Podcast Academy Boston: Day 1
I listen almost exclusively to podcasts. (First myth: you do NOT need an Apple iPod to listen to podcasts. According to Ethan Fasset of Yahoo!, 60% of podcasts are listend to at people’s desks.)
The mix of shows I like ranges from stuff two guys put together over at a comic shop, to professional quality productions like c|net’s Buzz Out Loud. I listen to a LOT of content from a network called IT Conversations, part of the conversations network. The last of these is the business of Doug Kaye, and the Podcast Academy is his baby.
Doug put together quite an agenda. So far, we’ve heard from Dan Bricklin, creator of VisiCalc, Trellix, and big time audio enthusiast. We heard from Paul Figgiana, Doug’s right hand man, but also publisher of The Point podcast. We got some great information from the guy behind Grape Radio, Michael Geoghegan. Did I mention we heard from Tony Kahn from WGBH and PRI’s The World show? (He was extra special). I’ll stop naming people. The list of presenters is here.
The conversations started out around the basics, the hardware, and then the passion. We then went into some of the business ideas, and there was a lively panel discussion as well. Ethan Fasset from Yahoo! was there talking about Yahoo! Podcasts, which is a great little service if you haven’t tried it out.
What I’ve Taken Away
So far, here’s what I’m thinking. Podcasting (audio and/or video) is a new revolution. It is where websites were back in 1996. People were getting filthy rich helping others develop web pages. There were some silly things, but there were some great things. I think podcasting and not web 2.0 is the next wave.
My plan, and the business model that I’m rapidly working on over the next couple of days, is to help corporations and organizations find ways to communicate their stories, within the organization (such as training material), outside the organization, such as pieces about who builds the widgets you use, and also, from the outside looking in (Hey engineers! Here’s your customer base!).
I’ve met some great people at this event, including Eric Olsen from Feedburner. They publish the RSS feed to my site. If you haven’t subscribed, here it is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/chrisbrogandotcom . I’ve talked with educators, business people, marketers, and lots of independent podcasters who just really love the medium. I can see why.
But hey, don’t take my word for it. Listen to the shows here. They’re all archived. Extra points if you can hear when I get the microphone for questions.
The next Podcast Academy will be held in Santa Clara, California, and it will cost $275. If you register early, you can save some money. I strongly recommend that you attend. The networking value alone is excellent, but the experience so far has been phenomenal.
Podcasting here I come.
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Perhaps podcasting and Web 2.0 are two sides of the same dice (die?), Chris. If Web 2.0 is user-centric content, there’s little more user-centric content than a podcast.
I like the idea you allude to above of microvideo, the ubiquitous video explanations, training and communication that could take place in businesses. Nothing will ever replace the humanity of face-to-face communication, but a series of mini-videos could go a long way toward summarizing key points in an easily-digestible, memorable way.
As a former industrial video producer, I dig your vision. As a current web video producer, I see the emergence of a market.