The organizing committee is busy working on logistics. And since our event is only as strong as our community, we’ll be back in the new year with details for participants (including how you can present a session), sponsors and volunteers.

Have a wonderful holiday everyone.

You are also responsible for your own learning this weekend. We run by the “Law of Two Feet” - if you find yourself in a session that is not meeting your needs, please leave and find a session or conversation that is. If you don’t see a session or conversation that you think should take place, please grab some people for a discussion, or book some time to talk about it on Sunday — there are still some time slots open. Make it happen!

Sponsor Thank You

Although the official count’s not in, more than 1,300 people registered for PodCamp Toronto. This is a free event – all because of the generous support of 27 generous sponsors who have partnered with us to help make this weekend a success. This year, we’re even introducing a Gold Sponsor lounge. Be sure to check it out on the third floor atrium.

We’d also like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the Rogers Communications Centre at Ryerson University for their continued support, specifically Brad Fortner and Jeremy Littler and their staff for giving us access to their beautiful facility, and for providing the A/V set up including the Twitter stream on the screens, livestreaming for those not able to make it in person, and recording the sessions.

Volunteer Thank you

Thank you to our excellent team of volunteers who will be on site to help you at the registration desk, at the information desk, working the cameras for the livestreaming and recording, picking up the coffee, and helping with our set up and clean up. Among many other things we will dream up for them! They help the weekend run seamlessly and we would slow to a halt without them.

New This Year

This year we will be featuring a Gold Sponsor lounge on the 3rd Floor Atrium. Please drop by to experience some of the fun surprises our sponsors have lined up for us! Feel free to use this as a place for casual conversation between sessions.

Also, drop by Roger’s recharging station where you can drop off your laptop or mobile device for recharging. It will be located in the Gold Sponsor lounge on the 3rd Floor.

PodCamp Toronto’s Mobile app for iPhone and iPod Touch is here! It features our Saturday and Sunday schedule, plus direct link to the Twitter stream. Go to m.pcto.ca to get yours!

Registration this year is on the 1st Floor, and we are now reserving the 2nd Floor space for our Information Desk. If you have a question about PodCamp Toronto 2010 or have other questions, our volunteers will give you a hand.

Food & Drink

Lunch on Saturday is on your own. You will have about an hour and a half. There is a map on the website at the bottom of the Venue page on our website with some eateries indicated. There are foodcourts upstairs and downstairs in the new mall at Dundas Square (Yonge & Dundas), for example.

We will have some coffee and tea on hand but it probably won’t be enough for everyone. Feel free to bring your own in. It will also be a good idea to bring your own refillable water bottle — let’s keep the plastic bottle waste to a minimum!

There is also a grocery store across the street from the Rogers Communication Centre (our host), for anyone who would like to buy sandwiches or drinks.

And by now, all registrants should have received an email message inviting you to our social event Saturday night. We are looking forward to seeing many of you out! If you play a musical instrument, we hope you will bring it along for our open mic/sing-along.

Livestreaming, recording & wifi

As in past years, we are setting up livestreaming feeds and will also be recording all sessions, courtesy of the folks at Ryerson University.

If you are at PodCamp in person, please be courteous and do not watch sessions in other rooms via livestream. This is for the people who cannot attend in person. Otherwise you will be using up our wifi bandwidth.

We do have wifi available this weekend. Please be mindful — we will have many people here this weekend; please don’t use high bandwidth applications so that we can keep as much access available to as many people as possible.

Sharing your content

The official hashtag for this year is #PCTO2010 - please use this for Twitter, Flickr, blogs, Delicious, and anywhere else fine social media is found.

For those taking photos, we encourage you to use Flickr rather than (or in addition to) Facebook. We have set up the Flickr Group PCTO2010 for your sharing enjoyment.

And please, PLEASE, all speakers and content creators are asked to release your work under Creative Commons so that we can all benefit from your work. It is one of your copyright options on Flickr.

Your PodCamp Toronto 2010 Organizing Team is looking forward to welcoming you this weekend!

While you are there, say hi to Mark van Tol (aka MVT) who led the charge on the planning of this event. It was a big job and we thank him for taking this on for us all to enjoy.

