The grand daddy of social media unconferences, PodCamp Boston is less than two weeks away. It all goes down on July 18, 19 and 20 in the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School.
I'll be there, along with more than 250 of my friends-I've-never-actually-met. And thanks to PodCamp sponsor and crayon client ooVoo, maybe you can be there too. For free!
Let me explain.
As part of their PodCamp Boston sponsorship, ooVoo will provide 20 college students with paid-up PodCamp tickets -- that's a $50 value, since PodCamp has switched to a pay-to-participate model this time around. (You'll have to cover your own travel - so if you live or study in Boston, this is perfect for you.)
Now with only 20 free passes, ooVoo can only take care of the first 20 students who email them at ooVoo@crayonville.com. But before you run off half-cocked, you do need to follow a couple of simple rules:
- You really do need to be a college student and you'll need to have the .edu email account to prove it. I know that professors and even lots of alumni use .edu address, but if you are a member of the fulltime workforce and feel no guilt in taking a free ticket that could have gone to a college student who actually deserves it... well, then I don't think we can be friends anymore.
- You need to be an ooVoo subscriber. But let's face facts; you should be an ooVoo subscriber anyway. Maybe I need to say that, since they're a client, but I am also an avid fan who uses ooVoo for lots and lots of video chat. Besides, ooVoo's Standard package -- which allows you to have 3-way video calls, send video messages to your friends, text chat and share files -- is free, free, free. If you don't have ooVoo, sign up today and then see if you qualify for a PodCamp pass.
But before you run off two-thirds-cocked, you should probably check out the complete details at the ooVoo blog.
If you're a student, hopefully you'll be interested in giving it a shot -- and if you're one of ooVoo's lucky 20, hopefully we'll get a chance to meet. Heck, I might even let you buy me a beer -- unless you're underage, in which case I guess I'll have to buy the beer (don't tell your parents.)
If you're not a student, you can help out by spreading the word to any college peeps you happen to know. Once again, check the ooVoo blog for complete details.