I got up early on Saturday and caught a cab down to the Cadillac Ranch for Podcamp Nashville. This is the third year for the podcamp and from talking to some of the organizers it has gotten bigger each year. The organizers also hold a Bar Camp in the fall which has gotten bigger every time.

The day started with taking a cab from my hotel to the Cadillac Ranch in downtown Nashville.  The Cadillac Ranch is a huge club in the center of the 2 story buildng, but  there are also at least 5 or 6 smaller clubs off of the main room.  The sessions were in the smaller rooms.

Since I am from DC, and this is in Nashville, I have to admit that I was a little concerned about how I would be received because I went in not knowing anyone.  I didn’t think I would end up dead in a ditch or anything, but it was very apparent walking through the door that the Nashville tech community was tight.   My initial concern was quickly disproven as I was greeted very warmly by the registration team and was given my  ”swag bag” by a helpful, friendly, and adorable young lady.

I got prepared for the first session which to my dismay was cancelled because the presenter was sick.  It was then that I met someone that totally made me  feel like a rockstar and worthy of living up to the first rule of podcamp: “that everyone is a rockstar!”  Lucas is one of the organizers and was MC of the day.  He, and the many other people I met during the day made me feel very welcome.  It was pretty interesting that when I told people I was from DC, almost everyone made mention of the massive amount of snow we had this winter.

I really learned alot at  most of the sessions I went to.  There were sessions on WordPress, SEO, Newsletters and social media.  I met Cliff from Podcast Answerman and attended his session.  His session was good, but because I have listened to his podcast for so long, I pretty much knew everything he was talking about.

One really cool thing that happened was meeting Mike and Brian from the Concert Blast podcast.  I have been listening to them for years, actually they were among the first podcasts I listened to.  When you listen to Concert Blast, you can tell that these guys have lots of fun and love what they do.  I’ll tell you, I just met them for the first time and after talking for a couple of minutes, it felt like I’ve known them forever.  That is probably the biggest lesson I learned from the podcamp.

Based on this experience, I am going to start talking around am see if it would be possible to do our own Podcamp DC.  From talking to Lucas and some of the other Podcamp Nashville organizer’s, I know that help is only a phone call away.

On the way home, on the plane I sat behind the band Selah, and sat next to their Tour Manager.  It was really cool talking to him.  I had met Selah before at GMA, but they meet so many people I’m sure they didn’t remember me.  It was fun to meet them all over again though..

GMA Music Week as I used to know it may be history, but that’s just fine with me.  I now have Podcamp Nashville to look forward to.  I  do love going to Nashville and Podcamp Nashville is going to be my annual trip to the Music City Mecca.  Even though I live 12 hours away by car, and I’m not an everyday member of the Nashville tech community, everyone I met there made me feel like I was a part of it, and that what I had to say counted, and THAT was more connected than I ever felt at GMA, with a couple of exceptions being my great friends from Canada.

Oh, and my session was about Using Music In Your Podcast.  I had about 25-30 people and we had a great time.  I’m in touch with a couple of people that sat in on my session, which is awesome.  Hopefully, next year I’m not scheduled the same time as Mitch..

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On the first flight coming here yesterday, I was just getting settled on the plane when the flight attendent asked me if I would be willing to move so a parent could sit with her child. Of course, I said yes and was moved to the 4th row. The US Air flight attendants were pretty cool, and even offered me some perks that first class people get. I declined the special treatment because I know that if I was in the mother’s situation, I would appreciate someone doing that for me.

Once I got checked in, I was able to hang out with one of my favorite people, Ben. We did an interview for next weeks Compassion 365 where we talked about his upcoming trip to Haiti. Afterwords, we went to Office Depot because I forgot to bring my business cards and then went to dinner at this place called Caney Fork Fish Camp which was a really cool place. It was just what you would expect from a homestyle place in Nashville, very friendly people, incredible food, and a 3 piece bluegrass band. After that, i went back to the hotel to finish up my presentation for Saturday. More about that in my next post.

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Here is today’s playlist:

• Born – Dear Future
• Don’t Give Up – I’m OK, You’re OK
• Dear Jesus – 3 Nailz
• Beautiful Day – London Calling
• Won’t Back Down – Burning Yesterday
• In God We Trust - Cynthia Odom

Links Mentioned:

Conduit Mission

Ben Holeton

Podcamp Nashville

Theme music is Fakeout by Derek K. Miller

We welcome your feedback. You can contact us via email, toll free at 1-888-634-1147. If you get a chance, please give us a review on iTunes.

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TOP NEW CHRISTIAN TALENT WILL WIN MAJOR INDUSTRY EXPOSURE AND A ‘DREAM LIST’ OF OPPORTUNITIES

Source: Morningstar PR

(Nashville, Tennessee) –February 1, 2010 – Some of the biggest forces in the Christian music industry are joining together with multi-platinum artist tobyMac, to re-define the concept of “artist development.”

The creative brain-trust behind the launch of America’s premier Christian music “rock ‘n roll fantasy camp” for young musicians —Camp Electric—is this year amping up the new “ultimate” experience for undiscovered young artists hoping to shatter the glass between the known and unknown in finding success in the music industry.

Hitting the stage this month from the Camp Electric franchise is a unique new web driven talent search—“Rock The Camp”—targeted at driving an online ‘battle of the bands’ style competition for all ages with fan based voting to drive exposure and national recognition for the next potential ‘big artist’ music break-outs in the Christian music genre.

