Conversations before code
Podcamp Ottawa started off with Jeff Parks giving yet another engaging discussion about podcasting. He talked about his mantra of give it for free. which has worked very well for him.
He has a vast collection of interviews which are popular globally, so popular that he has been invited to speak at conferences worldwide. He does not charge for his guest speaking engagements and his only request is for his conference pass and his travel expenses to be covered. It’s an opportunity of a life time to speak to all these individuals. His show is about the guest speaker and not about Jeff. Conversation is more important than technical expertise.
The big question was how does he then pay his bills? His popularity worldwide has lead to contracts which pay the bills.
He suggests focusing on the relationships and not the monetary aspects of podcasting. This will translate into passion which in turn will lead to making an income.
Quote “Memory is more important than reality.”
This was the setting for the discussion that followed.
Kristina Mausser of Digital Word gave an example of a typical marketing budget. Say a company has a budget of 10 thousand dollars they will typically spend about 7 thousand on brochures which don’t lead to any tangible business. By using podcasting or other social media you can create build build a relationship with your niche market.
She spoke about her time as the head of a marketing department for a specific geographic region. Her company printed borchures which were distributed within that region. This resulted in no business at all. She had to call the customers herself and develop the relationship with them by meeting with them in person. When it was month end she would call those customers to make some sales. So the key to her success was the relationships not the brochures. So podcasting is another way to build a relationship on a much lower budget.
If you are passionate about podcasting then the value you get is enormous.
Jeff parks talked about his recent interactions with a Grade 6 class, they have access to the same info. as us, however don’t have the experience we have.
Make your podcast available in various forms to your audience and let them pick the medium based on their preference. The french name for podcast is long and very technical so should the English term be used? The consensus was to use the shortened form of the french phrase.
Another way to describe podcasts to people is using the term internet radio as that is very easily understood.
Kids in Europe and Asia have have multiple mobile devices and use it more than we do in North America, this results in them using mobile devices to find info. vs the web.
Most organizations have a mandate to deliver to larger audiences on a smaller budget so podcasting and social media fit within these budgets.
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As I understand it, Jeff isn’t invited to speak at conferences. Rather, he is invited to User Experience conferences as a podcaster/journalist with expertise in the field. His expenses are covered so that he can attend the conferences, record and publish speaking sessions and interview the speakers and panelists.