MWGblog

It has certainly been a busy week for award related announcements at GrapeRadio. This morning it was revealed that GrapeRadio is a recipient of the 2008 American Wine Blog Award in the best podcast or videoblog category.

Just as with last week’s announcement of nomination for the James Beard Foundation Award, my congratulations once again go out to my hard working partners at GrapeRadio. Great work guys!

For the second year in a row GrapeRadio.com has been named as a finalist for the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award. To put it in perspective, this is kind of like finding out the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences likes your “little” movie. We have been selected this year in the category of Video and Webcasting for our short documentary: Stewards of the Land.

The credit for recognition such as this belongs to my partners in the enterprise: Brian, Jay and Eric who do the day to day heavy lifting that makes GrapeRadio what it is.

Knitting may not be your thing, but the production quality of Let’s Knit2gether is amazing. We just published an audio presentation by the creator’s of the series on Podcast Academy. Want to see pro style video on the web done right? Check out Let’s Knit2gether.

Before I start, so as to avoid any confusion or misrepresentation, I feel it incumbent upon myself to once again clarify: I am bullish on podcasting. I’ve published two books on the subject [1,2], run paid live training events, presented as a speaker countless times, become a “go-to” podcasting pundit for major media, built and sold podcasting technology, run the oldest podcasting network in existence and made my entire living from podcasting since early 2005. I am among podcasting’s biggest proponents. The opportunities in podcasting are alive and well. That said, I also don’t wear rose colored glasses. I call things as I see them.

Podcasters, it is time you face the facts. If you are waiting for a podcast advertising service to ride in on a white horse and rescue you from your monetary woes, let me help you: start looking elsewhere.

This all started because of a conversation I had a few weeks back where I had the unique opportunity to have podcasting explained to me. The fellow who was running through the monetization options made advertising through ad sales networks sound like a guaranteed no brainer - an easy way to monetize. The whole time I sat there, knowing what I know, thinking this is like telling people to cash in now on garage sales while the gold rush is on.

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Amazing presentation from TED 2008 by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. How often does a neuroanatomist get a chance to study their own stroke from the inside out? A touching story, great education on how the two halves of the brain function and an example of someone who knows how to give a captivating presentation. A standing ovation is always a good thing. Take the time to watch this one.

Todd Cochrane and RawVoice posted a “white paper” regarding their statistics model today. I’ll save you the time. Skip it.

While I hoped it would shed some light on the statistics model they have repeatedly lauded over the last few years, truth be told it reads more as a “we know best” sales letter. Perhaps I am reading more into it than it deserves, but it appears Todd & Co are positioning themselves for a showdown with the ADM and others over metrics models. My guess is that with the recent updates to the Libsyn statistics engine the team at RawVoice would like to get out in front of the statistics issue, perhaps this was part of that strategy.

The folks at RawVoice can do better. They have some smart people on the team and I have no doubt that they have collected some interesting data and metrics. If their goal was to release a “white paper” then do a real one with the corresponding algorithms, detailed methodology, historic data, etc. Sure they have a paragraph or two with some examples, but a “white paper” it is not.

As a general observation I have always been a bit wary of the secretive aspects of RawVoice and their various media properties. The numbers are always generic - lots of fanfare but never any specifics. If they are doing what they claim why the secrecy? Mainstream media doesn’t even protect this info. It is easy to find out what a SuperBowl, TV series or radio ad costs. Why are RawVoice campaigns so different? Obviously it is their prerogative to keep it all buttoned up if they wish, I just find it interesting that in the open world of new media, CPM and CPA campaign numbers are so guarded.

Of course this is from the guy who has been doing public presentations for the last three years telling you exactly what we charge for sponsorships and how we sell them. I see no advantage to being secretive about it, no more so than hiding the cost of a gallon of gasoline. Things cost what they cost, no big deal.

As for the RawVoice white paper, I hope they’ll take another look at it and put out a proper one. In the long run I think it will do RawVoice and podcasting some good.

