Canada’s first large-scale conference of new media and social media creators happens again in Ottawa, Canada this June!

If you’re a media creator — Ottawa is the place to be the weekend of June 24-26, 2011.

PAB (originally Podcasters Across Borders), Canada’s first large-scale conference of new media producers, was co-founded by Bob Goyetche, Mark Blevis, Cathy Bobkowicz, and Andrea Ross in 2006. The inaugural conference was a sold out event which took place in Kingston that year and drew delegates from across Canada and the United States. It kicked off with a keynote address by the CBC’s Shelagh Rogers, featured a full day of speaking sessions and ended with a concert by two Canadian independent bands.

PAB has evolved into a social/new media conference and expanded from a one day to a three day event that includes speaking sessions, popular five-minute JOLTs, workshops, panel discussions, concerts, a boat cruise and a charity drive. The conference has flourished on a reputation of strong content and a welcoming community, attracting participants from as far away as the U. K. and South America.

WHAT ARE THE SESSIONS? WHO ARE THE SPEAKERS? WHAT IS THE SCHEDULE?

Wow. You don’t mess around. We’re scheduling the sessions/speaker list together as you read this. In the meantime, here is the list of sessions:

PAB2011 JOLTS

• Dave Brodbeck: You Story Deserves No Attention Whatsoever
• Robin Browne: Why you should help people with no voice tell their stories well
• Adam Gratrix: Transcoincidentalism – a manifesto of the posthuman raconteur!
• Tom Merritt: Shows his top 5 ways to engage your audience
• Sue Murphy: Just Hit Publish – No more excuses
• Bruce Murray: Let’s tell a (collective) story..
• Andrea Ross: Your Story Deserves to be Bold
• Scarborough Dude: Story Schmorie – What me worry
• Mare Swallow: What is PAB worth?

PAB2011 SPEAKING SESSIONS

• Sylvain Grand’maison: Family Jewels
• Anthony Marco: The Unattended Moment in the Communication Jam
• Sean McGaughey: Sunday Serman – Letters from Rome
• John Meadows: Applied Synesthesia; What photography has taught me about storytelling in audio
• Bruce Murray: History – the good parts version
• Mare Swallow: Your Story Deserves to be Told Crappy

And our very special friday night keynote is by Mark Poirier, Director of Photography with IMAX.

 

WHERE IS IT TAKING PLACE?

The National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)

WHERE DO I STAY?

The Lord Elgin Hotel has a block of rooms set aside at a special PAB-rate.  Read more about it here.

Basically, you call the Lord Elgin Hotel at 1-800-267-4298 or direct 613-235-3333 and reference PAB2011.

HOW MUCH IS CONFERENCE REGISTRATION?

Registration is CDN$160. You can register here.

WHAT DOES REGISTRATION INCLUDE?

Registration includes access to the full three days of the conference (June 24-26,2011) which features workshops, keynotes, speaking sessions, panels and our ever-popular JOLT!s, as well as a sit-down lunch on Saturday.

Typically, a boat cruise runs 8pm-10pm on the Saturday night, and what’s also fun is that it is open to partners/spouses and children of PAB registrants. A fun family night! There is a cash bar during the cruise. And, one level of the three-storey boat features an open mic for the musicians and comedians among us.

WHAT MAKES THIS EVENT DIFFERENT?

You do. We designed PAB first and foremost as a community event. There are no vendor tables, no “How do I monetize social media” sessions. PAB is about people.

HOW DO I KEEP UP TO DATE ON ANNOUNCEMENTS?

You can subscribe to our

or

and you can listen to the

the offical podcast of PAB. As the conference approaches, this is the show to listen to get updates, ideas and learn about the people and places you’ll see at PAB.

WHO’S BEHIND THIS?

This not-for-profit conference is being organized by members of the Rogic Podcast Conglomerate; Canadian Podcasters Bob Goyetche, Mark Blevis, Cathy Bobkowicz and Andrea Ross.

WHICH ONE IS MARK?

The tall one.

WHICH ONE IS BOB?

The other one.

Feel free to send any questions to podcastersacrossborders@gmail.com – we’ll answer pretty darn quick, and share the “shareable” answers here!