http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog Once cool, Kris and Betsy are now living on a cul de sac and breeding. This is not your typical husband and wife show. Betsy really should be on the road making mad cash but that would interfere with breastfeeding. Podcasting for Download M-W-F by 3:00 P.M. CST. Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:42:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 . . . that I have this blog. With the other sites, podcasts and duties I am rarely here these days. And when people look me up through search, well, here you are. So, if you were expecting the Kris Smith [1] that podcasts, you’ve found that one. More information can be found about me at one of these places: Podcast and Blog: Croncast [2] LinkedIn: My profile [3] Work: VP, Product Development, BlogTalkRadio.com [4] Consulting: Palegroove [5] [6] Photo Credit: Daniel Alexander/FramesMedia.com [7] [1] http://croncast.com [2] http://www.croncast.com [3] http://www.linkedin.com/in/ksmith [4] http://blogtalkradio.com [5] http://www.palegroove.com [6] http://www.linkedin.com/in/ksmith [7] http://FramesMedia.com http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=429 Since November of 2004 Betsy and I have been cranking out Croncast [1] at least 3 times a week. We’re making our way to our 500th show in a couple months and we never expected to. It’s been an interesting ride! We’ve made many friends, traveled quite a bit and Betsy has more people who think she’s fabulous and funny. I think has become her life’s mission as she now proclaims that she is a ’stay at home comedian’. There’s something to be said for sticking to a project and making the most of it. Even if it takes a lot longer to get there than you thought it would in the first place. Yes, the old shows don’t sound that great but they are all part of the story! [1] http://www.croncast.com http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=428 As the year comes to an end I thought I would close it out with a big “Thank You” to everyone that I come to know over the past year and to all the friends that have been there for me. This year has been a bit of a roller coaster marked by life lesson after life lesson. What’s a life lesson? A ‘life lesson’ is one of those moments when you realize that the decisions you made got you to a situation, a place that you are going to have to work your way out of. Life lessons generally aren’t very pleasant when you are working your way out of them. However, with that said, I call these experiences life lessons because when it is all worked out I’ve got a new perspective to move forward with. Big life lessons from year include: 1) If you make ‘extra money’ have an investment plan for it, ahem 2) Get a better tax accountant 3) When signing a contract it has to feel ‘right’, if not walk away 4) Podcasting three times a week is tough [1], but good for me 5) Not everyone in social networks is a friend 6) Be thankful for what I have, I worked hard to get it 7) Family comes first, being funny comes second 8) Swallowing my pride is hard but required sometimes 9) 2008 will be full of more life lessons [1] http://www.croncast.com http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=427 This year at Gnomedex I participated in the conversation with a few other folks off the trodden path in a quiet room. Some of those in attendance were Mark Chernesky [1], Chris Brogan [2], Greg Cangialosi [3], some more friends and a couple ridiculously large cruise ships outside the window. The payoff for hanging out in this side room were the great conversations that we had about new media, emerging media, blog networks, new search spidering and mainstream media acceptance of emerging media techniques (they’re more nimble than you think). Fortunately, I had brought my mobile studio gear and recorded 14 podcasts from the time in that room. Enjoy! CTC Podcasts from Gnomedex 2007: Adam Metz - LaunchSquad.com [4] Hans Chung - PostReach.com [5] Steve Fisher - StartupSpark.com pt. 1 [6] Steve Fisher - StartupSpark.com pt. 2 [7] Greg Cangialosi - BlueSkyFactory.com [8] Doug Kaye - Gigavox.com [9] Chris Brogan - ChrisBrogan.com [10] Mark Chernesky - CNN.com [11] Jeremy Wright - b5media.com [12] Aaron Brazell - b5media.com [13] Stan James - Lijit.com [14] Josh Hallett - hyku.com [15] Chris Heuer - ChrisHeuer.com [16] Greg shot some great video of about 4 of the podcasts. You can watch my not so secret show intro laugh that I usually cut from every show. Here’s a sample (if you can’t see the video click here [17]): [1] http://timeshifted.org/blog [2] http://chrisbrogan.com [3] http://thetrendjunkie.com [4] http://www.ctcblog.com/postctc/935/ [5] http://www.ctcblog.com/postctc/936/ [6] http://www.ctcblog.com/postctc/937/ [7] http://www.ctcblog.com/postctc/938/ [8] http://www.ctcblog.com/postctc/939/ [9] http://www.ctcblog.com/postctc/940/ [10] http://www.ctcblog.com/postctc/941/ [11] http://www.ctcblog.com/postctc/942/ [12] http://www.ctcblog.com/postctc/943/ [13] http://www.ctcblog.com/postctc/944/ [14] http://www.ctcblog.com/postctc/945/ [15] http://www.ctcblog.com/postctc/946/ [16] http://www.ctcblog.com/postctc/947/ [17] http://blip.tv/file/336108 http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=426 Kristopher Smith http://linkedin.com/in/ksmith Naperville, IL 60565 (630) 445-1719 ● kris[at]palegroove.com Career Objective A leadership position with a company interested in benefiting from the opportunities presented by leading edge new media technologies where a commitment to innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit is recognized and rewarded. Qualifications Summary: Accomplished entrepreneur and industry leader with a demonstrated history of success integrating new media technologies into existing platforms and campaigns for Fortune 500 companies. Combined expertise in RSS and podcast development with an extended network of relationships with independent, corporate and mainstream media. Developed and licensed Castlock, a robust new media management and RSS metrics platform that enables users to manage large libraries of content and maintain statistics privately. Professional Experience Room 214, Boulder, Colorado ● 1/2007-11/2007 Vice President, New Media Leadership force for product development within an organization that integrates new media, public relations efforts, web marketing methodologies and technologies under cohesive systems that drive measurable calls to action via the Internet. Company services were solicited from some of the most recognized PR firms and creative agencies to positively impact corporate sales, brand awareness and communications. Major Contributions: Developed moderated media RSS feeds (mmRSS) for episodic and archived content delivery via RSS Orchestrated product development and integration of emerging technologies such as Twitter and other social media API’s into Castlock, a robust new media management and RSS metrics platform Created and delivered new products from the Castlock code base, RSSignite and Episodr Spearheaded integration of new media including podcasting and RSS into new client product offerings and marketing campaigns Invigorated existing client marketing campaigns with new media elements Directed digital media production from concept to final deliverable Initiated research and development for RSS strategies and effective RSS search engine optimization Served as company spokesperson at industry and new media events around the country Career Note: Asa representative of Room 214 and respected authority in the new media field I delivered the following presentations: Podcast & New Media Expo (Sept. 2007) Ontario, CA.“Compression Killed the Video Star” PodCamp NYC (Apr. 2007) New York, New York. Panel “Podcast Open Metrics Initiative.” eLearning 2007 (Mar. 2007) Chicago, IL. “Using RSS Feeds, Podcasts to Deliver Distance Education” Podcast Academy 5 (Feb. 2007) Duke University. “Understanding Authenticated & Personalized RSS Feeds” Joint Commission Resources/Joint Commission, Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois ● 5/2005-12/2006 Associate Director, eLearning Promoted to direct eLearning digital product development for Joint Commission Resources. Led innovations in delivery of information required to comply with the accreditation standards of the Joint Commission on Accredited Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). JCAHO accreditation and certification is the standard of excellence in health care organizations. Major Contributions: Identified opportunities for new revenue streams utilizing innovative content delivery systems Evangelized blogging and podcast initiatives to integrate new media technologies within the enterprise Directed a division to develop digital products and manage legacy products focusing on increasing sales Engineered courseware implementation, software, coding and course development for field cadre and central office employees Disseminated educational training information to 400 global field staff via a custom RSS application Palegroove Studios, Naperville, Illinois ● 2/2005-Present Founder/CEO Pioneered the start-up and development of the world’s first podcast production company. Advised Fortune 500 clients on utilizing this medium to extend their brands. Developed podcasts from conception to deliverables which includes consulting with client on: show content, format, script writing, transcripts and creation of royalty free musical intros,outros and sweepers. Developed and licensed Castlock, a robust new media management and RSS metrics platform. Produced over 700 podcasts since 2005. Podcasts Produced: MasterCard, The Home Depot, Abbot Laboratories (2007) Nascar Alltel Racing Podcast (2006 & 2007) produced podcasts in conjunction with XM Satellite Radio NFL Alltel My Circle Podcast (2006 season) produced with nationally recognized radio talent from official team media outlets Nascar Coors Light Racing Podcast for Coors Light (2006) Fab 5 Summer ‘05 Podcasts produced for MTV Networks Affiliate Marketing (2005) Developed and independently produced Croncast (2004-Present) delivered 3 times a week since November of 2004 and recognized by a number of media outlets including: The New York Times, Detroit Free