I find the quest to be interesting for more than 12-hours quite exhausting. Last night, I passed up a pool party and dinner with Shel, Terry and others to hit the sack early. I spent most of today just interviewing people and finally getting a chance to play with the toys that the exhibitors were showcasing.

I met many people, too many to count, but I will provide a separate entry on my impressions of Scott Bourne, Robert Scoble, Paul Colligan and Bruce Murray (whom I think is the sweetest podcaster out there right now – and he’s Canadian).

As I sit here at the airport waiting for my flight, I’m struck by the enthusiasm I felt at the Expo. It’s one of the first times I’ve travelled to a conference without a feeling of apprehension that once I got there, I’d feel so alone. As soon as I reached my hotel, I was already making plans to meet up with CC, Julien, John and a few others.

My blog and my podcast have helped me to find friends in distant places. But more than that, social media has given me a place in both blogosphere and podosphere. My voice and my thoughts are recognized in this space. Social media has allowed me to shape the very image I want others to have of me. Thankfully, that image reflects who I am – my authentic self.

Even while at the Expo, I continued to feel the warmth and friendliness from everyone there – whether they were podcasting pros or neophytes. People who have been podcasting for a long time were more than happy to tell a newbie the tips and tricks on how to record properly, or how to interview with confidence.

I met many who were so enthusiastic about podcasting, that they bought an audio recorder at the show and stopped me and other speakers just to get a 3-minute interview. This is encouraging as it shows that podcasting is only going to get bigger and better.

The tools that I discovered at the show also gave me hope that podcasting could only grow from here. Gigavox just launched a tool that will help podcast producers lessen the amount of time they spend editing a recording.

I met another group who is releasing a product called Podcast Link that enables podcast listeners to download their favourite podcasts without using a computer. The president of the company even told me that his product passed the “grandma test” as his grandmother is able to use the product with ease.

Yet, as I look around this airport, reality settles in. Now that I’m off the podisland and back into the real world, I’m overwhelmed by the amount of work the podcasting community still has to do to educate the masses as to what podcasting is.

I can’t wait for the day when I no longer have to hear, “What’s a podcast?” I look forward to the day when the seats are filled with people who are beyond the podcasting 101 stage. I’m anxious to start having those discussions that take us well beyond the “What gear are you using?” to “What strategy are you using?”

I hope my pilot had more sleep than I.

Technorati: pme, podcast expo 2006, podcasting