UNCONFERENZ: Recap

UNCONFERENZ happened and in a wonderful way.

My goals heading into Unconferenz were to put a soul to the avatars that I interact with on the different social networking sites and forums I participate in daily. To hug those who are an inspiration and encouragement to my desire to know more about social networking and media. To interact with the leaders of new media in Hawai’i and listen to their wealth of knowledge. To bring to life, the social aspect of social networking and media. By the end of my journey, all was accomplished and more.

The atmosphere was casual and welcoming, I mean it is Hawai’i, an unwrinkled shirt and shorts are perfectly acceptable. And yes, as promised I lived up to the challenge of hugging everyone I met either in greeting or farewell.

I signed my NEENZ to attend the following discussions:

1. Podcasting / Video Blogging Part I
2. Digital Storytelling
3. Google Analytics
4. Cool Web Projects
5. Podcasting / Video Blogging Part II

And here’s what I gained:

Podcasting / Video Blogging Part I

Roxanne Darling of Beachwalks.tv is not only a wonderful talent captured on camera, but a genuine soul in person. She graced us with her knowledge from alpha to omega on creating our own video blog. Although she said that using basic equipment was the best way to start out, she highly recommended Apple products in order to produce a more quality video. The most important thing she stressed in this discussion, sound quality. And, I found it ironic since I tried to capture our discussion on my cell phone to post an UTTERZ, but the sound quality was terrible. I wonder if an iPhone would have done better?

Digital Storytelling

I have a personal project in mind that’s well been nagging me for a few years, and this topic was precisely what I needed to guide me in the right direction of making my project a reality. Shari Tamashiro, a cybrarian at Kapiolani Community College on Oahu shared about her project, “The Hawaii Nisei Story” and her grateful surprise at the reception of the stories told online. But also cautioned the government’s lack of support for these types of projects because, well they just don’t understand new media. I was surrounded by a few independent film makers, and my attention was lost when the conversation turned from the topic to “making movies.” Of course during these times, there’s always Twitter!

Google Analytics

There are those who can fund their online passions, and then there’s me. I have a young family to support so I’m always looking to make the right choices for financial opportunity. A discussion on Google Analytics is just what the budget ordered! One thing prevalent in the discussion whether it’s Google Analytics, MyBlogLog or other tracking tools they’re all different and a bit of a challenge to pinpoint exactly how the data is analyzed. For me, for now, garnering the right traffic towards From the Mind of NEENZ is most important.

Cool Web Apps

I am not a developer, yet (never put limits on yourself), but I am a consumer and if I like what you’ve developed I am a heck of a promoter! A gentleman walked in and was logging into the computer set-up to display on the screen. He said, “I don’t have a cool web app, but I do have a very viral website.” Oh my Buddha it was none other than, Eric Nakagawa of ICanHasCheezburger! I twittered that I was a bit star struck and Auntie Pupule roared with laughter in the middle of the discussion…randomly! Eric shared about his unexpected success with a calm almost astonished tone. His secret? There really are none, except he touched upon understanding the psychology of your readers, and making the right adjustments.

Sakuzaku unveiled a very cool app for Twitter, appropriately called Twither. What does it do? It pinpoints your exact location via Twitter. At a conference and read that there’s a tweet-up at the local Starbucks, but like every city there’s a ‘bucks on every corner, follow Twither, and you’ll know the address.

Inside Joe’s Head there’s knowledge on the benefits of using Ask500People.com. The integrity of the site allows casual users to businesses to benefit from instant statistics on anything you’d like to ask. I’ve used it for the randomness, but I may use it in a debate to see if there are hundreds of people that would side with me!

Podcasting / Videoblogging Part II

The beauty of an unconference is that the attendees get to set the schedule, and an overwhelming amount of hands voted to continue the discussion led by Roxanne Darling on the topic. We watched as she made it look so effortless, of course combined with Shane’s wealth of technical knowledge, creating a vlog and uploading it to iTunes. She shared that on average without interruptions or unforeseen circumstances, it takes approximately 2-hours to upload the finished product for all of us to enjoy. Shane shared a secret, Roxanne is a one-take wonder! Roxanne shared another secret, she can talk about just anything, roll the cameras! But, one of the most important things I took from the second part of this session is that Rox’s walks on the beach are her passion, and once it turns into more “work” and “less time in the water” the joy of it all subsides.

As things were winding down, we headed to the cafeteria and were greeted with root beer floats! Overall, Unconferenz for me was a personal success. I was able to network with people of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds reinforcing my determination to share From the Mind of NEENZ.

Uploaded more photos to my Flickr and sharing a video courtesy of Ryan Ozawa.