Comments on: Scoble to PodCamp NYC, "Pay Me!"

By: Jesse

Jesse — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:39:00 +0000

I wonder what arrington would ask for?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 04:40:00 +0000

John, Scoble is a jerk and the only ones who dont think so are his buddies….Plus he is a has been……..90% of the blogosphere has no clue who he is.

By: Eric Rice

Eric Rice — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 07:36:00 +0000

I have no idea what’s going on in the dramasphere, yer both pals o’ mine, and it’s late here in the hotel, so a couple quick points.

But I do find it amusing that UNconferenceCamps have sponsorships.
I think we need to go back to a middle ground between ridiculous overpriced megacons and unUserCamps.

Also, as a speaker myself (unless it’s something local to me), I will always ask about expenses, no matter if it is a small thing or big thing. Period, *especially* with sponsors around.

I make media, and I make money. We can do that. ya rly.

By: Marc Nathan

Marc Nathan — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 04:42:00 +0000

First of all I want to say that it’s pretty open of you to keep your comments open in light of the fact that they are overwhelmingly negative towards your position and/or method of airing your grievance - that’s the true spirit of Open Conversation. Secondly, I’ve invested in a podcast company and I’m going to try to make it to podcamp NYC since I heard how well PocCamp Boston went, but I fully expect to pay my own way. Lastly, I want to tell you that I ran into the exact same issue when I co-hosted a BarCamp in June. I wanted to invite a local technology-related celebrity in order to have him promote the event on his weekly radio show and then do a live remote from the show itself. I contacted him about it since I had a previous relationship with him. He completely “got” the fact that it was a sponsored unconference, but he told me upfront that there were some hard costs involved from his radio station (rhymes with ‘Beer Flannel’) and they had set rules about this sort of thing. When I brought that information back to my co-hosts, we decided to politely decline because we couldn’t make it work with our budget. He still took my call and interviewed me on the show live from BarCamp that day, but cost discussion got back to the host of another tech-related radio show here in town who was in actual attendance at the show he blogged about his opinion of the costs, painting the original guy in a bad and greedy light. I spent much of that evening and part of the next day straightening out the dust-up – but for a few hours it got pretty ugly. Everyone acted like gentlemen once I explained the situation and now we’re all on friendly terms (at least I am, I think). The bottom line is that a misinterpreted bit of information went public and smeared a guy who didn’t deserve it – which sounds to me like a parallel of your situation. I’ve met and chatted with Scoble a handful of times (not that he would remember me) and he didn’t strike me as shady or the kind of guy who would twiddle his moustache figuring out ways to exploit poor podcasters. I’ve done a fair amount of speaking myself and I always considered it a good trade to get a pass to attend whatever conference it was, but I’m not even in the same ballpark as a guy like Scoble who I think is justified in getting expenses paid to show up. I’m not going to sugarcoat this – I think you were wrong to be offended in the first place and I think you made a worse by not having the sense to play politics and keep your opinions to yourself. I hope we can laugh about this together face to face at your PodCamp, but this whole issue will hopefully be long forgotten by then.

By: Pixelbox

Pixelbox — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 02:41:00 +0000

You really should have handled this privately. Very poorly handled. I reckon you’ve learned your lesson, though.

By: Brad Gibson

Brad Gibson — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 19:16:00 +0000

Why wouldn’t you pay expenses for a guy who busts his butt for the blogging and podcasting communities? Isn’t Scoble a draw? What kind of a businesss person are you? Never mind… Now unsubscribed from iTunes. Guh-bye!

By: George Appiah

George Appiah — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:42:00 +0000

Have you ever appologized in your life before? Try it today.

And mind you …all your readers cannot be wrong.

By: Mark Woodman

Mark Woodman — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 16:25:00 +0000

Instant anti-case-study in how to manage conflict. Well done.

By: John

John — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 15:41:00 +0000

That’s kind of a weak cover. You’re trying to change it into a question of should the expenses be paid or not. That’s NOT the point.

The point is you publicly savaged Scoble and still haven’t apologized for jumping to conclusions and just generally being an ass. Grow some backbone and apologize already!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 15:26:00 +0000

You must be somebody who still believes any publicity is GOOD publicity. It’s not. You’ve only harmed yourself and your group. Perhaps if you apologize sincerely and don’t rush to public condemnation in such a rude and unprofessional manner.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 14:31:00 +0000

You might want to try and be Un-stupid over this issue. Has your blogging killed your ability to contact people directly for clarification? I suppose it’s better to drive traffic to your blog with inflammatory posts.

Having a strong opinion is not the same as acting like a spoiled three-year old.

