Maybe it’s just the time of the year, but there’s been a lot of interest recently in whether there will be a PodCamp Barcelona 2011.
So here’s our thoughts on the subject:
When we began PodCamp Barcelona in 2008 it was primarily because we were doing podcasting and thought it would be really interesting to go to such an event. As we couldn’t find any close enough to get to, we decided to do it ourselves. At that time there were very few events around the so-called “new media”, “web 2.0″ or “social media” but now there are plenty of them.
There is a tendancy to do events “porque toca” (because it’s now a ritual) which is something we profoundly disagree with. If there’s nothing new or interesting to do or say, if it just the same format and speakers refritos we don’t see the point. In the light of the #acampadas, the occupations and reuse of public space in Spain and other places this year, we feel that a PodCamp is pretty redundant.
We recognise that events are important to communities and one of the initial aims of PodCamp Barcelona (along with the Barcelona Social Media Café) was to create community. However as the use of social media and “web 2.0″ tools has spread, peeps have become more focussed on specific communities such as journalists, food & wine, open data, open gov, marketing etc.
That each PodCamp Barcelona was different is something we are proud of. It would have been easy, and frankly boring, to repeat the same event every year – but we were lucky that peeps were inspired and added considerably to the mix. The spontaneous contribution by @Moof of @PBCNTweetlation in 2009 and the subsequent development of it in 2010 by @Moof and @pdavenne is a brilliant example which gave a new dimension. Last year we added workshops and cut down on presentations which led in part to the development of a new iteration of Kfé Innovación which is now spreading around the world.
The other thing is that we no longer live in or near to Barcelona. Right now we’re off in northern Europe sorting out our next destination. Does this mean we’ll never do another PodCamp Barcelona? We don’t know. Does it mean we’ll never do anything else in Barcelona? We doubt that. But we won’t be doing PodCamp Barcelona 2011.
So thanks to everybody who has been asking, and thanks to everyone who has participated in PodCamp Barcelona since 2008. It’s the participants who make any event a success and if people have been asking about PodCamp Barcelona 2011, then we think we can qualify it as that 
Ana & Chris
