Think of PodCamp as a form of scouting on the World Wide Web. Adventuresome spirits, who spend the rest of the year networking from secluded dens of technology, come together in the real world for a jamboree to build their skills in social media. No one confers merit badges as such, but trail-blazers in social media share lessons with those who’ve come to find their own paths.
Attendees also join a worldwide movement. PodCamps have spread to cities across North America and around the world. Thus, PCPGH3 gives Western Pennsylvania a place on a map used by a large audience of early adopters of social and technological change.
For this reason, Visit Pittsburgh, the marketing and promotion agency of the Pittsburgh region, cosponsored the camp and hosted six bloggers attending it. Others also came a long way–from eleven states and Ontario. “This is a great place to be–and the time to be here in Pittsburgh before everyone else discovers it,” Boston visitor David Fisher said as the camp ended.
The branding potential of social media could also be seen in the planetary cluster of sponsors–many of them Western Pennsylvania companies little known to most households in the region, yet building business identities across the internet with distinctive names such as Wizzard Media, ShowClix, Big Big, The G Spod, Pittsburgh Gateways, Blubrry.com, Sportsocracy.com, Viddler, Alphalab, Pair Networks, and others.
Combining wit, connoisseurship, and regional promotion, Should I Drink That?, focuses its regular pod cast on drinking and discussing premium beers. The show moved to the web a conversation that two friends–Doug Derda and Brad Brown–had been having for years. Now they reach an audience that’s growing around the world. And, while having fun, they are also introducing people to the region. Last year, they offered a weekend of free accommodations, brewery tours, and tickets to the Erie Micro Brew Fest–a prize visit to Western Pennsylvania won by a couple from Virginia Beach.
Source: PCPGH3
Writer: Joseph Plummer
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