kabrenlevinson.com/blog/

Ah, Kabren, I have a few “words of wisdom” for you.

I’ve been in a similar situation. AHA! is a monthly meeting held in my area(you’ve probably heard me talk about it before), and it has always been a lot of fun. However, I’m the youngest person by quite a few years. Most of them have experience in some part of the computer business, and I don’t. So I don’t have a lot going for me. One person even chose to voice their opinion to me about it. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it seemed a bit odd.

However, you deal with it. Just take it in stride. Groups that have outsiders that come in, especially youngsters who aren’t even part of the assumed ‘target group’ , are going to be very wary of the new kid in the playground.

AHA! also has a problem with choosing activities/engaging in activities that aren’t suitable for minors. Yes, drinking. Drinking is a big thing in our society. What you can do is see if you can have one of your parents attend with you, and make sure you stick with them(if you can do that…I’ve done that before, but not with AHA!) Yes, you’re too young to do some of that stuff, but the UnConference is in no way off limits to you. No matter how much SOME people don’t like you.

Make sure you act like an adult would too. Don’t get all pissed off and start ranting to everyone involved about it. Handle it like an adult would, and you’ll be fine.

Hope I’ve helped.

Regards,
Dalton

It’s an utter disgrace to hear this!
I remember being in a community holding an open even and 60% of the community where 13-17 year olds yet you needed a drivers license to gain access to the venue to prove your identity ?!

Its like allot of new media conferences, there dominated by the few adults there are and the up and coming teens are pushed aside.

Tim

Kabren,
You make some really great points. I really hope PodCamp would reconsider their decision. There is some real potential in teens.

Kabren,

This is an utter disgrace and injustice that is just once again experienced by teens all across the country and it mainly has to deal with one thing; stereotyping.

The whole, “They can’t do anything right, they’re just kids,” sadly is usually stamped onto every teen’s forehead by most adults immediately. The only time they will take that down is if you (not you in specific, just general) show some sort of responsibility and that you will, in fact, be able to do something right and will equate to something in life.

The party thing (21+) is something that has been done for quite some time in the industry, so it’s nothing that’s something radically different. I’d love to go to CES (which I can get into press functions), but it’s that downtime after the show closes for the day that I wouldn’t be able to do anything because most of the after parties are 18+.

I really hope that the folks at PodCamp take this as a loss because they are tending to only see one branch of the podcasting tree (metaphors… ha) and they really need to see the big picture. I hope that they change their mind and allow you to be a speaker, but if not, there’s next year. Maybe…

Zach

Some points to consider:

First: “Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.” Things get screwed up all the time and it’s usually an honest mistake, people that see conspiracies everywhere usually end up being those weird people that you avoid downtown.

Second: Putting together a great presentation is a lot of work, but presenting at Podcamp is a privilege, not a right. There’s a lot of competition for slots (that’s why there’s a waiting list - published authors and people who make their living at public speaking are proven and want these spots too). Just because you’ve done some work on your pitch doesn’t mean you deserve the podium. The organizers have to consider what will be valuable to the largest number of attendees, if teens are a minority in the audience that’s handicapping you from the start.

Third: Podcamp is a community. There are plenty of attendees that have donated time, labor and money. What have you contributed to ask in return that you get one of the limited spots? An entry on the Wiki impresses no one. At the very least you could have completed the survey emailed a couple of weeks back that asked for feedback on the schedule and you would have noticed that your session was not on the list, and inquired then.

Fourth: The convention center was chosen because it has a lot of wide open space for discussion, if you want to gather a group, you will be able to.

Finally: You have a valid point about the afterpartys, but it’s not Podcamp’s mission to entertain you, and especially not for free. I hate to be a jaded old bastard, but remember that this is an event like any other - people are vying for your time to influence you. The bands at these parties want you to buy their music or at least spread the word about them, the groups sponsoring these parties want you to think of them as members of the community who contribute and do the right thing. Many of these groups are not interested in influencing teens, this results in a shortage of events targeted at them.

As far as I know, all of the evening events are on the calendar because someone stepped up and said “I want to run one for X group”. If you want to run an event it can probably be promoted in the guide.

So, who do you want to influence and why? It wouldn’t surprise me if this post gets you a podium - don’t waste your shot.

Just so everyone is aware, the Podcamp Boston team is actively working with Kabren to try to find a mutually agreeable solution. Planning an event that will work for over 1,200 people is a challenge, as is planning events that will meet the needs of a maximum number of attendees. Regulations regarding ID have to do with Convention Center rules, not policy issues regarding this event alone.

Just so that you know, a recent check of registrations indicate that only 3% of the registrants are under 21. This said, we have made specific arrangements, long in advance of Kabren’s concerns, to make sure the Saturday evening social event at the Seaport Hotel accessible to everyone, with wristbands available to indicate those over and under 21.

We certainly do not want to make anybody or any group feel excluded, as that is NOT what Podcamp is about. That said, I do not appreciate the less than fully informed allegations made here, but we are still actively working to resolve this issue to everyone’s satisfaction.

[...] Whitney’s comment from my previous post: Just so everyone is aware, the Podcamp Boston team is actively working with Kabren to try to find [...]

Read here before commenting: http://www.kabrenlevinson.com/blog/2007/10/20/podcamp-boston-update/

[...] the PodCamp Boston crew, with a self-admittedly angry letter. You can read the original blog post here. There were a lot of quick emails and interactions, and currently, they’re looking for a [...]

[...] about Kabren’s experience of NOT getting his session accepted in the original schedule (read his blog post here and the follow-up here… Podcamp, being run by good folks, addressed the issue and gave him a [...]

Hey Kabren,

I’m sorry to read that with all your effort you seems not to be considered as a member of te community. I know this won’t help much, but you did attend Podcamp, and had a speech. You as a teenager. In France this would be “de facto” impossible. Teenagers “can’t” take part in a convention… do’t gorget you had already a great chance to participate and get heard and get contact ! Being in the 3master schule” afterward is not that important even if it’s a great opportunity of advertisment. You have to work without them, and use your new contact to make teen pocaster better known.

However I feel that the organisation didn’t make its job : They didn’t know who spoke and who didn’t ! I mean.. how come, an organisation know who *potentially* knows who is participating without knowing afterward who was there ! does it means they had no timetable, or no room organisation. Did all conferences be in random rooms ?

I organized some convention here around Bordeuax, we always knew if someone came, spoke or not. And if that personn didn’t appear, we still wrote the schedule and contact… Just in case we may be didn’ know :/

Keep up contacting podcamp and send email to you new contact that the schedule didn’t mention you (that’s a great opportunity to contact them after podcamp to maintain a link ).

Don’t forget, you WERE at Podcamp Boston ! And people saw you. That’s already a great point.

Olivier,
This post was written before the event, when I didn’t have a session. Just check the dates! They did know who was presenting, though a few didn’t show up. They did have a timetable. But, also, the idea of an “UnConference”, is that the attendees control what goes on. So, it was a strange issue.

Kabren