There’s a very good reason I’ve become a regular attendee to the Boston Media Makers‘ monthly first-Sunday meetup: knowing that 20-30 creative and talented people from my city will be gathering in one place and will be feeding my brain with a month’s full of new ideas is just too good to pass up.

Here are some of my favorite stories from yesterday’s April Fools’ Day gathering, where, mercifully, not a single practical joke was played.

* Steve Garfield, organizer of the Boston Media Makers, challenged us all to produce a video blog each day this week to embrace Videoblogging Week 2007, which runs from yesterday, April 1, through Saturday, April 7.

A video a day? That’s more ambitious than this non-videoblogger can handle, but I pledged to do my darndest to produce one. Got any ideas for me?

* David Tames (above, right) presented his “ode to old media” by reminding us of the importance of reading books. In fact, he had two recommendations for us: The Law of Simplicity by John Maeda and The Wealth of Networks by Yochai Benkler.

* Adam Weiss (above, right) told us about two of his podcasts that are on my playlist for my commute today: a Boston Behind the Scenes episode all about Boston accents — I used to have one — and a Museum of Science show about the use of the word “evolution” in science. Adam says it could very well be the best of the 90-plus podcasts he’s produced for the Museum.

* Jack Hodgson, (above, between David and Adam) who co-presented with me on Twitter BarCamp Boston 2 last month, has started producing a daily Tech Populi podcast that features “geeky technology [content] for regular people.” He also revelead after that meeting that he once drove cross-country without using a single interstate highway! Not always an easy task, said Jack, particularly along the remote roads of Wyoming.

* I found out that Philippe Lejeune is the man behind these beautiful Flash montages for PodCamp Boston and BarCamp Boston 2.

* Jamie O’Brien told us about “the Boston Film Race 2007“, a filmaking competition in which the participants had 12 hours to create, script, shoot, edit, and produce a short film.

Jamie also mentioned that he’ll be making a cross-country trek of his own this summer, on a bike!

* Len Edgerly left me envious when he revealed that he publishes two podcasts on a consistent weekly production schedule, regardless of the distractions that life throws to him along the way (he does the same for his video podcast, too). Check out Audio Pod Chronicles and Video Pod Chronicles.

There are some stories I’ve missed, of course, but Steve Garfield and David Tames fill in the gaps.

Want to meet some Boston’s best and brighest yourself, where you’re sure to be inspired? Then join us at our next meetup:

Sunday, May 6 at 10:00am,
Sweet Finnish
761 Centre Street
Jamaica Plan, MA 02130

Technorati Tags: VidoBloggingWeek2007, Steve Garfield, David Tames, Adam Weiss, Jack Hodgson, Jaime O’Brien, Len Edgerly

Share This

It took more than two hours to go ’round the table, so that the 30 of us could introduce ourselves and talk about our current and future projects. I especially enjoyed learning from people that I either didn’t know well or had never met at all, and was reminded yet again that the Boston area is oozing with new-media talent.

Here are a few of my takeaways:

* To record a screencast, Steve Albanese from TutorialDEPOT advises using Snapz on a Mac and Camtasia version 3.1.2 on the PC.

* Beth Kanter (above) is one fascinating woman. She blogs on educational technology, social change, and the Khmer culture, among other topics. Give her flagship blog, Beth’s Blog, a look-see.

* Adam Weiss, one of my fellow co-organizers of PodCamp Boston last fall, has set up and produced a series of podcasts for Forrester Research. The podcasts don’t appear in a search on Forrester’s site yet, but presumably, they will soon.

* Ashley Hodson (above, right) has just completed one heckuva road trip. She and Megan McLaughlin logged 14,000 miles since last summer exploring some of this nation’s sustainability projects. The pair’s journey is chronicled through text and video at Sustainable Route.

* A second free daily newspaper, joining the Metro, is coming to Boston. Regina O’Brien spoke about BostonNOW, a paper launching later this year both online and in print. The paper will feature a mix of wire stories and contributions from citizen journalists, including local bloggers, photographers, and artists. Sound intriguing? Visit the BostonNOW blog for more information, including details on an upcoming public meeting.

I’ve posted more photos from the meetup on my Flickr stream.

Steve Garfield offers the notes from the meeting as well.

Technorati Tags: Boston Media Makers, Beth Kanter, Adam Weiss, Ashley Hodson, Regina O’Brien, BostonNOW

Share This