Yet another Dave Thorvald Olson project - this one serves up all the leftover bits which don't fit elsewhere - more craft than the art - nuggets perhaps noticed or observed, announcements of fresh paintings, podcast and/or publications, static montage, various snippets of prose, sites of note or ones you might enjoy, messages to future self, relics from past, snapshots i'd like you to see, fleeting reminiscences, future predictions, occasionally lurid predilections and mysterious items uncovered. In short ephemerae-phem-er-a - n
1) A range of collectible items that were originally designed to be short-lived
2) Something that is transitory and without lasting significance
Without rambling on too much, Northern Voice is a community run conference which is cheap, educational and fun. It is also sold out. Too bad for you. Moose Camp - the first day (Friday) “un” conference has some slots to accommodate a few more eager learners.
I am posting my pitch here (and at the wiki F*ck Stats, Make Art Dossier ) so i don’t lose it and forget what i am proposed to speak about. I am batting third in the main hall with F*** Stats, Make Art after Matt Mullenweg and Marc Canter. Lots of other good stuff going on including the two other presentations parallel to mine.
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Fuck Stats, Make Art
Dave Olson, NV 08
Why
Publishing almost anything and reaching a worldwide audience is suddenly ridiculously easy yet that doesn’t mean a vast stream of top-quality content flowing down the tubes. Often, the stuff that floats to the top is goofy, nonsensical or cheesy slices of contemporary pop culture - either contrived or wrangled their way to the top of the viral avenues.
Tis easy to get hung up how many people visit your site, view your video, comment on your pictures, add you as a friend etc., however these metrics mean very little in the long term.
How
By taking a rambling, pictorial journey through his own career of creating grassroots art, Vancouver’s renegade social media maker Dave Olson will extoll, encourage and explain the importance of digging deep to muster creative self expression which will stand the test of time.
Besides spieling on the importance of creating meaningful content, and reasons for concentrating energy on action rather than talking, Dave will share insider tips on outreaching to mainstream media and using promotional skills to amplify your personal message.
We’ll explore questions and topics like “why bother?” “what constitutes success?” “how to express yourself?” “exploring mediums” and “making technology your b!tch” - though a veteran computer user, Dave will seek to tame the intimidation and paradox of endless opportunities which often thwart rather than encourage creativity.
Known for an intensely casual, fast-paced style (laced with humorous anecdotes), Dave is an experienced teacher who ran web design classes, and guest lectured to classes at Vancouver Film School and presented to Rotary Clubs, Chambers of Commerce, loggers and rock bands.
Background
Since publishing a ditto-machined community newspaper in 3rd grade, Dave’s made punk rock fanzines on hijacked xeroxes, poetry chapbooks printed on hemp paper in Guam, homegrown business docs and tv appearances in Japan, filmed and distributed a feature-length documentary travel film, created dozens of voluminous websites, series of semi-ledendary podcasts on topics from hockey to literature, started activist ISPs in Olympia, and published expository essays in major magazines on political conundrums and public policy issues. He also worked at Kinko’s for three months just to use the colour copier surreptitiously afterhours.
Bonus
From a young age, he’s parlayed his artistic and business endeavors into a litany of media appearances from radio in Guam to newspapers in Vancouver to a feature in High Times magazine who said,
“Though his hair is kind of wild these days and a thick beard covers most of his face, you can’t pigeonhole Dave as a hippie. He’s kind of a Renaissance guy who can speak at length on anything from ecology to music to pro hockey.” Chris Simunek, High Times 03/2002
http://hightimes.com/ht/news/content.php?bid=99&aid=3
A graduate of Evergreen State College where he studied philosophy, international business, public policy and writing, Dave also attended Univ. of Utah, Univ. of Guam, has worked as a mushroom farmer (Japan), grape picker (Germany), private beach club host (Guam), toured with the Grateful Dead, wrote the Law School Admission Test, made photo journals from SLC Winter Olympics and enjoys oil painting and making static montage paper art to fill up his cluttered studio.
Credentials
Dave presented (a pinch hitting) well-received presentation about podcasting at NV 2007 and (another pinch hitting performance) on a panel “Blogging your Passion” at Moosecamp 2006.
Also active participant in Barcamps, Drupalcamps, Transitcamps and enjoys camping in a tent best of all.
