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ChinesePoint A to B Panel at PSFK Conference Los Angeles
[tags]psfk, conference, los angeles, metroriderla, fred camino, green la girl, flexcar[/tags]
The panelists: MetroRider’s own Fred Camino, Kymberleigh Richards of SO.CA.TA, and Siel of GreenLAgirl. Photo by seanbonner via Flickr.
So I kept this on the downlow for a number of reasons, one being that I figured it would turn out exactly as it did, and two it cost $300 to attend, but now that it has passed I will talk briefly about my experience as a transportation panelist at the PSFK Conference this past Tuesday.
About a month ago I was contacted by the organizers of a special transportation panel at the conference asking if I would be willing to speak at the event. At first I was honored but hesitant, as public speaking (and speaking in general) is not something I consider enjoyable - hiding behind the walls of the internet is more my style. With some reassurance, I reluctantly agreed and a month later found myself onstage with notable LA bloggers/transit advocates Kymberleigh Richards (of SO.CA.TA and San Ferndando Valley Transit Insider), Siel of Green LA Girl, and Margaret Kemp of Flexcar.
Unfortunately, there had not been much organization or discussion prior to the event (in fact I had to contact the organizers the day before to find out when and where the conference was), and I think that it showed. Two topics were discussed: Does public transit in LA have a learning curve? - and - What’s stopping the subway from going west? The conversation meandered on about the basic challenges and advantages of going car-free and some of the more political and social aspects that make car-free living in Los Angeles so “radical”. The ideas were there, but I don’t think they were presented in a way that was particularly useful to the audience. The last 10 minutes or so (we had 40 minutes) were devoted to an experimental video by the creative group Refreshment. While the video had its merits (I feel it would make a great looping installation piece at a Metro Station), the repetitive and aimless nature of it mirrored the discussion that had preceded it.
The blog unBeige reviewed the event and came to the conclusion that “The next LA-focused panel on living without a car was intriguing (especially since we’d taken the bus there ourselves), but failed to deliver.” More telling, the PSFK site itself offered a summary of every panel at the conference that day with the exception of our transportation panel! I guess people probably weren’t happy to have spent $300 to hear some doofuses ramble on about nothing in particular.
Yours truly did manage to garner one good review, but not for my inspirational transportation advocacy, but for my unique brand of third-world ugly that modern girls just go wild over. New York City blogger, “and X gets the square”, attended the conference and proclaimed her “eco-crush” on me in her post “this is what I’m into, take it or leave it”. Hey, I’ll take it, especially after this conference disaster.
Anyhow, if anyone attended and learned something, or at least learned about this blog, let me know!
Discussion
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Please keep discussions civil: exercise Troll Controll.
$300! lawlse
Much as I hate to say it, being the somewhat overweight one on the stage, but our “panel” wasn’t all that well organized and therefore what we gave was “Transportation Solutions Lite”.
Maybe if we hadn’t had to give up time for the video …
PSFK is a sophisticated marketing company the point of the panel wasn’t to inform you or anyone else, but to inform them.
The questions weren’t actually the question. They probably were making notes on how you guys dressed, talked, what food you ate and what food you didn’t, what videos you liked and what videos you didn’t.
Companies know that the regular commercials aren’t going to work anymore so now people do lifestyle advertising, building products, websites, TV shows and lifestyle to help their clients sell.
I won’t ask if they paid you or not, but they should have. Regular focus groups get paid 200 dollars for one-two hours work, if it was an all day event they should have paid you at least 700 dollars, at least, probably 1000 dollars.
Browne
google analytics traffic source data WOOT! i’m x, and i actually helped put on the conference… though not the panels part, so i cant really speak on the organization of that except that PSFK takes your feedback quite seriously and will be sure to keep it in mind for our next conference. after reading your summary of events, i think i can speak on behalf of all the organizers and offer our apologies for what turned out to be, in your view, a rough paneling. i’m here all week folks.
and congrats on being my first eco-crush to uncover my juvenile swooning via trackback! ayo technology. (i should probably feel offended by your remark about us ‘modern girls’ and your gratuitous use of quotey fingers - but i am not. i
Google Analytics is for posers X… Lodgy.com uncovered your devious ways!
Who spoke about transportation other than transit or was the name a ruse?
Flexcar was supposedly there, Rob.
Flexcar was there (mostly as an advertisement it seemed), but other than that I’d call it a ruse. Well not even a ruse, because I’m still not even sure what the point of the panel was. Maybe it was transportation, maybe it was alt-transportation, maybe it was car-free transportation. I dunno.
Flexcar is transit just like taxis. Okay, I get your point but do you get mine?
Well I don’t know if Flexcar is anything like taxis.
if taxis are brand new and readily available cars within walking distance that charge by the hour/day rather than by the 1/8 of a mile then yeah, they’re pretty much the same.