Press, FOX News, and NBC (Chicago) Career Note: As a successful entrepreneur and recognized expert in the podcast industry I delivered the following presentations: PodCamp West (Nov. 2006) San Francisco, CA. Keynote panel “The Future of New Media” Portable Media Expo (Sep. 2006) Ontario, CA. “Leveraging Your Knowledge as a Podcasting Consultant” Podcast Academy 4 (Sep. 2006) Ontario, CA. “Web Design for Corporate Podcasting” Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, Illinois ● 5/2000-5/2005 Distance Learning Technical Support Specialist Trained and supported university and college faculty throughout Illinois on the integration of technology into the classroom as part of ILLCO, a state funded initiative Designed and developed all graphics, wrote code, recorded, edited and encoded all audio for a Flash virtual tour of the college campus for use online, CD-ROM and hybrid DVD Recognized as innovator within organization promoted four times in five years Languages PHP, MySQL, RSS, XML, HTML Audio/Video Sound Forge, Acid Pro, WaveLab, Vegas, Waves, Fruity Loops Blogware/Podcasting Castlock and WordPress Design/Interactive Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator Courseware WebCT, aTutor, Scenario Studio, and HorizonLive Education BFA Visual Communication with an emphasis in Digital Design 2005 American InterContinental University, Hoffman Estates, Illinois Associates of Arts Degree December 2000 Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, Illinois August 1993 – December 1994 Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=425 That I have this blog. With the other sites, podcast and work I am rarely here anymore. And when people look me up through search, well, here you are. If you were seeking the Kris Smith that podcasts it is me. More information can be found at one of these places: Work: Room 214 [1], Palegroove [2] Blog and Podcast: Croncast [3] Work Blog: Capture The Conversation [4] Photo Credit: Daniel Alexander/FramesMedia.com [5] [1] http://www.room214.com [2] http://www.palegroove.com [3] http://www.croncast.com [4] http://ctcblog.com [5] http://FramesMedia.com http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=424 It’s been a while since I talked about the equipment that I use and no time seems better than now thanks to this question: “Can you tell me what microphones and mixer you use to record Croncast? (I heard the “expensive” microphone show recently and I had to laugh–I’m more interested in two microphones that are in the $100-$125 price range [each]). Thanks!,” Ron Here’s what currently makes up my audio signal path, hardware and software for Croncast. 2 - Marshall MXL 2003 microphones (Ron, for an extra $25 you won’t be disappointed) [link [1]] 2 - Universal Audio 6176 channel strips w/ preamp and compressor [link [2]] 1 - PreSonus Firepod [link [3]] 1 - Sony VGC-RB62G computer [link [4]] 1 - Sony Sound Forge 8 audio editor [link [5]] 1 - Waves L2 Ultramaximizer mastering compressor [link [6]] 1 - Sony Vegas 6 multitrack for putting show together [link [7]] 1 - Xing MP3 encoder (included in Vegas) encoded to Joint Stereo, 96 Kbps at 44.1 KHz 1 - MP3 Tag Tools to edit ID3 tags [link [8]] 1 - iTunes to add more meta-data specific to iTunes (I can explain way below this) This is what takes a Croncast from nothing to something. Here’s the breakdown. Marshall Electronics MXL 2003 [link [1]] microphones . . . I recommend these mics to everyone that asks. And after recently cheating on them with a Neumann U87ai [10] I like them even more. With a price tag of $149 at most dealers you can’t go wrong. We’ve used them now for two years and I own five of them. The sound is clear, they knock a lot of ambient noise down and their pick up pattern is second to none with a great low end and limited high end. The mic comes with a bass cut and a -10dB pad switch that can help when finding the right sound for your voice and recording space. These are phantom power microphones so I need a preamp. Universal Audio 6176 [link [2]] analog channel strip with 610 Tube Microphone preamp and 1176LN compressor. These two units are a new piece to the puzzle. They’ve replace the dbx 166XL [12] that I was using for some limiting. The 6176’s bring a nice warm sound to the shows that the 166XL didn’t have. Most studios use them for recording bass tracks or heating up/distorting some vocals but I prefer them on a little lower setting to add a level bass and compression to our voices that would take me a couple of hours to create in post production through eq and other plug-ins. PreSonus Firepod [link [3]] is a 24-bit/96K FireWire recording interface with 8 preamplifiers (8 XLR/line inputs with phantom power). I originally bought this to replace an M-Audio MobilePre that was flaking out and causing intermittent popping in tracks. The reason that I chose the Firepod was primarily the 8 XLR inputs with phantom power to multitrack instead of force output to a single stereo track . . . a huge plus when recording more than 4 voices for a show. Also, if the UA 6176 wasn’t part of the signal chain anymore I could live with the sound, I did for