Meanwhile Whitney you and the other PodCamp organizers might want to have a listen to the Push My Follow episode recorded at PCB3. Lots of feedback there. http://pushmyfollow.com/2008/07/episode-11/ (not spamming, it's really great stuff even if I wasn't there .)

Thanks again Chris!

There is a trick in throwing parties and maintaining fun. We're looking into (not finalized, so don't kill me if it doesn't work out) trying a Geek Bowling Night for Podcamp Philly on Friday Night, followed by a return to Triumph Brewing for Sat Night and if we get sponsors, we'll look into providing food and the like, but it depends on the finances.

Other conferences have evening parties that come with a cover; sometimes the cover goes to charity and the sponsor pays for the party; other times the money goes to pay for prizes and the like. But these conferences also cost considerably more to attend than Podcamp.

I'm really curious though- if you were running Podcamp or the conference of your dreams, what would you want the evening events to look like? What would make you want to attend? What are your expectations, and why? Do you want dancing? Guitar Hero Tournament? Fancy Dinner? What would you pay out of pocket for? And would you pay more for the conference if it also covered the parties? Because all of this stuff comes at a cost, and as an organizer, if this is what the community wants, it can be had, but the price to come to Podcamp will have to escalate accordingly.

And the more money Podcamp has to charge to cover expenses, the more it costs to go, and the less and less it resembles the barcamp unconference model, and the more it becomes a conference with a more publicly accessible speaker's list. If this is what the community wants, it can be done, but there seem to be just as many people who want the conference to be more lightweight, less prepaid benefits, more organic.

You kinda can't have it all ways- we all have champagne tastes, but you can't accomplish this on a beer budget. Please- let us know- what is your idea of a perfect new media Conference?

Incentive is excellent feedback and something worth building in. To be perfectly honest, if I had more resources and time, I would have instead gone with a catered Saturday dinner at the venue and then set people free for the evening after that. We might consider that for next year, so that you get fed, you get together with everyone without having to go far, and then people can ad hoc break up without having to rely on social networking tools that not everyone is fluent in.

What do you think?