The MidWest Media Conference was a success. What was it you ask?
IF YOU TWITTER, POWNCE, BLOG, SEESMIC OR UTTERZ – THIS IS THE CONFERENCE FOR MEDIA RELATED ISSUES.
HOSTED BY WORKING PROFESSIONALS, IT’S DIRECTED TO EVERYONE INTERESTED IN IMPROVING ONLINE MEDIA PRODUCTION.
The conference was the brainchild of Duane Myers, aka PreppyDude. Seeing the strong interest in St. Louis and having connections, he went forward with his plan. He brought together a diverse set of panelists to help out.
Byron Sletten of Mindactive, headed up the technical side of the conference. His company provided the site, as well as the equipment to live broadcast the conference. Byron himself bookended the row of panelists. He provided valuable insight about site design and purpose for businesses and artists.
Steph Stockman, geologist and science educator, brought her expertise as a developer/implementer of education and outreach programs for NASA to the panel. Not content with mere drawings and a few pictures, Steph has strived to use online media in her education efforts. She’s now quite familiar with online networking and media, for both professional and personal use.
Dana Loesch, professional blogger and talk radio host, has been online and sharing writing and media for decades. An experienced hand at online media from blogs to broadcasting, she shared her experience in getting it right online.
Bill Streeter, a video blogger, blogger and more, is the man behind LO-FI Saint Louis. He brought a strong background in online media publishing as well as production to the table. A good portion of his work has been with local St. Louis musicians and artists.
Frank Ireton, Ph. D., a retired educator and public outreach professional, turned those years of experience to becoming a social media and virtual world expert. He’s created numerous things for clients and private projects in Second Life, including a representation of Belfast Ireland, including a pub that streams live music from Belfast.
Michelle Havens, professional photographer and stylist, worked on both the panel and as technical support for the evening. Her expertise in creating and publishing digital works was a welcome addition to the group.
David Myers, radio host and voice over talent, came with 14 years of radio industry experience. He’s now acting as Operations Coordinator for CBS Radio’s Kidstream Internet station. David played cohost and spurred on the panel.
These people came together to share their expertise and experiences in putting media online and making it work. They handled questions from privacy to investment to get something online.
One of those most interesting things to surface was the panels agreement that up and coming artists, especially musicians, should get their art online and put up an interactive site at the earliest opportunity. Also, the panel made clear that interactive doesn’t mean just a few news updates now and then, but a two way communication, between artists and fans.
Cost to get involved was a big topic. The answer? It’s cheap, just do it. They key is to focus on the quality of the content in general, and not on the gear. There’s no need to invest in $1000 plus camera or recording gear to get started. The panel talked about even using a cell phone to get initial things online.
Though the panel had limited time for questions but also managed to talk about privacy concerns, some pet projects, and what other first steps an artist should take.
The turn out was small for this initial conference but the attendees and panel enjoyed themselves. After the conference proper broke up, the entire group of folks retired to another section of the Roadhouse for dinner and drinks.
Lessons learned:
1. You can put a conference on with no in person meetings.
2. You can put a conference on without tens of people.
3. You can put a conference on in just about any place, even a noisy restaurant.
4. You can put a conference on and have a good time.
5. Noisy restaurants aren’t the best venue.
6. Get their early to set up.
7. Have questions prepared for the panel.
8. Advertise the hell out of it; you’ll get more attendees online and in person.
The biggest success about this conference was that it happened. It’s hopefully a gateway event for St. Louis and a sign of more to come. It’s also a great lead in for the upcoming St. Louis Interactive Festival.
I’m already excited about the next event. What’s great is that you don’t have to be an expert to get involved, just have the urge and energy. Do you have an idea for a one evening conference? One afternoon? Target audience 20 folks or less? Let’s make it happen!
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Tags: Midwest Media Conference, MWMC, Roadhouse, Social Media, St. Louis