five months. Sony VGC-RB62G [link [4]] Intel Dual Core 2.8GHz with 2GB RAM. I’ve done little modification of this box other than adding a new video card, an extra FireWire card, a gig of RAM and a second hard drive. Usually, I prefer to build my own computer but was in the middle of the Alltel Racing Podcast when the old one died and I needed something right away. I went to Fry’s and this box was best thing that they had in stock that met my requirements. It is or was sold as a Media PC and came with remote, surround speaker set up and more software than I could care to have (primarily the shit that just gums up the system). The only complaint that I have had so far with this computer is that every input in the back of it USB, FireWire or 1/8′ has a ton of electrical noise in it when used for recording. I am forced to use the front 4 pin FireWire input for what should normally be a transparent sound recording. Sony Sound Forge 8 [link [5]] audio editor. This is the software that I record the shows into. I have been using Sound Forge for the last 7 years. When I got my first computer in 1999 at age 25 I learned how to use it by working with Steinberg’s WaveLab (another great audio editor) but late in that year switched to Sound Forge. WaveLab had a lot of great features but they never compared the bundle of plug-ins that came with or for Sound Forge. WaveLab relied on the VST model and Sound Forge on Direct-X which meant that there were also more plug-ins to choose from. The killer plug-in was the Noise Reduction tool that prior to version 7 (maybe 6) wasn’t bundled with the license. It is the best noise reduction tool on the market. I’ve heard most of the rest first hand, even the ones used in million dollar studios and would still choose the one in Sound Forge. I don’t use Noise Reduction on our show but when doing post on audio recorded out of the studio I use it about 90% of the time. Waves L2 Ultramaximizer [link [6]] mastering compressor. Yep, I already ran the audio signal through an amazing compressor in the 6176 but the L2 puts the finishing touches on the wav file before I close out Sound Forge. This plug-in is the secret in my sauce. I have used it for about four years and find it’s sound brighter, more open and louder than any other including Ozone 2 or 3 (which is an attempt to recreate the sound at a lower cost). Sony Vegas 6 [link [7]] multitrack video editor. Video? Did Kris just say, video? I sure did. When this product was first developed by Sonic Foundry it started out as a multitrack audio mastering suite that was supposed to be an upgrade from their Acid line of software. That didn’t quite work out and they released a second version for video. With two competing versions on the market they made the wise decision to morph them together into Vegas Video, Sonic Foundry was bought by Sony and the rest is history. I use Vegas basically the same way that I use Dreamweaver for coding pages, as a template. All i have to do for Croncast is plug in each new recording on the timeline and poof there is a fully mastered show. Xing MP3 encoder (included in Vegas) all shows are encoded to Joint Stereo, 96 Kbps at 44.1. This lowest quality that I will encode my own work to or for that of a client. This range is somewhat higher than many podcasters will recommend for a speech driven show but I find that anything less sound hollow and purely focuses on midrange sounds. Blah. At a bit rate lower than 96 Kbps most audio encoders, like this one, won’t allow for a sample rate of 44.1 KHz. I used to encode the shows to a lower value two years ago when we first started but then iTunes came to town and studios started cranking out CD quality audio files. Once that bar was raised I figured it was okay for me to join that party. MP3 Tag Tools [link [8]] to edit ID3 tags. It is open source and the best ID3 tag editor that I have found. It will allow you to make changes to version 1 and 2 tags that will cover most of the popular media players like WinAmp, Windows Media Player and iTunes. It’ll even let you add up to 18 images per file in the album art that can be displayed in iTunes. iTunes for adding iTunes specific data to the ID3 tag. Didn’t you already do this? Sort of. iTunes uses on the variances of the ID3 V2 tag standard to display meta data that is included with the MP3. That is it friends. Once all that crap has happened it is time to upload the show to the server, fire up Castlock, start adding show notes and then make the show available for download. [1] http://www.zzounds.com/item--MSHMXL2003 [2] http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/6176/ [3] http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Firepod/ [4] http://www.abtelectronics.com/product/21691.html [5] http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/Products/ShowProduct.asp?PID=961 [6] http://www.waves.com/content.asp?id=139 [7] http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/products/product.asp?PID=404 [8] http://massid3lib.sourceforge.net/ [9] http://www.zzounds.com/item--MSHMXL2003 [10] http://www.neumann.com/?lang=en&id=current_microphones&cid=u87_description [11] http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/6176/ [12] http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/166XL/ [13] http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Firepod/ [14] http://www.abtelectronics.com/product/21691.html [15] http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/Products/ShowProduct.asp?PID=961 [16] http://www.waves.com/content.asp?id=139 [17] http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/products/product.asp?PID=404 [18] http://massid3lib.sourceforge.net/ http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=423 It is Sunday, the second day of PodCamp West and I am already back home thanks to a red eye flight at 11:30 out of San Francisco. I had a great time and the lack of sleep from coming out Saturday morning and then leaving that night was worth it. Unfortunately, I’m missing out on today’s conversations! At any rate, yesterday was awesome seeing some familiar faces, talking with friends and meeting many of new people who are both interested in podcasting or have jumped in with both feet writing code and podcasting. I was fortunate enough to be on keynote panel discussing “The Future of New Media” and followed that with a “Getting Started” panel. There were a lot of good questions that lead to many more in the hall ways. Steve Rhodes [1] has some images up and, well, Steve hooked me up with a link (thanks for the plug Steve!) and it was to this blog, which you can see from the posts below doesn’t get as much play as it once used to. You can check out my current work at Croncast.com [2] and my production company Palegroove Studios [3]. (I look mean!) [1] http://ari.typepad.com/ [2] http://www.croncast.com [3] http://www.palegroove.com http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=422 Nearly forgot I had stuff over here. I feel some nerdly posts coming on. http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=421 just a little something to keep going. just wondering today why these people [1] get out of bed in the morning. [1] http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/sunpub/naper/top/6_1_NA31_IPOD_S10831.htm http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=420 Thanks to Dave D. for sending me an IM a few minutes ago alerting me to the fact that someone had hacked this domain and put up there own page. So I am in the process of working with my host to find the hole. Update: The hole is in a stats package that I love .The real problem is that this was a hole a few years ago that was supposedly fixed. Guess Not! http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=419 I thought I would have the new Palegroove [1] site knocked out already but it isn’t so. The new site . . . 0% Web 2.0 green. I can’t stand to see it anymore. Green is dead to me. Not this green though, nice green, nice. [1] http://www.palegroove.com http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=418 I turned the comments back on after a few months off. I know I neglect this place but with all the podcasting work I get most everything out of my system. Currently working on two NASCAR podcast series’. I’m still plugging away with Croncast [1] (256 shows to date) and a redesign of Palegroove [2] soon (maybe this weekend). Let’s see what else . . . more podcasts in works that I hopefully will mention later and I’ll be speaking in September at two events, the Portable Media Expo [3] and Podcast Academy 4 [4]. [1] http://www.croncast.com [2] http://www.palegroove.com [3] http://www.portablemediaexpo.com/incoming.php?linkid=1605 [4] http://www.podcastacademy.com http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=417 Sorry for blowing up the comments on the site. I was getting 300 blog spam a day. Merciless! I had even turned off allowing comments to be posted without approval . . . so none show up, period. But these jerks just kept them coming. Maybe it was hoodia, poker, viagra, levitra and black jack cocktail that was their demise. http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=416 The newest version of our Croncast [1] website is live. Or has been now for nearly 3 weeks. It is in a happy yellow state and is happy to be freed from the blog silo . [1] http://www.croncast.com http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=415 It’s been a little over two years since I tidied up, let it go, cleaned it up, added some paint and finished the new handrail for this blog. Right at about a year and a half now podcasting became my passion and this blog has become the home of feral cats or whatever can become feral online when things are left alone to their own devices. Good to stop by, though. Cheers. http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=414 My new year begins with the usual wimper and slow tug from the starting gate by my wife and a midnight call from her friends at a party as we lay sound asleep. And now, four days later, I am sitting in my hotel room at work taking a break from the conference I am assisting with. Only four more days to go. This is day two. Anyway, out my window I can see the begining construction of the