PodcasterCon.org -- A Surreal Experience

Went to PodcasterCon in Chapel Hill, NC, over the weekend. It was a surreal experience. First, the venue was Murphey Hall, perhaps the building most freighted with history for me. It is the home of the Classics Department, Greek, Latin and such. Since it took me six plus years to complete my Ph.D. at UNC in Classics, I saw a lot of Murphey Hall during those years, spent many an hour in the department library, in the grad student offices and visiting faculty in their offices. The building has a solid bank of memories. It is not the same though. The university has renovated the building beautifully since my day when it was truly a wonderful dowdy old classroom building with lots of charm and not much else.

At first it seemed so off kilter for a meeting of some 300 or so individuals chasing the newest of the new media waves to be getting together in Murphey, . . . but then as I pondered the circumstance I couldn't help but remember that Homer's poems were spoken (so to speak) after dinner entertainment. Would Homeric poems have been released as a podcast -- more strange thoughts?

Overall, PodcasterCon.org was a splendid, fun event. It was not a round-up of the usual suspects, although they would have enjoyed it. It was a nice opportunity to meet a lot of new folks, some with lots of experience in podcasting and others with lots of enthusiasm but no experience. The energy level was very high, making way for lots of learning.