think once you’ve been to one or two conferences they all become a blur so I used it as an opportunity to meet a lot of the podcasters whose shows I’ve been listening to for the past 18 months.

One such podcaster of course was Radioclash’s Tim Baker - whose show literally kept me alive last summer whilst I was hoildaying in a Luxembourged shaped hell place. I forgot to mention how important his show was to me but I’m sure he could tell based on my enthusiasm on anything he had to say.

Naturally I agree with most of what Tim wrote in his blog here:
http://www.mutantpop.net/radioclash/archives/2006/11/19/podcastcon-feedback/

(Notice to how he calls me a Victorian Space Pimp - right on the money there)

I also finally got to meet a fellow video podcasting pioneer, Paul Knight.

You can also see him and me talking about stuff Paul Knight’s vlog post here
http://pjkproductions.blogspot.com/2006/11/100-pjk-podcastcon2006.html

Paul was equally delighted to see me too so it was it nice to begin a face to face meeting with a big hug. There were lots of business people there and not many of them were hugging so already it seemed to we had established some kind of them and us divide.

This carried on into the conference itself as I found myself at the back with the naughty contingent. Another such mischief maker being Paul Wilson, who already seems like an old mate who I’ve know for years. Paul, who can always spot a good opportunity when he see one managed to term the situation into an opportunity to sell some software idea he’s had and spent most of the day seemingly doing deals without the need to even rise from his chair. Lots of business people seemed to queue in order to talk to him. None of them seemed to want to talk about his podcast though - The Whocast - which I think disappointed him a bit.

I’m also moaning about green screen being treated as the fix all magic wand of post production and I got to do that here as usual but it seemed the podcasting is in fact the fix all magic wand of media. There was lots of talk about businesses using podcasting to sell a product which frankly discussed me. Whilst I’m all for little adverts and click though things here and there the idea that anyone would listen to (for example) a Ford podcast about how great their new motorcar is seemed absurd, yet that seemed to be all that people were interested in talking about. There was hardly any of what I would call ‘art’ talk at all which disspointed me.

In fact, thinking about, no one seemed to want to talk about individual podcasts at all. There was plenty of generalisation about ideal podcasts; someone on one of the panels said all podcasts should be under 30 minutes which caused a lot of fuss. Apparently he was what people call old media and from what I could tell he hadn’t actually listened to many podcasts himself.

No one was talking about video podcasts, or even IPTV (which we all know is the future - don’t we kids) and there was only a little bit of talk about Podshow. Speaking of which, Adam Curry turned up but I didn’t talk to him this time. Of course I wanted to touch base with him, and he is a genuinely nice fella, but I didn’t really have much to say - especially given I’ve not posted a single episode since I saw him last.

Of more interest on the Podshow front was Rob Dolby of Top of the Pods fame. He was there recording some
video interview things with people, including myself (will add the link as soon as I know it). He was a very complicated man not unlike a rubrics cube. Near impossible to read - as soon as you thought you were tuned into his frequency it would change. It wasn’t like Curry who uses a simple public-self-defense mechanism it was more like the public face of Rob was a character that bore no resemblance to the private one at all. As if he was pretending to be a normal regular guy for the day when in fact he’s either an MI5 spy or something else quite extraordinary. Don’t get me wrong, there wasn’t any deceit at play, nor any kind of malice so there would be little point looking for tell tale signs of a latex mask which could be removed to reveal whoever…like I said, complicated.

Later on every one moved onto the pub and I got to meet Scott from night-nurse show who I instantly took to, plus a number of other people who whilst not being a listener to any of their shows was glad to talk to about podcast gossip and other such stories. Twinkleboi was there and we talked about Wanda Wisdom’s show; a man who does a music show called Child Without and ipod also said hello and we talked about the merits of doing a show ‘live’ in one take rather than edited; I also seem to remember asking Linda Mills from Podcast user magazine if she used a vibrator.

As the night drew on, and it had been a very long day I headed back to my hostel, sharing the train with Neil Dixon, Jen and Bitjobs Phil who were still in silly mode after doing all their stealth disco stuff throughout the day.

For someone who has terrible trouble in social environments I had a marvellous time and was rather sad it was all over.

As mentioned in an earlier post I’ve been working as ‘talent’ on a student TV station called Nerve. Last night we (or rather they) broadcast a new episode in which, unlike last week, I wasn’t hosting but instead acting as a contestant on the ramshackle quiz show Top of the Pile.

Being able to just sit there and watch this strange world of TV production was fascinating even for a jaded hack like myself. With no pressure to keep things going, keep it snappy and do any actual work I noticed several key things.

The main thing that stood out, and this is from someone who always films multiple takes, is that when filming live anything can happen - and there’s very little you can do about it.

About halfway through the show some kind of bobbing for apples game was initiated. Now even a fool knows that with several thousand watts of electrical power (415 volts too I assume) running through a properly equipped studio with all the cameras and lights etc. it is perhaps not wise to add water to the equation. None the less, someone decided to rather than have a tank of water buckets should be used instead.

What’s the first thing you think when you think of a bucket of water.

That’s right. Upon completion of the game, in which an orange was dutifully removed by a contestant’s teeth, the man in question picked up the bucket of water and poured it over himself. All fears that the buckets might be spilled were quickly dismissed as the realisation that something far far worse had just happened.

The look of shock and fear from everyone present as the water spread across the studio floor was truly remarkable. Panic was thinly glossed over by the this week’s host as everyone attempted professionalism in the face of personal safety. The contestant in question laughed at his chaotic wheeze.

It was then I realised I’m a rather boring person - not a big surprise. Unlike my so called anarchy the previous week, this guy (who goes by the name of Matt - or is it Max - who also has a non RSS vidcast called Buff TV www.bufftv.com) was positively explosive. Playing the fool is one thing but playing the fool at risk of destroying a show something else entirely.

Now soaking wet he picked up a live mic and carried on as if nothing had happened. As if telling him to put down a loaded gun, I stepped forwarded and clearly told him to put the mic down - after all 48-volts when wet is enough to kill anyone. The host (who was sitting on a metal chair) wasn’t impressed by my intervention, given that I was potentially stealing his thunder and commented that the mic could become water damaged.

Meanwhile, the real talent, the uber cynical Alex Leam, (www.myspace.com/alexleamneedsaradiojob) sat at the back cracked a rye smile and wondered if or when he’d get to do any work this week.

I’ve also discovered, that given all the TV sets on campus were tuned into to a football game and that there is in fact no sign of a live stream on the Nerve website that in all likelihood the show was seen by no one and the rumblings of ‘what’s the point of doing this nonsense’ are quite well grounded. I on the other hand, and rather unusually for me, am loving every minute and relishing the new-to-me-ness of it all.

Television people are as weird as film people, but weird in fascinating new ways.