Trump International Hotel and Tower [1] (Chicago). The cranes keep coming and the cement trucks are emptying out one after another to pour the foundation. I’d take a picture but it would do no good since I can’t get them off it. The point. On New Year’s Day there was a show on PBS HD about the new buildings going up here in Chicago and the Trump building was one of them. And for the last three years Betsy and I have said that we would like buy a condo in the city once our house is paid off. So my goal changed a bit after the show. You guessed it, a condo in the Trump building. Why not? This building is going to be gorgeous. And besides in 15 years when the house is paid off the kids will be ready a taste of city living. [1] http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=102119 http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=413 [1] Just thought I would add a news item here for this. I just wrapped another project for MTV Networks’ MTV Hits channel [2] email blast to affiliates. It is currently available only to network affiliates. If this podcast, future podcasts, or the promotion are released by MTV Networks to the public I will have links to them. [1] http://www.palegroove.com [2] http://mtvhits.mtv.com http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=412 When I woke up this morning (November 11, 2005) I pulled my trusty wrinkle free green plaid shirt out of my closet for my favorite day of the week, two words; Casual Friday. The ultimate in corporate submission. I just unbuttoned the shirt, which I still have on from 5:30 this morning, and looked at the tag to see that the brand is “TownCraft", which appears to be a JCPenny house brand. Only high quality apparel here. In between the time that I put this shirt on and checking the inside tag I went to work, put in my day, ate dinner in the mini van and paid $585 for a suit, shirt and tie. Normally, I wouldn’t put numbers in post but this is to prove a point that $50 can go a long way. The math may seem sketchy but it will work out in someone’s favor, not mine, but I am happy. After I ate my food in the van and before I spent the money that could have gone for computer equipment or wouldn’t need to be paid back with double digit interest, I went with my wife, son, daughter and mother-in-law (key to story) to return/exchange a suit that I had never worn and still had the tags on it at the Carson Pirie Scott store at Yorktown Mall in Lombard, IL down the street from where I work. When we arrived at the store we were greated by a sign that said, “At Your Service". What I had come to expect from the Carson’s brand. We reach the Men’s Suit department and all 4 sales associates are busy ringing up sales. We wait a short time and one says, “Return". I nodded and walked over to his register and began to tell him what we were told by a . . . This entry has been sitting in the cue now for a little over a month. The short story is that Carson Pirie Scott gave me the worst customer service I have ever received. I then went to a competitor and spent the $585 dollars that I had planned to spend in their store. I will never shop in their stores again based on my experience. So for $50 they pissed away a lifetime of my spending. http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=411 Last Friday was a big day and I have been too busy since to get a chance to sit down and think about it, let alone write. Possible that has to do with the fact that it doesn’t take that much to overwhelm me. Let me simply say that the night ended at a public radio station. Whew! Do I know how to party or what? It began another way. I met with Leo Irakliotis [1] from the University of Chicago [2] about a Master’s program they offer that seems like it will be a good fit for me. We’ll see. I think everything went well so I need to get on with the formal application process. Then off to meet Tony Kahn [3], host of the podcast Morning Stories [4] from WGBH in Boston, for dinner. He was in town for the Third Coast Audio Festival [5]. I arrived early and caught some participants leaving the festival. Audio nerds are a whole new nerd phylum, one I seem to fit into. Dinner was great. I challenged Tony to a roast beef eating contest. I lost. After my defeat we talked shop (podcasting) for about 3 hours. He may be a radio guy, but Tony’s just a podcaster to me. I’m looking forward to some interesting collaborations in the future. When I was waiting for the valet to come back with my car I was picked up by Elinoar Astrinsky [6], Radio Producer, Voices of Our World [7]. Not really “picked up", but she took the time to talk to a stranger who looked like they might be there for the festival. I sort of was. She struck up the conversation and asked me if I was going to the party. If the party meant riding for 35 minutes listening to a Beck Remix CD and tossing my laptop on top of the kids’ car seats, “yes. I’m off to the party.” I didn’t say that but it would have been an accurate description of the party I would have enjoyed. I said, “No.” She asked if I wanted to go and I said yes and she was treated to a ride in the xB with the