Will Pate has been a technology entrepreneur and community builder since co-founding his first business, Infinity BBS, in elementary school.

Since then he has co-founded Raincity Studios, a Vancouver-based new media design, development and web marketing firm and has worked at Flock and on a project called Mazava.

He is currently the Community Evangelist at ConceptShare and co-host of tech news show CommandN.

Perhaps most importantly though, Will was the tenth person to register for PodCamp Toronto 2008!

I asked Will about his expectations for PodCamp Toronto, what he hopes to get out of it and who he’s looking forward to seeing at the event next month.

Is this your first PodCamp? If not, what other events have you been to?

Pate: Although I’m a veteran of BarCamps, this is my first PodCamp. I hope there is no terrible initiation

Why did you decide to register?

Pate: I heard good things about PodCamp last year, but unfortunately I couldn’t make it. I’ve been co-hosting commandN for about a year now, and I’m bummed to say I haven’t met enough local folks making podcasts.

What do you hope to get out of the weekend?

Pate: Friends, some co-conspirators for future projects and folks I can recommend to people looking for their skills.

Which session are you most looking forward to?

Pate: An Example of a Session Title – Jay Moonah" – Haha!

Seriously though, I’ve been following the idea of the "social media release" so I’ll be looking forward to hearing Collin Douma flesh out the idea.

Is there a session that’s not on the list that you’d like to see? What it?

Pate: Perhaps I should rework my "Guerilla marketing for content producers" presentation that I gave at nextMEDIA. Folks seemed to like it, and I bet the audience could get something out of it.

Name one thing you’d recommend visitors to Toronto do while they’re in town for PodCamp

Pate: Go for a beer with the group after the sessions are over. Don’t miss some of the best conversations.

Thanks Will!

We’ll be posting a few of these interviews over the next little while. If you want to meet the folks interviewed and check out the sesions they’re excited about, then sign up for PodCamp Toronto!

(cross-posted to the PodCamp Toronto 2008 blog)

172 attendees… (and counting!)

26 sessions… (and counting!)

5 weeks remaining. And counting.

Just 35 days until PodCamp hits Toronto for the second time and things are heating up. Registrations grew 20% in the last week alone and we’re signing up new sponsors every day.

Today we’re thrilled to announce four new sponsors:

Marketing Over Coffee
Marketing Over Coffee is an internet radio program (podcast) that covers both classic and new marketing. The program is runs about 20 minutes and comes out on Thursday mornings.

TalkShoe
TalkShoe is a service that enables anyone to easily create, join, or listen to Live Interactive Discussions, Conversations, Podcasts
and Audioblogs.

These hosted Community Calls can be discussions, conversations, talk shows and podcasts. Recorded Community Calls can be listened to, downloaded, or subscribed to. And if your Community Call becomes popular, you can make money too.

Thornley Fallis
Thornley Fallis is a full-service communications and public relations agency that has established an excellent reputation for providing smart thinking and delivering creative solutions. Thornley Fallis’ consulting team draws on a wealth of skills and experience to develop and implement innovative communications programs that achieve client objectives.

Tucows
Tucows seeks to make the Internet easier and more effective for passionate Internet users. Their goal is to reduce complexity for our customers as they acquire, deliver or use Internet services.

Tucows’ principle source for distributing Internet services is their global network of over 7,000 hosting companies, ISPs and other service providers. In addition to other Internet services, they provision millions of email boxes and manage over 7 million domains.

Write About PodCamp Toronto

Are you coming to PodCamp? Want to write about it? Want the inside scoop?

Email fleetstreetpr [at] gmail [dot] com with your questions or to set up an interview.

PodCamp Toronto 2008 (Feb 23-24, 2008) is looking for sponsors!

If your organization wants to position itself at the forefront of the social media space, or just to expose itself to thought leaders in PR and marketing, you should consider sponsoring PodCamp.

Last year over 300 people attended the unconference.

Is It Worth It?

Here are two quotes from one of last year’s sponsors:

• “…if you do sponsor, especially in new events, you and your company will be viewed as part of the early “founders” of the conference and the industry.”
• “They continue to be worth our time and effort as a company, but most imoprtantly [sic], they’re fun, interesting and a great way to interact with others of similar interests.”

Head on over to the PodCamp Toronto blog for more information on sponsorship and updates on the event.

