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The original Podshow contracts will be coming up for renewal in the coming months. If the rumour mill is accurate, we should expect a mass exodus of podcasters from the network. This will light up the ‘glass is half-empty’ folks, giving them something else to point to as being a sign of the end of podcasting.
The rumoured exodus of podcasters from Podshow speaks to the management style of the network and not the state of the medium. Many of the originals are still podcasting and, if the rumour mill is to be believed, those who aren’t have stopped because of their experiences. I’d guess that those who have put their podcasts on hold have done so to ride out restrictive and unrewarding contracts.
Podshow had great ideas and a lot of money to spend on them. There’s been a lot of opportunity for the company to innovate not only for itself, but for the podcast community at large. They used some of that money to develop the podshow site (which looks eerily like the manic sites of the mainstream media networks that Podshow was trying to distinguish itself from). There are many ways the money could have been spent (hindsight is 20-20 and it’s easy to be a critic, right?). From where I sit, Podshow’s single greatest asset is the Podsafe Music Network; a good resource that stemmed from a great idea. A little more thought, energy and money could have made it amazing.
Don’t be alarmed as news of an exodus from Podshow unfolds. Many companies make mistakes (think Apple before the second coming of Steve Jobs); many industries take their lumps (think the bursting of the dot com bubble in the late 90’s). That doesn’t mean the companies and the industries won’t thrive in the end.
Though I don’t have the facts and figures in front of me, I’ve been told and have experienced for many years that the winter months are mentally and emotionally hard on a lot of people; the reduced hours of daylight, the long stretches between holiday weekends, the increased workload and the absence of neighbours (people you see regularly during the summer months).
Similarly, in social media, there’s frequently long periods of silence on blogs, podcast and social networking sites that can wear us down. Sometimes those silences can be understood. In most cases they happen for no apparent reason.
Your challenge for this week is to accept these periods of quiet as opportunities to take pressure off of yourself instead of stepping it up. And, knowing that those silences can be deafening, take a few minutes to comment on one blog you follow closely and another that you’ve just discovered. Make the comment strong and on topic to make the site’s creator feel that their content means something to you.
If you have any questions feel free to email me, markblevis@gmail.com. Your next challenge will be available next week at markblevis.com.
Early-bird registration for the 2008 edition of Podcasters Across Borders is now open.
From Sunday, January 27 through Saturday, February 2, you can register to attend PAB2008 for the low rate of CDN$90/person. This offer is available for one week only (or until the event reaches capacity). Space permitting, regular registration will begin on March 15 at a rate of CDN$125/person.
The Canadian Podcast Buffet website database problems have been fixed, so episode 88 is now available where it should be.
By the way, the database fix also corrected a problem we had with the CPB page of the iTunes Music Store; shows have been appearing and downloads failing since episode 83.
You may have noticed that episode 88 of the Canadian Podcast Buffet is two days late. We’re having database problems on the CPB website and have been unable to publish the show. So, I’ve decided to post it here to limit the show’s delay.
By the way… We’ve also discovered that the CPB on the iTunes Music Store is stuck around episode 83. This means that if you’ve subscribed to the Buffet through the iTunes Music Store, you haven’t picked up anything since November 29. We’re looking into that, too.
NEWS & COMMENTARY
EVENTS
TALK OF THE WEEK
AUDIO DESSERT
EXTRO AND CONTACT INFO
CPB-088: The early bird gets the deal, dealing with criticism and tips from a pro [24:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadOne thing many podcasters will tell you they like about their hobby is the opportunities is creates to connect with people. That could be the host of a podcast connecting with the listener, co-hosts that share a vibe, an impromptu discussion with someone on the street, or a planned interview with a friend or celebrity. Done well, you’ll invite your listener into The Zone – to borrow baseball parlance – and that’ll keep your audience coming back.
Your challenge this week is to incorporate a co-host or guest in your show and take advantage of the opportunity to connect with that person. You may not find The Zone in your first attempt. It can take some practice to find the right balance of speaking, modulating your voice, pacing your words, tapping into the energy of the moment and, most importantly… listening.
If you have any questions feel free to email me, markblevis@gmail.com. Your next challenge will be available next week at markblevis.com.
It’s an honour to be a guest of Sean McGaughey’s podcast, For the Sake of the Song, this week.
I had largely forgotten about the details of the conversation since the recording was made in early July. It’s a very relaxed discussion about my long (and still) delayed music CD, inspirations, podcasting and mix tapes (remember those?).
Thanks, Sean!
In an interview with Australia’s TV3 yesterday, Sting said that The Police reunion tour is the antidote that both the band and fans needed put closure to the disintegration of the band twenty-four years ago.
I suppose the suggestion is that the tour fulfills Sting’s commitment to the band, and the band’s commitment to its fans.
On many levels I like the idea that the tour will put a bow on their career and we can all get on with our lives. Yet, part of me feels that the commercial music industry is no longer able to generate strong characters and music. Record companies have become more and more dependent on the acts of yesterday — the acts that can actually write, arrange, record and perform; bands like The Police, Genesis, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen (seeing a pattern here??) — to keep the industry alive. In that respect, The Police breathed new life into an otherwise quiet touring industry.
Which means that if The Police don’t go back to the studio after their reunion tour, the industry is living on borrowed time.
I’m probably the last person in the world to figure out that Gmail is pretty smart with the way it handles events embedded within email messages; even multiple events. The fact is, I probably never paid attention to the the right-hand column of the page when I read my email because I figured that I was being presented with advertising I wasn’t interested in.
It turns out that Gmail has the intelligence to identify date and time relevant text in an email message and offers you the ability to add, separately, any number of events identified in the email to your Google Calendar (click here to see an image).
New media consulting and audio productions for traditional and Internet-based distribution including narrative, interview, documentary, conference coverage and promotional programs. Our podcasting experts and new media specialists will help you take your brand and message to the world.
PAB2008, the third annual international podcasting extravaganza, will be taking place in Kingston, Ontario (Canada) on June 20-22, 2008.
I served as bass player for various, early, incarnations of the Robert Farrell Band, last performing with Robert in 1997. After a long hiaitus from music to focus on family and a career, I started working on my first CD, real, in 2004 — before I discovered Podcasting.
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