Joining the Camp Electric creators on the search are some of the most influential major industry components that fuel Christian music on the retail, radio, performance, and live event production levels. Sponsors of “Rock The Camp” include Air1 Radio, K-Love Radio, Premier Christian Cruises, Premier Productions, Gotee Records, and more.

A true believer in the concept and a musical center-piece of the newly launched competition is multi-platinum, multi-Grammy winning artist tobyMac—the self-styled musical genius and creative force in Christian music who believed so much in the Camp Electric concept that he began an on-going creative partnership with the event in 2009.

tobyMac is adding not only his formidable presence as a competition judge—but his stage—as a grand prize to the winner of the “Rock The Camp” competition. The opportunity to open for him onstage at Camp Electric 2010, July 11-15th in Nashville will be awarded to the winning entrant.

Other major prizes include a recording session with one of the industry’s top producers, Paul Ebersold, whose credits list include production of such top artists as Skillet, Third Day, 3 Doors Down, and Sister Hazel. Additionally, the “winning” experience will boast a kicked-back vacation (and performance slot) on Premier Christian Cruises’ January 2011 presentation of the annual “K-LOVE Friends & Family Music Cruise.”

Notes David Pierce of sponsoring K-LOVE and Air 1 Radio: “Rock The Camp is all about finding a new generation of musicians with a heart for God. Combine the competition with the experience of Camp Electric, and add tobyMac to the mix, and this is gonna blow up! Can’t wait to see who emerges!”

Between January 1st and February 28th artists and musicians will have the opportunity at the “Rock The Camp” website of uploading a performance video or audio file of their music for contest consideration. Beginning February 1st, the submissions will be open to fan votes in the first round of competition to identify the Top 50 new bands/artists presenting their music. Those posting their music are encouraged to aggressively “viral market” their participation through the universe of online and social networking mediums and urge their fan support bases to rally the vote.

Second round voting will begin March 1st with the Top 50 fan voted artists/bands showcased on the website for selection of the Top 10 finalists. The final ten competitors will advance to a final round judging by a panel of top industry professionals that will include tobyMac; award winning producer, Paul Ebersold; President of Gotee Records, Joey Elwood; David Pierce, Chief Creative Officer of K-LOVE and AIR 1 Radio; talent/booking executive Jeff Roberts, President of Jeff Roberts Associates.

John Sanders who helped develop the “Rock the Camp” concept, notes: “We’re convinced that the biggest new artists in Christian music are already out there on the web trying to get their music heard. It’s a new day in the music industry with the best new talent creating not only innovative new music, but innovative new ways to market themselves and build a fan base. Our vision is that encouraging a central web destination like this one to attract new talent and get it in front of key industry influencers is a major component to pumping exciting new energy into Christian music on the way to developing the super bands and artists of tomorrow.”

Those wishing to enter “Rock The Camp” are encouraged to resource additional information online at www.campelectric.com

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Source: Nashville Publicity

(NASHVILLE, Tennessee) – Conduit Mission, a Christian non-profit organization in Franklin, Tennessee, issued a $25 challenge via their followers on Twitter in the early hours following the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti. With the assurance that every penny donated would be used to serve the Haitian people through Restoration Ministries in Jacmel, Haiti, Conduit Mission raised over $76,000 in just two weeks, allowing for over 50,000 pounds of food, water and supplies to be immediately sent to Haiti.

Restoration Ministries, a church of a few hundred serving the poorest of Haiti’s poor, is serving as the distribution point for the food, clean water and medical care. Jacmel, a coastal town on the southern coast of Haiti, was damaged severely and was cut off from relief after the quake. With a population of 40,000, the town is estimated to be 40% homeless. But with a stream of refugees pouring in, the estimated population in the tent cities has soared to 80,000, with thousands more arriving daily.

“The need is great, and people have given in a tremendous outpouring,” says Conduit Mission founder Darren Tyler. “When the images of dead bodies in the streets are long gone from CNN and FOX News, there will still be people in desperate need. We’re encouraging people to think about and commit to a monthly contribution, even if it’s only $10 a month. This is a long term crisis that can’t be solved with short term commitments.”

After learning of Conduit Mission’s efforts, Tyler was invited to appear on the top-rated national radio show “Jay Sekulow Live,” the daily radio outreach of the American Center for Law and Justice that airs on over 800 stations nationwide as well as SIRIUS/XM. Tyler called in to the show on January 14th, 15th and 18th to provide updates on Conduit Mission’s relief efforts.

“This problem is so large that it might intimidate or paralyze us into doing nothing,” adds Tyler. “We must not let that happen. Conduit Mission was in Haiti before the quake and we’ll be there long after the quake.”

Conduit Mission was started as a Bible study in September of 2007 with a goal of being a “conduit” of God’s power, God’s love and God’s resources. Conduit Mission partners with organizations that are providing basic living needs such as food, clothing, shelter and medical care. The overhead of the organization is kept low in order to accomplish the goal to “live simply that others may simply live.” In just over two years, Conduit Mission has taken in and given away over $200,000 to ministries in Africa, Haiti and Middle Tennessee. Conduit Mission serves as a ministry of Conduit Church – a church plant that launched this month in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

For more information or to learn how you can help, please visit www.conduitmission.org.

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