With my semi-useful blurb in Scoble’s vidcast of KK’s Northern Voice photography schtick yesterday, thought i’d point you to my kick-a$$ fireworks pics in case you missed ‘em. The shots are from three separate shows - the Chinese, Mexicans and Czechs. Be sure to stay tuned for this year’s performances which are now a go due to the largess of some corporation or other.
Here are a few more faves to get you started … plenty more to enjoy. View the details to get the shutter speed and aperture settings.
Yup, been meaning to scribble something about Northern Voice but wanted to take the time to do it right, … since magical time expansion is unlikely, here it goes …
First off, massive thank yous to all the folks who rolled into my presentation: Three “P’s” of podcasting - Plan, Produce, Promote [note the intentional misspellings and grammatical errors - keepin' it real ;-)].
The Podcast Spot guys recorded and posted a podcast of the podcasting show … but here is an alternate version recorded on my beloved M-Audio Microtrack and remixed by Bread the Producer. Might as well make a podcast feed for this eh.
T’was really a treat to have so many amigo y amiga grinning back at me plus cool that a lot of other “veteran” podcasters were along for the ride plus folks making podcast software, podcast networks, consulting about podcasts etc. While the inclinations are different for various casters the process for making shows is really the same.
I advocate taking the time to work on your presentation style and “embracing your internal dialouge” in order to deliver a compelling conversation on on cue in order to make consice and listenable shows. Planning the idea and then busting out the production with Macgyver skill using the vast array of kiss-a$$ software apps and thrifty hardware out there.
The visual aid of my schtick was a series of 75(?) pieces of 100% hemp cardstock (no trees harmed) - each painted with one or maybe two words each in black acyrlic. A few cards had lists or phrases written with oil pastels and even a couple of doodles to deliver the feeli.
I filled the time for 59 minutes from Planning to Producing to Promoting and Partying and tossed the cards in the air and to the floor as the routine rolled on. Yes certainly inspired by Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues. In the spirit of non-commercialism, i stayed away from personal or professional plugs or even listing all my fave podcasters (many makers in the audience even) so i didn’t leave anyone out.
Also, thanks to Roland for steering the ship and trusting in me to get r’ dun. I was a late substitution and managed to cobble together my “Paper Point” moments before the gig but managed to keep the folks enjoying my edu-tainment, .. but don’t take my word for it, plenty of comments abounding, so, if you’ll indulge me in a moment of repose, i’ll post a round up below.
Derek K. Miller’s Fakeout was gonna be the official theme music but Roland racked up a different one (Clouds or Smoke IIRC) and though i stumbled my good vibes message a wee bit, the thought is what counts eh. DKM was following along via backchannel and mediacasting too adding in his humour and opinions. Gouranga & Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
By not plugging my shows, folks had a reason to come up to chat and ask for my addys to check it out (yeah that was the plan). Since you good people wanna know, here’s the list - each show series is entirely unique and each are handcrafted with care and attention.
I note that, like younglings, each podcast series has a unique personality and i love each equally (sniff, sniff). However unlike children they are basically free and require no diapers nor nutritional sustinence (just occasional cables and doo-dads and frequent enthusiasm) to sustain.
