Podcasting Expo 2006

Normally, when something like this would happen (not like it has before, but I digress!), I would post about it before the event occured. But this was such a whirwind adventure that I didn’t get a chance to do so.

On Sunday, October 22, 2006, I was actually a speaker at the International Podcasting Expo 2006. How did it happen, and why didn’t I say anything before? Well…

Michael Hancock, one of the people that volunteers with me at the Install4Free website, was called last week (Wednesday, I believe) to see if he could speak at the conference as a last-minute stand-in. Apparently, Matt Mullenweg, the creator of WordPress had been preparing for this conference (he had been speaking all weekend) and had to bow out of his scheduled appearance on Sunday. Since the slot was shceduled to be about how to install WordPress, he suggested they contact the Install4Free team.

Michael already had a previous engagement, so he suggested they go to the site and contact one of the other installers. He told them “Start at the bottom, since those are the most active ones.” And guess who was at the very bottom of the list?

I accepted, even though I was terrified. The last time I had ever done any sort of public speaking was in English class in High School. Public speaking terrifies me. I get really nervous, and I have this tendency to talk very fast. I remember the last speech I gave (in class!) was supposed to be 15 minutes in length. I practiced and tested, and my speech was exactly 15 minutes long. But when I gave it, I gave it in 5 minutes, and no one understood a word I said!

I guess I did better this time, because I was given numerous compliments, and amazingly, I’ve been asked back for another event in January. I’m floored. And yet, somehow, very proud of myself. I never thought I’d ever do anything like that. And the thing that *really* made me nervous? I don’t work for WordPress, I don’t even know the guys who do (or the guys who created it). Yet I was there, representing their product, because I really love it. I didn’t want to screw it up and make them look bad - and apparently (thankfully!) I didn’t

So anyway, it was amazing, and the seminars and events I actually got to participate in were so very interesting. I really wish I had known about it sooner so I could have set aside the entire weekend to see everything. The people I met were wonderful, and I learned so many new things. Even if I hadn’t been invited to speak again, I still was planning to go to this event in January - it’s so worth it.

So if you’re interested in networking for your business (or pleasure!), you should definitely go by the Co-Op World site, join up and attend some of these events. They are so worth it to go!

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October 23rd, 2006