If you’d like to keep up to date with everything going on please follow me on Twitter. When I first set up my blogs I spent a bunch of time setting up “Asides,” basically short quips and interesting facts I could easily post to the sites. In recent months Twitter has emerged as the superior vehicle for micro-blogging and replaced my need for Asides here on the sites. So what should you do? Follow me.

I attended a conference this past weekend and had the unique opportunity to have podcasting explained to me a few times by fellow attendees. Since having sold the GigaVox production platform to Podango last fall, and now that our third child has arrived I am on the hunt for what I will do next. As part of my investigation I ponied up $3,000 to spend 3 days immersed at an industry conference in one of the businesses I’m researching. I did not know a single person at this conference nor did they know me or have any idea of my background, connection to, or involvement with podcasting.

As is usual with conferences, you learn a lot, but the real action is in the halls and cocktail lounges. I joined a group of about 10 in one of the lounges and the subject of podcasting came up. Two of the folks present were hot on the topic and went on to explain it to the entire group. Where they felt podcasting worked, where the opportunities for marketing and monetization were and how to best use the medium. It was absolutely fascinating! Even better, it happened a few more times throughout the conference.

I learned a lot about how people who are new to the podcasting medium view it as opposed to those of us who have shepherded it along since the late summer of 2004. While intellectually I have always understood some of these ideas, I have never had them explained to me as “fact.” If you think about it, most of the conferences I go to, people are talking to me after I’ve given a presentation or been on a panel, etc., their comments and questions are shaped by the dynamic established by the conference: “presenter - attendee.”

I have never been in the position to have anyone be the “expert” and explain podcasting to me. As a result of what I learned this past weekend I have modified some of my presentations. Clearly people new to the podcasting game have a very different approach to podcasting, and while I was definitely on the right track for connecting with them in my presentations, it is now crystal clear to me where I can better refine my presentations. My goal when speaking/presenting is always to connect with the largest segment of the audience possible and give them the take away value they deserve. Whether or not I pursue the business I was researching at the conference, the information I gathered and how it can improve my own presentations on podcasting and new media was well worth the price of admission.

So the lesson for podcasting experts and consultants: when given the opportunity to discuss podcasting among folks that don’t know your background, hold your tongue! Everyone will be duly impressed by your expertise and credentials, etc., by the end of the conversation, but you get the real take away value by waiting and quietly listening at first.

So what did I learn? Well, that cost me $3,000, so I’m going to hold on to it for now. I can tell you that it reaffirms the things I’ve been thinking about regarding where this is all going and it has definitely helped to crystalize how I can best communicate it to people who have little or no experience with podcasting and new media.

I Twittered a few days ago that I am going to attend PodCamp New York this year. Tim Bourquin and I each won round trip tickets on Virgin America at CES and they need to be used by the end of May. We figured a trip to New York was in order and that PodCamp was the right place at the right time.

I’ve had a few private emails asking what I’ll be presenting on. Truth be told, my goal is just to go, no heavy lifting, no Keynote/Powerpoint presentation, I just want to take it all in. PodCamp is a different animal, and the open speaker registration is a great opportunity for those who are “fresh” voices to have their chance to get in front of the room and do their thing. Just looking at the registration list shows I have a ton of “Podcasting Pals” attending and I am looking forward to the camaraderie and catching up with old friends. Maybe we’ll do a dinner or special event. We’ll keep everyone posted.

I accepted an invitation to speak again this year at NAB. I’ll be doing a session and a panel for the Podcasting Summit:

• Growing Your Audience
• Making It: Lessons Learned on the Path to Podcasting Success

You can see the entire schedule here. I’ve participated as a speaker at this event for the last three years. It has always proven to be a good learning event and one to check out if you’ll be at NAB.

BIAS Peak Pro 6 has officially been released. It updates the popular audio editing, processing and mastering application with many new features including specific podcasting features such as the ability to author and upload podcasts directly from within Peak. I am a long time user of the Peak Pro product and have been running it in Beta since last April. If it is any indication of my enthusiasm for the new product, I’ve used it exclusively as my audio editor since last summer.