First of all, a confession. I was aware of the fact that there is such a show (or video podcast) – Diggnation. I was aware of the fact that it is somehow related to the Digg web site. And I think I even remember watching a couple of episodes a long time ago. But, all of that was in my passive memory. I wouldn’t remember what the show was about, if it was funny at all, or even who or how many of the hosts there were. So, when I was checking the agenda for The Next Web Conference 2008, I couldn’t have imagined what the “DIGGnation, live recorded from Amsterdam!” entry at the end of day 1 was all about.
The situation started to change when I noticed that at the end of the day there was a stream of new people in the conference hall, and that many of them were wearing Diggnation t-shirts. That kind of looked suspicious – are they all coming specifically for the show while avoiding the conference as a whole? It turned out it was indeed so (I later spoke to a few people who came from all over Europe just for Diggnation).
The Diggnation live in Amsterdam episode is up and you can see yourself how it was. There was also a live stream during the recording, and the whole thing was somewhat longer with preparations and closing of the show, but it will give you an idea of how it went. There were indeed a few rounds of free beers for the audience, and there was indeed this awesome dude with two joints for the hosts.
I enjoyed the show so much that I actually watched a few episodes back and will probably watch the new ones now and then. If have a very sensitive sense of humor, you should probably skip. All the rest – you’ll have a blast.