Podcamp Cape Town - First Impression

Attending a conference, even an unconference on a day where the Boks are on the brink of greatness, feels a little odd, and I can't but feel it's contributing to the 'muteness' of the day so far.
Arriving felt almost to conference-like, too organised, but fortunately that is all dissipating now has we progress through morning. The relaxed vibe is enhanced by the fact that today is rapidly becoming a classic Cape Town summer day, with the temperature rapidly on it's way to the predicted 30+ degrees celsius and a light, refreshing breeze wafting through windows and Wild Fig's tree lined porch.

PodCampTown, is an unconference. There is no set speaker list, willing participants are encouraged to write their name on a supplied whiteboard and are called up when and if they are necessary. The presentations can be on whatever enthuses them.

So far we have heard a talk by Rowan @ MyVideo on new media, with specific focus on the challenges facing providers, producers & consumers here South Africa.

We have also heard Brad from Apple IMC chat to us about Podcasting opportunities in and around education. It was, as he admitted, gratiously 'Apple', but it was nonetheless inspiring to see what the future role of the new media technologies will have on education.

The joys of the unconference is the lack of expectations. The amount of time it can take to get a laptop plugged into a projector and showing up on the screen just adds to the vibe and gives the attendees a chance to interact with each other,

All in all, it seems that the organisers are achieving their aims, I am certainly looking forward to what the rest of the days holds.