As in previous years, I declined to attend any of the conferences, so I’m left with reporting on the scene on the convention floor. The exhibitors fell into catagories - hardware for you to produce your podcasts with (think Mackie boards and Shure microphones), software to mix your podcasts with (Sony, Ambrosia), companies which were an amalgm to the two (AudioMidi, which I learned is within walking distance of my day job); and a couple of actual podcasts. Orange County Podcasters was running some kind of continuous series of panel shows all day. Leo LaPorte of This Week In Tech also had a live video feed in which he interviewed various luminaries.

LaPorte was an interesting case by the way. There were monitors showing the video feed and the stream of viewer comments, and the 10 second latency caused by data buffering meant that you’d see something live, then you’d see it on the screen, then the comments would come. Usually they weren’t about the action anyway. There’s a girl on the staff called Colleen who has this rabid fan base.

For me the thing that made me decide to eat up vacation time for this was the Coverville 500 concert, held Friday night at Bally’s. Coverville is a music show that’s all cover versions, and the performers were people who are popular on the show, like Jonathan Coulton who has a beautiful soft-rock version of BABY GOT BACK, and Richard Cheese who does lounge-singer versions of alt-rock and hip-hop material.  Cheese has a once-a-month gig at the Hard Rock Resort.

The concert produced two remarks that I find telling about the whole podcast phenomenon. Jonathan Coulton was introducing a song about how difficult it is to be Tom Cruise, and he pointed out that is was interesting it was to be playing for an audience of famous people, “just not as famous as me. Your fame is to mine as mine is to Tom Cruise.” His point is well taken. To be a podcaster is to be an attention whore. It’s what we do. It’s what we are. And I have to tell you, every time I spotted Coulton in the Casino or at the Starbucks next to the Convention Center, I got that same little thrill you get when you see a more broadly famous person. If they’re famous to you, they’re famous. That’s how it works.

The other remark was made by Dan Klass, host of THE BITTEREST PILL and emcee for the concert. He made a point in his opening remarks to tell the crowd of cell-phone hoisting, twittering, live-blogging attendees this: “You cannot monetize this event. It’s a concert. You’re supposed to just enjoy it.” I’m pretty sure this advice was ignored by most.

-daniel k

According to the style manuals a film is a singular work, and should be shown as distinct in text. Daniel uses all caps to delineate movie titles (SHOWGIRLS). I use italics (The Waterboy). Both are correct.

Dan’s convention comes from both the earlier Internet (where italics weren’t an option) and college composition, again to indicate titles absent any other typographical method.

I got my style from college as well. When I was a-studenting the “little red schoolbook” of film theory was “A History of Narrative Film” by David A. Cook. This thick, floppy softbound text was colloquially called the “Cook Book” and was required for a number of film courses, from history overviews to genre-studies classes to screenwriting. In it, all film titles were italicized, and any student with a word processor was encouraged to follow “Cook Book” style.

As I said, both conventions are correct, but they read a bit differently on a gut level. In the default font and type size used in TPN:: Box Office Weekly, all caps look a bit like YELLING, and italics look a bit like whispering.

Just to make matters more complicated, the New York Times and Variety both distinguish film titles with quotation marks (”Saw IV”). As they are publications of record, this is also correct.

Television citations are a little more problematic. Series names are supposed to be in quotation marks (”Police Squad!”), but they are often shown in italics. Dan does his in ALL CAPS, to be consistent. Individual episodes are considered “dependent or abbreviated works” and, like short films, are always supposed to be in quotation marks (”Rendezvous With Death”).

This has been a public service of Box Office Weekly, where stile rains supreem & good grammers is never worng grammers.

–Skot C.

While I’m at it, I might as well take credit for forcing both Britany Spears and Amy Winehouse into rehab. I can’t tell you how except to say that I know people, it’s way behind the scenes and I wish I had paid more attention to Heath.

This is the year that I finally brought in qualified help to Box Office Weekly, clever outsiders with talents exceeding my own. Skot, a genius and old high school pal, contributes brilliant blog entries which are frequently picked up for syndication by Reuters, USA Today and other online journalism spots. He is also the only adult I know who is an expert on KIM POSSIBLE. I also recently roped in Vivian, the proper British voice with the razor sharp comic timing, as a means of pulling in people who my find me a little too masculine. If you are one of those people, I’d like to thank you.

Well, the big story this year has been the writer’s strike, which is difficult because it’s kind of the opposite of a story. ALL ACTIVITY STOPS is a decent story for a week or so, then after that what do you have? ALL ACTIVITY STILL STOPPED. Repeat as necessary. And sure I could have made stuff up, but then I’d be Entertainment Tonight. So anyway, the past four months have been hell for reporters.

Another story that was actually pretty cool was the decision by some music companies to sell music online without DRM. This was the kind of sensible thinking that they had led us to expect could never happen. After all, not only could people illegally download for free, they could legitimately buy a CD and make an unrestricted copy. DRM only serves to dampen the sales of online music, which is stupid because it costs less to distribute music that way. Almost everyone is on board with this expect Universal, and we all know those people there are just nuts.

Over the two years I’ve been doing the show broadcast television ratings have eroded, and unless you are showing the superbowl it’s probably not going to get better. I got divorced in August, which shouldn’t concern you except by way of explanation for why I don’t have cable. I’ve been one of those people who can’t turn to HBO when there’s nothing on. Listen - the networks have given up. You people who don’t have to watch them, believe me - it’s all over. Even without the strike, it’s nowheresville on the big four.

Entertainment is important. Not in the Celebrities speak out to help the environment kind of way; but in the SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS chain gang kind of way. Not to put too fine a point on it, without stories or music to distract us from the yawning emptiness of existence we’d have torn down civilization long ago. You can quibble about the details, argue over whether another season of SURVIVOR helps, but overall people need these dreams. Thus it is worth reporting on, and thus we shall continue. Roll with it.

No, I don’t know who those other people are. It’s a still from a Ventura County production of RUN FOR YOUR WIFE so we can assume they’re actors. Or I guess very colorful producers. Either way, they can get gigs on their own podcasts.

It certainly wasn’t a total loss though. I got to meet two of my idols, both of whom are also colleagues. First we have Scott Sherman. Scott is the one on the right. Nice fellah, and he was carrying both an iPhone AND a wirelessly enabled laptop. In addition to the Gay Parenting Show and the Better World Show, Scott runs the Digital Photography Show which is TPN’s highest rated endeavor. I, on the other hand, tend to hover around the middle of the download charts. Incidentally, the BLOG, what you’re reading now, is often in the top ten. Go figure. It’s my voice, isn’t it? The mic oughtta fix that.

And then there is Ewan Spense.

Ewan is our technical guru and runs a three or four ‘casts himself. When I emailed to get phone numbers, so I’d be able to locate these guys on the convention floor, it was Ewan who responded, “just look for the guy in the kilt.” See if you can spot Ewan on this panel!

And as always there are booth babes. This woman here for smidgets.com, a company that produces serialized web-only TV, tells me that she moved from Vegas to LA to get more acting work. So far it’s been a good strategy. Even if it hadn’t been, I’d have been grateful just to hold her ankle for a brief moment.

-daniel k