interior neons. We went out to Navy Pier for a “the party” hosted by PRX and held at Chicago Public Radio - WBEZ [8]. It was really cool. I talked podcasting, Elinoar and the other people I met talked radio. Figure it a coming together of mediums. There was an awful lot that I didn’t know that I didn’t know about radio and how the culture of it’s producers operates. So a big thanks to Elinoar for talking to a stranger on a city street with rectangular frames and opening a new door of experience and learning to me. [1] http://sandbox.cs.uchicago.edu/leo/?page_id=2 [2] http://www.uchicago.edu/ [3] http://www.theworld.org/about/bios/kahn.shtml [4] http://www.wgbh.org/article?item_id=2020890 [5] http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/index.asp [6] http://www.prx.org/group/Maryknoll [7] http://home.maryknoll.org/index.php?module=MKArticles&mk_page=mkprod/mkprod-radio.html [8] http://www.wbez.org http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=409 Fall brings the best foods back. I am speaking of the caramel apple. Add some peanuts and enjoy. http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=408 Blog Two [1] is now up at Podumentary. This blog and podcast are for the Smith School Project. The Smith School Project is a pilot program funded by The James Jordan Foundation that puts computers into classrooms, one for every student. The instructor for the class, Renee Dyche, is a veteran teacher that is taking this challenge very seriously. We first interviewed Renee on NCQ Talk [2] before the project began and didn’t expect the repsonses that she had for our questions . . . she views this pilot project as an opportunity to learn more about technology herself. You can listen to her first update at Blog Two [3]. [1] http://blog2.podumentary.com [2] http://www.ncqtalk.com/?p=23 [3] http://blog2.podumentary.com/?p=3 http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=407 Just started up a site Podumentary [1]. The site is starting off as a blog to keep the momentum of many conversations going. Everything should be rolling ahead full steam in the next few weeks. Look for an announcement. [1] http://blog.podumentary.com http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=406 And I am glad that it is not. Of course I am talking about podcasting. This was brought home for me earlier this week. More on that in a minute. In the early days of podcasting and even a little now, not quite as much though, it was easy to find radio jocks and their management discounting podcasting as “ham radio” or ametuer hour. In the media (which they own and are) they would blast podcasting as a flash in the pan that would not have any impact on their businesses. Of course a few months later, around April or May, radio stations began a campaign to explain how great radio was. During this $28 million campaign [1] they were attempting to raise the awareness of the customer that the first place they are likely to hear anything; music, news or some morning jock making a prank phone call that it will be on one of their stations pumped directly into your car or radio at work. This seems to be a reaction to the growing popularity of not only podcasting but the portable device evolution that seems to have passed radio by. Put these two things together and you have a powerful potion that has left the radio giant staggering on a nearly desserted island (maybe an isthmus as we speak) full of other naysayers that discount the impact that these two are having on their industry. Skip ahead two months, Clear Channel and Infinity Broadcasting start zapping radio stations from coast to coast and turning them into broadcasting iPods on “shuffle". Well organized and market specific iPods that came to being after months of piloting smaller radio stations “that play anything” (almost anything). The new shufflers are in every small and major market now trying to maintain the waning listenership with playlists formulated from focus. Again, another losing proposal. I was asked during a radio interview, “Is podcasting good for radio?” My response, “It’s great for radio!” As their reation has been to imitate what has driven listeners away from the air waves, they are still stumbling around in the dark as the solution to their problem is infront of their eyes: innovate, come up with somthing new. Now back to earlier this week, Monday to be exact, I was suprised on my way home from work. Yes I have an MP3 player in my car, not a portable one, a lame burn your MP3’s to disc and then play them back. I now have over 100 discs floating around my car and can’t stand to listen to another one of them and refuse to burn another for a while. So I am forced back into the waiting arms of radio to make noise as I commute to work in my car. In the morning when NPR was running another story that didn’t need my attention I started to flip stations and caught 94.7 the Zone’s morning show. The Zone is a hard rock station that prides itself on louder, faster, more skin and hairspray than a babysitter in the 80’s. The morning guys were complaining that they didn’t have tickets to give away for a show