Congratulations to Alexandra Clark for winning an iPad as part of our sponsorship of Podcamp Toronto. The RawVoice / Blubrry.com team is excited to be able to send Alexandra the latest device to be released by Apple. Alexandra was one of many Podcamp Toronto attendees who talked to our two representatives about Blubrry.com and the exciting opportunities we make available to podcasters within the community.

RawVoice / Blubrry.com is committed to supporting podcamps. Keep an eye out for one of our team members at upcoming podcamps for your chance to win!

If you attended PodCamp Toronto 2010 and did not get a chance to talk with Jeff or Angelo for details how to win an iPad, please contact us before this Wednesday, February 24th for details.

We will be drawing a winner Wednesday evening at about 7pm and will announce the winner both on our blog and on our twitter @blubrry stream.

We wanted to thank everyone who attended and helped make  PodCamp Toronto 2010 a success! Both Jeff and Angelo had a wonderful time connecting and learning from everyone this weekend.

PodCamp Toronto is around the corner, eh! Blubrry.com is a proud sponsor of PodCamp Toronto, Feb. 20-21 in Toronto, Canada.  Blubrry’s Jeff Hinz and Angelo Mandato will be there, so stop by our table and say “Hello” and share some lively conversation and valuable podcasting information. Oh, yeah, and get some cool free stuff while you’re at it! Be sure and come to Angelo’s session, “WordPress and Podcasting Sitting in a Tree . . . ”

PodCamp Toronto is a great place to catch up with friends in the podcasting community and to meet and learn from other bloggers and podcasters. Can’t wait to see ya there!

At Blubrry.com, our team members are podcasters and we understand the importance of building your own brand on your own website. Far too many media creators start their shows on services that lock them in, with no ability to grow. Thursday, Feb. 11, I completed my 551st show at Geek News Central and, while I have been podcasting since 2004, I am always looking at ways to increase my number of listeners and viewers. The show could not have evolved into what it is today without the flexibility to use and adopt new tools.

At Blubrry.com, we integrated our free statistics and podcast hosting media uploader into PowerPress, our Podcast Plugin for WordPress, to save you time and allow you to focus on creating media — and build your brand — without being locked into a rigid hosting service. Sure, the attraction of free hosting is often too great for people to resist, especially in this economy. However, many of these folks are saving a small amount of money each month and essentially allowing the soul of their show to be locked into someone else’s vision.

Not us. Take Geek News Central for example: During the past five years I have had three new template designs; I added a variety of plugins to support the fast-changing social media scene; and I have been able to add new content channels at will. Many of the features we have added to PowerPress were driven by the podcast community at large and my own desire to grow my show and explore new horizons.

Five years ago, we  podcasters had it tough: nearly everything had to be done by hand. Heck, some content creators are still writing their RSS feeds by hand. I don’t have time for that and I’m pretty sure you don’t either. I love the ability to publish my show in three steps:

• Write the Blog Post
• Upload the Media from my Weblog
• Push Publish

You can’t get any easier than that. Keep in mind that in addition to quick and easy publishing, you are controlling your site, your image, your content  . . . and you never have to worry that the company that hosts your website will go out of business.

It all adds up: WordPress + PowerPress + Blubrry Podcast Hosting + Blubrry Podcast Advertising Services + All of our Great Tools = One heck of a winning combination that no other new media company can offer!