Changes to the Podcast

I want to share with you some changes that are coming to the podcast. Something we've discussed since the beginning is quality. The aim is to create a podcast that supports the main goals of the site. That is to help people improve their craft by staying current and learning new things.

If you haven't heard the podcast you can tune in at http://podcast.talentopoly.com. There's also an RSS and iTunes feed. If you enjoy Instacast you can find us on there too.

Doing a better job

I think we can do a better job. We've done 22 podcasts to date and each one has been unique. It's been a learning experience for me. Before this podcast my only experience had been as a guest on 8IFY. Along the way I think I've begun to understand some of things that are working and a few things that don't.

More guests (and cow bell)

Having guests on the show is both a lot of fun and a boon to traffic. Our most listened to episode was not surprisingly the one we did with Rogie King. Guests bring a fresh perspective and new listeners. We get a chance to interview them in a candid, relaxed setting. Rogie and Cameron both appreciated that the questions aren't scripted and having a drink during the show doesn't hurt either. So the first thing we're going to do is have at least one guest a month on the podcast.

Biweekly episodes

Having a podcast to discuss some of the most interesting links posted on Talentopoly is yet another source for consuming the content on the site. For those that commute or don't have time to read the links being posted on the site I hope the podcast offers a good alternative. The problem is that doing a podcast with 8 - 10 links to discuss each week means we don't have time to research them in any meaningful depth. So we're going to try doing a deep dive on each link we plan to discuss. To manage this we're going to tackle fewer links and move to a biweekly schedule where we record an episode every other week. Hopefully we'll be able to describe and discuss the links at a level of detail that people find valuable.

Shelving live streaming (for now)

We don't always record at the same time, which makes it hard to schedule a live show. Live streaming also adds a layer of technical complexity. We had a few technical glitches including an annoying echo in the two recordings we live streamed. So we're going to put live streaming on the shelf for the time being. That doesn't mean that we won't revisit it down the road. It just means that for now we're going to focus on some other aspects of the podcast first.

tl;dr

• Focus on quality
• Expect more expert guests
• We'll play with and really research the links we plan to discuss
• As a result the podcast will be every other week
• And we're going to discuss fewer links