MWGblog

Grape Radio got some nice local Los Angeles television coverage today.

What does “subscribe to a podcast” mean to the average person? I learned tonight that it is confusing to the newcomer.

I was having a conversation with a thoughtful and smart entrepreneur friend of mine. We discussed podcasting and he asked a few questions as a new Mac user. He wanted to know if he could right click on a podcast link to have it automatically download and queue to load on his iPod. I admitted that functionality did not exist without additional tools or steps but that he could just click the “one click subscribe” button. He said “yes, but what if I don’t want to subscribe.” We had a disconnect. “Why don’t you want to subscribe?” He said he didn’t want to give his person information just to get a podcast. Wow! I was inside the bubble and he was outside. I knew “podcasting” sometimes caused the “I don’t own an iPod” response, but I had missed the subscribe issue.

Lesson: smart people who are new to podcasting still find the terms confusing and off-putting. Easy to say it is their problem, but if you are building a business in podcasting – this is our problem.

For a good description of what we are up to with GigaVox Media, take a listen to this interview with my co-founder, Doug Kaye. [Link]

I sold my insurance businesses almost 18 months ago. While every now and again I get a relevant email at the old email addresses, it is almost always from folks who are not up to date with my endeavors. After almost ten years with these email addresses it is hard to drop them. That said, I got tired of the Spam repositories these mailboxes have become. Too much work for the rare relevant email. So, I decided to delete them. If you wonder why I have not replied to your email check the email address. Try the “Contact” tab at the top of the site.

I accepted an invitation to speak at CES this year. Looks to be an interesting panel along with friends, Eric Schwartzman, Jason Van Orden and moderated by Tim Bourquin. It is an important topic: Audio and Video Podcasting: The Right Way To Use This Medium for Marketing. That plus the Las Vegas location made it a no brainer. I’ve been to CES a few times and always had a great time. [Link]

MommyCast, which PodShow once dubbed a “premier podcast” on its network, has parted ways with the company after only a year.

In doing some research for a presentation on podcast monetization I decided to include content on MommyCast and their reported $100,000 to $200,000 Dixie sponsorship deal. When looking at their site, I noticed I couldn’t find a mention of PodShow anywhere. I quickly checked on the PodShow network and noticed that their MommyCast content was ancient. I sent off a quick email to the producers of MommyCast with my observations and asked if something had happened. The email back said:

With respect to any announcement regarding Podshow: we have concluded our relationship with them, and wish them only the best.

Interesting.

Update: To ensure there is no mischaracterization, I received a very cordial and friendly email in response from MommyCast. The quote above was their statement regarding my question about the relationship with PodShow.

I have decided that for the two year anniversary of Reel Reviews, it is time to tackle one of my all time favorites: Seven Samurai. For a film guy, this is a big deal; to take on one of the all time greatest films is a commitment. I’ll post it on October 17th, the two-year anniversary of my entry into podcasting. Curious how the whole thing started? Here is the first edition of Reel Reviews: Sam Peckinpah’s original, The Getaway. Unlike many, I have kept up every show, including the always embarrassing #1.

Since I was feeling a little nostalgic - here is my first appearance on the Daily Source Code from September 15th 2004. As you might guess, I am asking audio quality questions.

By the way, anyone want to hear DSC #1? Being early to the podcast game means I have most podcast pioneer’s episode #1. Last week Dave Slusher and I ended up having a great discussion with some folks at the Portable Media Expo explaining the history of podcasting. It is a bit weird to be an authority on the real history of podcasting. I must say, as exciting as it is now, it was also a great time when it was a small community.

Update: OK, so I got delayed. What else is new? I ordered some new gear for the podcast studio and it has not arrived yet. It is something I’d like to use on this episode. Please be patient.

It has been one week since we debuted The Levelator™ and to say we are pleased is an understatement. The response has been overwhelming! With kudos and claims of “hit of the Expo” and “best new software” from folks like Robert Scoble, Leo Laporte, Jake Ludington, Scott Bourne, Rocketboom, Paul Colligan and many, many others it can get a bit heady. Let me take a step back and explain The Levelator™ for the uninitiated; what it does and why we made it freely available.

The Levelator™ solves a common problem for podcasters: recordings with participants at various levels. Whether this is a multi-mic setup such as a panel discussion, a single mic interview with multiple people, a “double”/”multiple” ender or the infamous Skype recording. With one fell swoop of the drag and drop, The Levelator™ will take a Wav or Aiff file and “level” all those various speakers. Here is a quick example:

Notice that the middle section is severely reduced. In this case I turned and stepped away from the microphone. The lead and end levels are me speaking directly into the microphone. I took this file and with no other audio manipulation dropped it on The Levelator™. The Result:

Now fixing a single segment like this is easy with standard tools, but imagine if this were a forty-five minute interview. Now you understand the power of The Levelator™. I took a sample file that originally took me 3 hours to fix, and The Levelator™ brought it up to broadcast/podcast standards in a minute and a half. Pretty incredible. Many see The Levelator™ and assume that is is doing normalization. While that feature is a step in the process there is much more going on. For a technical description check out Doug Kaye’s explanation. Also, please check out The Levelator™ forums.

So why has GigaVox made this available for free for non-commercial use? As many know, GigaVox Media is the parent company of IT Conversations and our other podcast channels. Currently, we have 1400+ active podcast episodes on our network and that number is growing every day. What many do not know is that in order to run a network and production team of 55 plus people we needed to implement innovative tools and solutions to automate the production workflow. Our three years of experience and development clearly establishes us at the premier podcast technoloogy company. Simply put, while others have interesting ideas, no one has the hard earned and tried and true technology that we have developed. Whether it is the monster Content Management System/Audio Assembly System that runs the entire network that allows us to inject sponsor messages into any and or all episodes with the click of a button, our recently debuted GigaVox Media Audio Lite, our coming video technology or the tools we give to our audio engineers such as The Levelator™, we are the podcast technology leader. We gave The Levelator™ out as an example. It is an amazing tool and one we hope will help podcasters make better podcasts. For those who are curious, you should see what we keep behind the curtain…

Download The Levelator here.

It has been bouncing back and forth on Feedburner for the last few days, but it seems this humble little blog has crossed the 5000 subscriber mark. Thank you to all who pay attention!

Last week at the Podcast Expo, I was greeted with a common problem, gadget envy. I try to keep myself on the other end of this issue, but in this case I was toast. My friends John Furrier and Leo Laporte each whipped out Sanyo Xacti HD1a’s, a hand held camcorder. Not the greatest video camera on the planet when it comes to quality, but it has a particular feature that puts it over the top and was the reason I bought: It fits in your pocket. This thing is tiny, does SD and HD and easily fits in your front pocket. For me - that sells. If it requires a bag I’ll never use it, when I can slip it in my pocket, it becomes attractive. Look for video coming to the site soon. I’ve spent the last few days familiarizing myself with the controls. Fun little device.