Like about everything else I do recently, I find I need to take time to debref experiences that are very new for me. Having spent too many years acting (or reacting) suddenly without any reflectivity, I am making a conscious effort to change this behavior. Thus, I will only mention that I really enjoyed PodCampNYC yesterday. 

I never really got podcasting before, partly because I am a visual learner and podcasting is a more auditory experience, and partly because I do not really listen to my ipod greatly since I do not have much of a commute and I am still taking an extended vacation from the gym. Regardless, I have a lot of information to process from this experience, and plan to discuss some of what I learned here over the next few days.

One thing that sticks in my mind from the latter part of the day is a session I attended late in the day, the Queer Podcasting Panel at PodcampNYC. I did not know there were so-called queer podcasters, and while some of the discussion was not quite germane to my interests, the discussion about self-segregation through tagging and an interest in showing a wider swath of the gay community (a topic itself that was intelligently discussed in contrast to a population) was a breath of fresh air for me. I am not accustomed to listening to a technically-savvy gay population that is interested in exploring more than the latest gossip. I was pleased to meet Mark Tafoya, a podcasting chef who exemplified active facilitation of a group without dimating it. While PodCampNYC was presented as an unconference, many of the presentations I attended were scripted and organized rather than a product of a group process and sharing. I was glad to see Mark toward the end of the day and introduce myself and speak briefly about this. I see I have a lot to learn about this new world, if only I can get away from my research projects!