Since it is probably a good idea to have any list anyhow, here’s the “DaveO Podcast Round Up” (which should maybe be feed of it own ;-)) …
Choogle on with Uncleweed - Feed - iTunes- wild soundseeing rumpus from tokes on the porch to emerging rock bands plus art, transportation, economics and more ganja hi-jinks - but make no mistake - this is no lightweight drivel, serious stuff included on public policy and growing killer buds
Postcards from Gravelly Beach - Feed - iTunes- my original show of spoken word literature mixing my original creative writing (often culled from my Mountain Highway notebook) with classics from Kerouac to Tolstoy to emerging writers, backed by an eclectic assortment of music, sometimes spontaneous, sometimes from a dusty shoebox
Canucks Outsider - Feed - iTunes - hockey mayhem with a buzz, sometimes in game, sometimes on the porch with a beverage, often both, always irreverent and solid, serious hockey talk - not recaps per se, but sweeping observations and overviews and analysis of the team, game and culture
Urban Vancouver -Feed - sorta like the mellower side of Choogle on - out and about at Vancouver festivals, meeting entreprenuers, activists and characters around Vancouver diverse neighborhoods and cultural groups (also available on the Choogle on itunes
Olympic Outsider - iTunes - Feed - interviews with Winter Olympic athletes, updates on Vancouver Whistler 2010, featured frequent analysis during Torino 2006 and interviews with Gold Medalists Ross Rebagliati and Duff Gibson and Olympian (and big Nucks fan, Crispin Libscomb coming soon)
+ Bonus casts
Clubside Breakfast Time - Feed - this is Cosmo G. Spacely’s show which i am a frequent guest on and this was my first podcast appearance (thanks Jay), Olympia music, peace politics, local eccentrics and rock and roll anecdotes and other fine guests (Dingo, Damien, Old Timey Dave)
Ephemeral Feasthouse - you are here … for all the stuff which doesn’t fit elsewhere to keep it handy so i can find it again … i.e., the outtakes, blurbs, random clips, promos and miscellania, grab a podcast feed for your convenience
(secret day-job identity) Get Elastic - this will blow my cover as a edgy hipster ;-), … but here i am riffing on about ecommerce with pundits, memes, shameless promotion and fascinating discourse on online bidness
Comment bonanza follows for posterity (pardon the self-indulgence):
Another great highlight for me was Dave Olsen’s “The 3 P’s of Podcasting,” as much for his presentation style as for the easy-to-absorb content. Using what was later jokingly referred to as an “underhead projecter,” he whizzed through 60 or 70 slides in a manner that was reminiscent of both Bob Dylan and a certain scene from the film Love Actually (one of Mrs. Behan’s favorites). I’ll have to find a video of Dave’s talk, as it has to be seen by all podcasters.
But on Saturday I met Uncle Weed, aka Dave Olson — a local who semi-regularly puts out SEVEN podcasts!!!!!!! In a mile-a-minute, Dylanesque, low-tech performance of tossing out cards with short messages like “podcast”, “passion”, and “plan”, Uncle Weed made it seem easy. Like all it took to become a podcaster was some time, an idea, a computer, a little enthusiasm, and $20.
A photo session followed, lead by Kris Krug. In my opinion, he and Dave had the best presentations of the day. They were both laid back, had practical and useful tips, and told it like it is, plain and simple. Things don’t have to be complicated.
And the expected: Dave Olson, social media rockstar (his 3P’s of Podcasting session was superb; it was my favourite of the few I managed to squeeze in between organizing!),
Then I moved on to Dave’s podcasting session. I have to admit that the Uncle Weed persona did put me off a bit. I guess I’m a stiff. So the subject matter of his podcasts doesn’t excite me, but the session did. Dave knows his shit. He cares about what he’s doing and it shows. So he had some great pointers and interesting presentation covering everything from getting a concept through recording and producing all the way up to promoting your podcast once you’ve got a few in the can. I only went in to the session with idle curiosity - but when he started in about how to vet an idea to see if it’s worth starting a podcast, I started to get inspired. I’ve done a couple podcasts, well they’re not episodic so some say that’s not a podcast … so I’ve recorded a couple audio file of me speaking which were syndicated in the RSS feed from my blog… But anyway, I’ve done a couple of those and I think I might like to do some more over a limited time, like a short series around a topic I like to talk about. One of the reasons I identified with Dave’s attitude was the focus on getting it out there. Get good audio quality but don’t go overboard buying equipment before you start recording. He recommended starting with a laptop if you already have one and showed the M-Audio device he uses (a Microtrack 24/96). It looks pretty sweet - two channels of audio and a CF slot. A far cry from the crap RCA puts out (which, by the way, doesn’t use any normal formats for files or connectivity).
I also really enjoyed Dave Olson’s session on podcasting. His whimsical, and sometimes hysterical presentation was void of PowerPoint and instead, supported by single word cue cards ala Bob Dylan. Podcasting is something I’m becoming more fascinated with and how it can be integrated into brand marketing and communication activities.
This one of me removing paintbrushes from a sushi roller whilst wearing my sunny day festivus gift scarf coupled with the JCPenny sweater (from The Dalles, Oregon) and used Patagonia organic cotton shirt (hanks Heather in Idaho) make this shot an instant classic ;-). Fashionista i am not, the ’style’ just flows naturally and no i don’t spend a lot of time on my hair or beard grooming, it just looks that way.
A quick start guide to developing a podcast, cheaply and easily for any purpose. Including devising a topic and a point of view, recording basics and software options, editing and storytelling t…
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53 minutes, 15 seconds
