Getting IT Conference Presentations as Podcasts

Doug Kaye of IT Conversations has proposed the idea of expanding IT Conversations into capturing audio from presentations of all major IT conferences. Then the content might be released as a bundle for $50.00 or so as a new revenue stream for conferences. Since I can only afford the budget and time of perhaps one conference per year I think this is a great idea. I’ve been able to attend Web 99, Web 2001, and SD 2005 West over the past years and I’ve found these conferences really recharge my batteries. In fact even after attending SD 2005 about 4 months ago and pushing myself through it with a nasty case of shingles I got so many new ideas I’m still trying to figure out some ways to implement them.

The only problem I see with the model is the conference organizers have to agree. It might appear to them that if people can listen to the presentations later for a small fee, they might skip attending altogether. The other problem is finding enough volunteers to do the recordings, editing, and uploads. I’d volunteer here for any conference I attend once the details get worked out.