This is the kind of post that occurs after 40 minutes of typing has been lost to a blog client that claims an "autosave" which I'm afraid is the best it can do. So  bye bye paid blog client I'm back onto the free Live Writer until it munches a post.  Then Google docs and  hell let's just use notepad and save the thing

In short:  

The convention floor was far smaller than I would have thought it to be and the demos/ products available were pretty sparse.  Though I did get some Aural excitement from an Aphex that compressed my big bottom. It was being demoed by the guy from Podsqod and frankly was the most interesting equipment  demo of the whole show  in  that I really don't need it but I really do want one.  

Podango Used their space for an "unconference"  , see prior posts for audio link,  which was an innovative use of the space that to be honest would have  been hard to showcase what they do. They have a really interesting model where  "station directors, akin to PD's at a traditional station"  locate and grow talent within their niche.  These guys really seem to get where podcasting's benefits lie. ( imho, though that's a redundant thing to say on a blog. ( IMO )    Do you want an audience of 10k of the people that are into astral photography  for example or try to sift them from the general millions ?   It's an extreme example but  until now it's been impractical to get a channel to such a small group. If you make the kind  of gear they like this is a -massive- audience.   To find that audience you're already a part of it.   The unconference demonstrate that latter point rather well  I really should do an entire entry on these guys.

Samson:

Ah demos  the H4 , which I bought, the Q1u which Erin won and a really cute sales person , if you are into that sort of thing.  Working model of the H4 prior to release made this a popular stand.  As with most stands space was limited and it was hard to avoid elbowing or being the elbowee in an attempt to play with the offerings.  Hint:  Go near the end of the day when people have had time to work out how things work

Feedburner: 
Small booth but staffed with the people from Feedburner. I'm an unashamed fan of this service, do one thing, do it well, then do it so well  people get envious. And yes I wear the little badge with pride

Podcast station

There's not many podcast creation programs that I've tested and enjoyed.In most cases the  fear and loathing appears quickly .  In others it's a Garageband like happiness ( the latter is overkill for podcasters , I know overkill. I have  protools, cubase and soundforge and I also drop a little Acid from time to time) . So is there a market for a sole purpose podcast creator that doesn't look like it was hacked together in  VB6 ( you can guess who that is )  Damn right.  For people that like to produce "live" or live with minimal editing  head over to these guys, it comes off a broadcast system yet apart from a busy control area in the bottom right I could set it up and use it within a short period of time.  Ok , you're maybe too cool for the room but  you have a relative that you know you don't want to walk through Cubase anytime in the near future.   

More to follow