While I do have the longest-running Disney podcast, I’m by no means the *only* one doing it. There are hundreds of Disney fans with their own podcasts all trying to put together what we really wish Disney would release on their own.

It would absolutely encourage regulars to visit more often. I know because my show does just that. I often get feedback from listeners who say they’ve tried a new restaurant or taken a tour at Walt Disney World as a result of hearing about it on my show. They’ve been to the parks a million times but often overlooked certain aspects of it. It would make great business sense for Disney to take the best of Disney fan podcasts and make an official stab at it.

Our format works for us but might not work for everyone else. We do a quick news segment, a feature segment and then finish with “pet peeves and what’s cool”. The feature segment is what I really like. Over the last 66 episodes I’ve been lucky to interview some of the most interesting people in the M&E space. I have to think my favorite was the researcher in Brazil that created a program for cellphones that used bluetooth technology with one of the communities framework projects to communicate to EKG like sensors on a heart attack survivor. At the end of the broadcast he said some thing like unless we add our scientific thinking to what we can do with phones it’s just toys. Boy did that hit home.

So here are my suggestions for podcasting (mostly from Daniel and from an internal presentation I did a while back.)

Know your audience (and tarket for them)
Choose a format (we choose a host format but I really love Daniels NPR format)
Choose a frequency of publication (we’re weekly but occassionally biweekly)
Outline and initial set of recording.
Use your voice not a “radio” voice (you don’t have one unless you had one)
Prepare in advance (keeps the rambling down)
In person recordings are the best
Skype works great for remote interviews
Hire a professional editor (I can’t tell you how much this really saves us)
Do your own editing if you have to (but you’re not that good nor do you have the time)
Allow interview advance review
Review controversial items (be controversial but cautious)
Create a web presence
Create an RSS feed
Create something like Feedburner to publish
Submit your podcast to iTunes

Happy New Year,

D

Regards
Shane
twitter: shanearthur