that the radio station was sponsoring and then cut to a commercial. Right then I was in the parking garage and shut the radio and car off and walked into work. I put in my day, head home and turn on NPR which is running same story that made me change stations in the morning. So I change over to The Zone and Nancy Sinatra starts to come through the speakers. I started laughing to hard that I began to cry. I called my voicemail and left a message for myself to document how horrible it was that during the morning drive these two jocks were oblivious to the fact that during the day they were going to get canned. Reformating a station is nothing new, but this time it really drove home the fact radio is hurting and without customers and a physical product they can change at a moments notice. It isn’t like a candy store that has to put an item on sale to get rid of it. Radio can just stop selling the flavor for a new one that looks like it will have more customers based on market research. As a podcaster, portable MP3 player owner (even if it won’t play in my car) and a blogger it is great to see the impact that I am having on the industries that view me as a customer. Radio’s problem isn’t that people hate the technology they use to distribute their flavors with, the problem is that they treat their listeners as customers and their loyalty to their customers only goes as far as pushing a button to allow their newly reformmated station to transmit programming via satellite from New York. Radio tried hard to kill podcasting and a portable device movement that had already entrenched itself in our culture. Too slow to react and still reacting in ways that are sure to mean lower customer numbers, radio can learn from podcasters, bloggers and iPods. What can they learn? Innovate. [1] http://www.podcastingnews.com/articles/RadioResponse.html http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=405 I wrote this for a partially defunct website last December as I was trying to get a grip on just what the hell makes podcasting so appealing. It seemed like time to rehash some of my old thoughts on the growth and beginnings of what has become a central part of my life. Too, it seemed important based on the converstions that I, and Betsy now also, have had with Tony Kahn from Morning Stories [1]. Tony is an amazing person with a golden voice and a perspective on life that always leads him to ask intelligent questions that beget more questions. And when you come to answer you’re never quite sure it is the right one, or even if there was a right answer to begin with. Here’s the article; bit raw. ————————————————- December 5, 2004 Kristopher Smith I’m a podcasting addict that will probably never get clean. So if you want to have an intervention you can forget it, because I’ve already hired a body double and a vocal impressionist to cover my tracks. I’ll be producing my show on the run or from my new Frigidaire box under the freeway, the only one with Wi-Fi. With that said, I would like to make a bold statement about podcasting, maybe just a simply analogy, but I think an effective one . . . podcasting is like streaking. There will never be a better time to get out there and de-pants yourself. The stadium has spectators and is filling up more and more everyday as new devices are sold and articles are written about the hot new girl in town, podcasting. Doing a podcast means putting even more of yourself out there than you can ever imagine doing in a blog. A podcast is a much more personal experience. Not only will your ideas be attached, but your voice will be doing the driving instead of a reader’s inner voice. Your naked body is the driving force, to say, if we were to return to the analogy that podcasting is like streaking. So boys and girls let your junk swing. That’s enough of that for today. I’m supposed to be introducing myself and talking a little bit about what it is that I will be doing here at PodFly. What I will be doing for PodFly is a near-daily column, article, maybe stream of consciousness that will be focused on, of course, podcasting. The articles will range from trend spotting, production, commentary, community, user experience, show format, education, hardware, software and so on. I will make no claims that this will be easy, that I am the most articulate or intelligent person writing about podcasting. This may be one of the most difficult things that I have done, but I have been able to pull off a daily podcast, Croncast, for the last 4 weeks and am finding it easier to do as I integrate podcasting into my life. By writing these articles it is my goal to create some dialogue on various topics, as well as, teach myself how to write better and stay focused. Sometimes it can be a bit of problem for me. I’ll never buy another one again. See, it happened again. Well, while we are all getting in line to run naked through the stadium, it will be my goal, as another nudist, to produce a daily roadmap of some of the things that we may encounter when we enter the stadium. [1] http://www.wgbh.org/article?item_id=2020890 http://www.kristophersmith.com/blog/index.php?p=404