(I’m on the organizing team for PodCamp Toronto 2008, along with Connie Crosby, Eden Spodek, Jay Moonah, Katherine Matthews, Rob Lee and Sean McGaughey)

I got double-tagged with the “eight things you didn’t know about me” meme today by Collin Douma and Eden Spodek. In fact, Collin tagged two of my blogs so I guess I’m triple-tagged.

I figure that not responding wouldn’t be very… well… social, so here goes.

Fact 1: I Run, But It Isn’t Always Fun

You may already know that I’m a runner. I run. A lot. I blog about it, too.

You probably don’t know, though, that I passed out after my first marathon.

Yes, passed out. Properly. Dramatically too – in the middle of the sidewalk, hitting the back of my head on the way down. Apparently it was spectacular.

I was fine throughout the race. However, I couldn’t find any Gatorade to replace my blood salts after I finished. Rather than not drink anything, I worked my way through a litre of water. That, combined with not being able to stomach any food (I get that a lot after races), diluted the few salts left in my blood. My body said, “I don’t think so, thankyouverymuch.”

I woke up to a crowd of people calling 911. Not a good first marathon experience.

I learned a lot about myself that day. Fortunately, much of it involved knowing how to stop that from ever happening again.

Fact 2: I’m A Soppy Romantic

I left my friends and family behind and moved to Canada from England in 2003… for a girl (all together: awwwww).

We broke up the next year, but that worked out well as I’ve ended up with my dream girl, who I wouldn’t be living with if I hadn’t moved here for someone else.

Life has a funny way of kicking you down then picking you back up.

Fact 3: It’s All Or Nothing

I obsess over everything I do, whether it’s work or play. It’s all or nothing for me (as illustrated by my running goals for 2008). That leads to me burning out on a lot of things.

Generally, my big challenge is holding myself back enough to enjoy whatever I’m doing.

Fact 4: I Love Snow!

Having grown up in England, I still enjoy the Canadian snow (although my running is slowly helping me to get over it).

Fact 5: I love skittles

I could eat a full pack of skittles in about a minute. Two handfuls, that’s all it takes. Mmmmmm.

Fact 6: I Had Really Bad Dress Sense A Few Years Ago

During my ‘dress like a fool’ stage in my teen years, I once went to a mainstream dance club in a black long-sleeved Metallica top with a full-on glow-in-the-dark pattern, including a giant skull on the back.

Let’s just say went home alone that night. I never stopped being a rocker, though And no, there are no photos of that shirt. Just… no.

Fact 7: If I Were In A Cartoon…

…I’d be Stewie.

No, I don’t want to kill my mother.

I’m addicted to Family Guy. Something about it mirrors my sense of humour (is that a good thing?).

Plus, I’m an evil British baby.

Fact 8: PR Found Me

I didn’t find PR; it found me. If it weren’t for a bizarre set of coincidences, I’d probably be an IT consultant now.

I studied business at university with a focus on marketing and IT, and I gained experience as a web developer in the UK with Hitachi and Lloyds TSB.

My entry into communications happened as a two-week temporary contract with the Ontario government evolved into something longer-term, and I found I actually liked this work. I mean, really liked it.

Then I discovered social media and that sealed the deal. Now, a short time later, it’s my life. What’s more, I’m still at the beginning of the learning curve, which makes it all the more exciting.

There you have it – 8 things you probably didn’t know about me. To keep this thing going, the following people can consider themselves tagged. Why? Because I have immense respect for all of you and I feel I know far too little about you:

Mitch Joel, Colin McKay, Todd Defren, Joseph Thornley, David Jones, CC Chapman, Jason Falls, Ed Lee

(Skittles photo credit: Neoroma)

Jay Moonah, of Uncle Seth and the Online Music Marketing podcast, announced today that registration for Podcamp Toronto 2008 is now open.

The conference will take place February 23-24, 2008 at the Rogers Communication Centre at Ryerson University.

If last year’s lineup is anything to go by, this should be an amazing couple of days.

(I checked out Mitch Joel’s kick-ass presentation from the 2007 conference earlier today – fate seems to intervene every time I try to see him present in-person – let’s hope all the 2008 presentations are this good!)

Registration is free… so sign up now!

Did I mention it’s free?