I reconnected with a good friend, Stephen Hardiman, today. It’s fun to talk to Stephen because I always get juiced about something new and he has a way of taking my ideas and putting a new spin to them. Today was no exception. He summarized my description of the relationship between Podcast producers and Podcast consumers from my recent posts, Podcasting as a channel for two-way communication and Size matters, using the phrase “asynchronous intimacy”.

What a perfect and concise statement.

To me, the key points of asynchronous intimacy in Podcasting are:

• Podcasting is an asynchronous channel for communication
• Podcasters who extend themselves create an environment that facilitates and encourages two-way communication over the asynchronous channel
• Listeners value the power of permission-based media and the ability to have their voice heard
• A small and engaged community that is committed to its own success is stronger than a community based on numbers alone

Stephen will be my guest on Electric Sky this weekend. I am going to interview him about storytelling as a business tool.

About a month ago, Anders Holte Nielsen announced that he has discontinued development of his popular Counterize WordPress plugin, a plugin that summarizes and presents statistical information about a WordPress blog. Fortunately, he offered a solid alternative, the relatively young FireStats plugin by Omry Yadan.

I installed FireStats on two of my WordPress sites today. The installation was typically easy and the interface is slick with a collection of important statistical information. Even so, one of my FireStats installations came up with nice tabbed navigation interface, the other did not. I posted a comment on the FireStats Blog to report the problem. Omry was right on top of the post - he replied within fifteen minutes. The issue appears to be with the way the Sociable plugin applies javascript to the WordPress administrative interface, and Omry is tracking the problem as issue 51 in his ticket system.

If Omry can add a graphs tab that provides graphical representations of hits and visits by hour, day of week, day of month and month of year (current, average and running totals for these graphs would also be great) I would have no reason to operate any other statistical plugins. For icing on the cake, I would love it if FireStats had full featured statistical gathering for the PodPress plugin since PodPress has some unresolved bugs and development efforts seem to be stagnating.

This week, Bob Goyetche and I will be unveiling a new monthly segment on the Canadian Podcast Buffet - a round table discussion (tip of the hat to Ajay from All Axis Radio for the idea).

Our first round table is on pacing oneself and avoiding “Podcast Burnout”. Our guests will be Scarborough Dude (DicksnJanes) who took an extended period of Podcast relaxation this past summer, and Isabelle Michaud who has co-cancelled Broca’s Area, a Podcast that she felt was becoming more demanding and less fun to produce.

Yesterday I blogged about a key difference of Podcasting and traditional media; the accessibility of the personalities (Podcasting as a channel for two-way communication). That is, Podcasters are far more accessible, and engaged, than their counterparts in print and broadcast media. This is both good and bad. While this offers endless possibilities to engage an audience and develop the program together, it also presents a significant problem: how can you avoid being overwhelmed?

I believe that the answer is “manageable size”. Boasting a small and engaged community is far more desirable than an unknown community that’s based on numbers alone - especially if you’re on your own.

I’ve often heard music supergroups talk about the disconnection from their audience that mass fame brings. They talk fondly of the days when they played venues small enough that they were able to connect with the audience during the performance and mingle with them between sets. Success means playing arena shows to a sea of people you can’t see and can’t relate to.

If your community overwhelms you, the direct relationship with your audience, or your sanity, may suffer.

According to many people in the Podcast community, one of the greatest strengths of the medium is the two-way communication that it facilitates.  This is often presented as a unique feature of new media; one that is not enjoyed by traditional print and broadcast media.

I have a slightly different take on this.

There is nothing particular to the technology of Podcasting that makes it a better channel for two-way dialog.  In fact, in its current incarnation, Podcasting suffers from a greater challenge when it comes to breaking the “half-duplex” barrier.

Why is Podcasting such a marvel of communication, then?

Where traditional media has sheltered its personalities, either by choice or by accident, Podcasters have extended themselves to their audience.  Producers thrive on feedback and input, and consumers thrive on the power that is the permission-based culture, and the feeling of being a part of a community in which their voice can be heard.  The hobbyists have known this for a long time; businesses and traditional media are starting to figure this out.

I will be interviewed on CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning before 7:00am on Tuesday, November 28, about Just One More Book, a podcast about children’s books.

In this week’s episode of the Canadian Podcast Buffet, I reported that the interview would be Monday (November 27) which was true at the time we recorded the Buffet. The interview was rescheduled this afternoon.

A little off topic, and yet something of interest…

The New Music Strategies site is reporting that the major music labels are planning to abandon DRM. While the demise of DRM may sound like a rosey idea, you can bet that the industry is working on another model - the Son of DRM - as the site reports.

Hat tip: Michael Geist

Bill Deys (DeysCast, Country Music Cast) has launched a free forum service for Canadian Podcasters.  The site, known as Podcast Forum (www.PodcastForum.ca), allows registered Podcasts to independently administer their own forum.  In addition to show-specific forums, Bill has set up forums for topics including general discussion, gear/studio, software/editing, and meetups.

Perhaps the greatest feature of the site is that registered users can participate in all member forums using a single logon.

After a week of “official operation”, the site already hosts forums for Country Music Cast, DeysCast, I Beg To Differ, Online Music Marketing, The Twisted Wrist, and the Uncle Seth Podcast.

Thomas Dolby (She Blinded Me With Science) is producing video Podcasts which include live performance footage and brief discussions about his experiences in the studio.

Here’s hoping he talks about how he has written, crafted and recorded his music over the years!

The problem with virtual worlds is that they offer yet another venue for conflict.  In case you haven’t heard, Second Life has been hit with two problems in the last week, both of which threaten the economy and stability of this popular online world (‘Second Life’ faces threat to its virtual economy and ‘Second Life’ hit by worm).

What’s next?  Natural disasters, fires and declarations of war?

For businesses that invest heavily in Second Life, this is a wake up call to do your Threat Risk Assessments, and develop Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plans.  There may also be an opportunity for insurance companies to enter the play.