“King Scoble”? You’re Prince Jackass in that case.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 14:26:00 +0000

Sir,
If this was your intent for your post, then you did not present your argument very well until now in a follow comment. This seems very CYA

By: PodcastNYC.net

PodcastNYC.net — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 14:00:00 +0000

I guess that I thought the idea of a PodCamp was that it was about setting up an un-conference style event in order to benefit podcasters. It seems to me that using the sponsorship money to pay for expenses for high profile individuals runs counter to that idea. Hence my strong opinions on the topic.

So if the message to Robert Scoble was “we have sponsors and we can pay your way” then I can’t take any issue with Robert saying yes to that. The note in the Google Group indicated that Robert had asked to have his expenses paid as a condition of making the trip. So it seems like there are two stories there.

I’ve not yet committed any time or resources to PodCamp NYC planning, and am pretty sure that I won’t be asked to So the person to blame for having a strong opinion on this topic is me.

As far as this information being made ‘public’, it was already made public when it was displayed on the Google Group that was being used to discuss ideas related to the planning of the gathering.

The question was asked on there as to whether or not Robert Scoble’s expenses should be paid out of sponsor revenue from the event.

Do you think they should? And if so, who else should have their expenses paid?

By: PodcastNYC.net

PodcastNYC.net — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 13:59:00 +0000

I’ve not yet committed any time or resources to PodCamp NYC planning, and am pretty sure that I won’t be asked to So the person to blame for having a strong opinion on this topic is me.

As far as this information being made ‘public’, it was already made public when it was displayed on the Google Group that was being used to discuss ideas related to the planning of the gathering.

The question was asked on there as to whether or not Robert Scoble’s expenses should be paid out of sponsor revenue from the event.

Do you think they should? And if so, who else should have their expenses paid?

By: C.C. Chapman

C.C. Chapman — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 12:53:00 +0000

Asking if travel expenses can be covered is question 1 for anyone who speaks at a large number of events. This is not a slam at the unconference philosphy or anything of the like. He’s just asking a question.

I’m not piping up because this is Scoble. I’m piping up because I think this makes Podcamp NY look bad and I know that it’s not. I know there are good people involved with the event and having been a sponsor of PodCamp Boston I love the idea.

But, this isn’t the approach you want to take. It tarnishes the whole event.

I speak at lots of different events and no matter what the size I always ask about expenses. Most can cover, some have not. And when the answer is “no we can’t do that” I still sometimes go on my own tab, but sometimes I just can’t.

Sorry, it’s early and this post really feels like it’s going to do the event more harm then good. It’s too bad….

By: Johnny Sutherland

Johnny Sutherland — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 07:01:00 +0000

From what I’ve read on Robert Scoble’s blog you are not telling the whole truth and are in fact mis-representing the facts. You are on dodgy ground!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 06:10:00 +0000

You sir, are a jackass.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 05:56:00 +0000

He was solicited as a speaker. Part of the negotiation is settling terms.

That’s how it works. If you don’t like his terms, don’t agree to them. Same goes for him - but I don’t see how you can fault him for clarifying the terms themselves.

Perhaps you are just trying to use his name to drum up a little publicity? If not, perhaps if it is such a touchy point, the organizers should make sure that the lack of compensation is mentioned at the same time the speakers services are requested?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 05:51:00 +0000

you guys are losers. you want someone to speech, you pay their expenses and even sometimes a per diem. What are you guys…new? How unprofessional.

By: eschipul

eschipul — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 05:50:00 +0000

Hey guys, being a speaker is 1) stressful and 2) expensive. Asking someone if there are funds available to cover expenses and MAYBE even pay someone for their time - well that is just normal. Unconference maybe, but very real time. Give the guy a break!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 05:41:00 +0000

I would think it to be a standard practice for Robert to ask for expenses when asked to attend your show.

The reason you would have asked him to attend would be his crowd pulling ability and the more people you get the better I’m sure. Did you bother to ask what expenses he wants paid? If he says no then did you ask if he will still attend?

Don’t rubbish the guy before you have concluded negotiations. My two cents worth….

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 05:37:00 +0000

Nice job of going public with this before the issue could be resolved. I hope no speaker wwill even want to come to your little conference now.

By: John

John — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 05:36:00 +0000

My, we’re quick to jump to conclusions, aren’t we? How about talking with Robert and figuring out what he meant before blogging it? Or is that just too much to ask? Or maybe it’s more FUN and righteous feeling to assume you’ve been slighted?

By: Robert Scoble

Robert Scoble — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 05:13:00 +0000

It’s amazing that you took this out into public view just to try to embarrass me or PodTech. I asked for expenses. I didn’t expect them. But I asked. All you had to do was say “no” and turn them down. Now you’ve taken private emails into public view. Congratulations. I answered over on my blog at http://www.scobleizer.com.