PodCampAZ. ImprovAZ. IgnitePhx.
Three fairly popular events that attract a broader range of audience than a typical techie/geek event.
The lifecycle of any event that exists to provide information to any number of people that can gather at any specific place at a specific time is simple:
Teaching-those in the know giving information to those who don’t. Classroom-type interaction.
Interacting-if the audience is as or close to as knowledgeable as the speaker, the end result may be interaction. The presenter becomes more of a chat moderator and the entire group exchanges ideas, usually in a similar format as the presentation.
Inspiring-if both the speaker and the audience learn from each other, and if what they learn leads them to a new/modified approach or even renewed vigor, they are at this stage.
And that’s it. Events can restart with a new audience (what PodCampAZ needs to do). Events can stay in one stage (what IgnitePhx does). Events can constantly change topics to stay fresh (ImprovAZ).
But in the end, they are still just events. They are still limited to those three stages.
That’s not a bad thing, it’s just necessary to acknowledge this so those in the community can adjust expectations for what they expect to get back.
So what’s next? For me, events like PhxThink and the rapid expansion of CenPhoCamp to other cities and audience types.
It’s there we practice what we preach, and what we learn.