The PCTO Social
February 20, 2010 | The party will kick off at 6:30 till the last person leaves or they kick us out
Additional details about our secret location will be sent directly to participants shortly.

There will be games and prizes so bring your ‘A’ game!

As well if you have musical talent feel free to bring along an instrument or hop on the ‘stage’ as we will host an open mic throughout the evening.

But that’s not all that’s planned over the next few days. Many others have decides to host some gatherings tonight. We may not know everything that’s planned. Therefore, not to play favourites or miss anyone’s shindig, we wanted to give you the opportunity here to share what you have planned tonight. Use the comments area to tell us about any socials, meetups, parties and the like that you are hosting.

We are getting a number of questions about the schedule. A quick update: we are meeting with the good folks at Ryerson’s Rogers Communication Centre tomorrow afternoon to see the final tally of rooms we will have, and we should be ready to go with a schedule shortly after that. We will post to the blog here once the schedule is ready so that presenters can post your sessions to the schedule. And as in the past, the schedule will be open to change even throughout the weekend as the need for more sessions arises.

We also have a social event in the works for Saturday night. More details to follow once things have been finalized.

Stay tuned!

And now we’re at it again. In September, we announced the dates for PodCamp 2010.

So what is PodCamp? As Rob Lee, one of our dedicated organizers, says, “PodCamp is a 100% free, volunteer, sponsor-supported event. It is born out of the desire to share information and learn more about audio and video podcasting and related subjects.” We were inspired by the first PodCamp held in Boston in September 2006.

Yes, it’s PodCamp, but it’s not just about podcasting! We love all things about the web. Blogging, social media, social networking, podcasting, video on the net and new media make us weak in the knees.

That’s why we’ll be gathering once again at Ryerson University’s Rogers Communication Center (80 Gould Street, Toronto). We’ll be in “the flagship building for studies in converging communications and interactive media.” It’s proven to be a perfect place for fantastic discussion. This year will be no different. We welcome the mildly curious and the intensely passionate. If you want to learn tonnes, to network with like-minds or get energized with a renewed love for all that is the web, then PodCamp Toronto 2010 is the place to be.

To register for PodCamp Toronto, simply go to http://2010.podcamptoronto.com/register/

But why just simply attend?

We know that you have lots to share, so why not speak? This is a place where pros and amateurs share ideas. It’s a place where the folks at the head of the room are not the experts. If you have an idea and have a knack for getting others to talk…then we definitely need you. More info will follow on how you can present and facilitate your amazing session idea. We just know it’s amazing. We can’t wait to hear more about it.

Does the thought of leading a discussion scare you to your core? Okay, we get that.  Maybe you barely have time to blink so the thought of working on a session practically induces a seizure. More than a few of us get that one, too. Presenting and facilitating is not for everyone, but you can still volunteer just like us. The more the merrier…really anything that you can add will help us, really. PodCamp Volunteer Coordination is shared by Leona Hobbs and Heather Leson. They are ready to help you help us. Learn more at http://2010.podcamptoronto.com/register/volunteer/.

But that’s not all you can do. PodCamp Toronto 2010 is a free event thanks to the generous support of our sponsors. If you want to contribute as a sponsor…well, let’s just say we’d all love that. Eden Spodek, Katie Boland and Michelle Tampoya are ready to help you sponsor the event. Learn more at http://2010.podcamptoronto.com/sponsors/become-a-sponsor/. Contact them at sponsorship@podcamptoronto.com.

Our communication team is being led by Sheri Moore with support from Dave Fleet, who guided the team in 2008 and 2009. For media inquiries, please contact Sheri at info@podcamptoronto.com.

If you have any questions that aren’t answered here or on the rest of our site, want to give us any feedback or just want to say hi, Connie Crosby and John Meadows are ready. You can reach them at info@podcamptoronto.com. Connie and John are who we go to for help so we know you’re in good hands! Or check us out on Twitter @PodCampToronto, we’ll be listening. Or if you want everyone to follow, please add #PCTO2010 to your twitter conversations.

So now that Saturday, February 20 & Sunday, February 21 are now inked on your calendar, PodCamp Toronto 2010 is ready for Lift Off! We’ll see you there.

Your PodCamp Toronto 2010 Organizers