I’ve had the pleasure of being around technology for a decent amount of time. I had the chance to explore the internet before the web (there’s more than the web you know).. and was fortunate enough to experience major technology shifts which I’ll go into when I need a “When I was your age…” kind of post…

Anyhow, it’s been my experience that when a new technology arrives on the scene, there are ups and downs, players come in - others leave… I’ve been reading up on the podango podcasting service going under, and while it’s sad when any effort fails, it doesn’t mean anything in terms of podcasting’s assured survival.

With podcasting or any technology going through it’s growth cycle, you can divide the reactions to these events into 3 groups of people (4 if you count those who couldn’t care less)…

1 - The Zealots

” This is the BEST thing EVER! How could you possibly even thing of continuing your life on the path you were on? This changes everything!”

2 - The NaySayers

” _______ is dead.  I told you so. there was never a future in it. Bow to my ability to predict the outcome of your folly”

3-  The Level-headed

“Well, this wasn’t what some thought it would be, but let’s look closely - there’s some very interesting stuff going on here that may yet benefit us…”

The key to surviving,even profiting from any technology/business shift is to concentrate on trying to be #3.

#1 is fun, but let’s face it, usually they’re too damn scary to go near.

#2 is so bent on being seen as wise that any deviation from his line is discounted. The “I told you so” is an attempt to instill in you the power of their awesomeness.

When you think about it, it’s easy to say “___ is dead” (Go ahead, try it)..  What’s harder to say is “_____ is now going this way”..

Want to impress people with your ability to predict the future? Instead of saying “It’s dead, I told you it would be” after the fact (and being wrong),    Try saying “I expect this to go here” and then, BE RIGHT!

Then I’ll be impressed at your awesomeness..

general | 1 Comment »

-> Vote Here Vote Aquí ->, originally uploaded by myJon.

I’ve been nominated over at Dave Forde’s Profectio blog as one of Canada’s “Most influential men in Social Media.”  It’s an impressive list of people that reads like Canada’s social media who’s who, and I’m honoured someone thought enough of me to nominate me.

As with any vote-getting event, it’s turning out to be a popularity contest, which is almost right for social media. After all, it’s all about influence, and if you can influence the most people to vote for you, you’ve mobilized the biggest social network. You win!

It’s a fun thing, and I hope no one takes it too seriously and we all have a good time with it. What would be REALLY cool would be to get everyone on that list together at the same event… say maybe in Kingston in June.. or something..

At the end of the day, I don’t expect to make a big dent in the voting, but I feel I’ve already gained as I’ve got a great list of blogs to add to my reader. I hope to hook up with all of you at some point.

Congrats to the nominees, but sadly you have no chance, for I remain the most influential person,  in my basement, that is  -  until my 5yr old comes home from school anyway…

general | No Comments »

sports016, originally uploaded by MRBECK.

Let me preface this by saying I know almost nothing about SEO. This will become obvious as you read on….

I was thinking last night about the kerfuffle about the whole K-Mart and Chris Brogan thing. For those of you who don’t know, he put up a post, said it was paid for by K-mart, and was still jumped on as if he was evil incarnate by “social media experts”..

Google it if you need to know, but if you want my short version, Chris Brogan is a friend, a stand up guy, and there are a lot of assholes on the net.

Anyway, my point isn’t about paid blog posts. If someone gives you cash for posting, and you’re upfront about it, more power to you. My point today is about the “SEO Pile-on”.

Whenever there’s a big issue or controversy, you’ll see a few thoughtful posts by the “thought leaders” , then the Pile-On begins. First approach is the simple trackback, where the person highlights the post in their own, hoping to suck some of that traffic off the main issue. The second approach, is to comment on the post, using your status as 422nd commenter to make sure the world knows what you stand for.

Does anyone read the 422nd blog post comment?

Of course not. Unless the post is specifically about you, why the hell would you. So why be the 422nd commentor? Google. I don’t see any other reason. You want to build a link from the Uber-busy site to yours. Understandable, but the guy trying to sell “Love Enhancement Pills” is doing the same thing. I thought you were better than that?

So what’s your POINT, smart guy?

I’m thinking if you want to be recognized in social media, your aim should be to be recognized by PEOPLE, not by Google. The effort you put into that 422nd comment could be used for good. Post something interesting to your blog, bring up a new angle, make PEOPLE want to know you.

Get it?

It amazes me that SEO is such a big part of social media, when it’s pretty much anti-social when you think about it. I know! Let’s all run into the same super noisy room and scream so that people know how important we think we are! Ummm,…. wha?

What are your thoughts? Is the SEO Pile-On caused by Social Media Pylons? (Damn I’m clever!)

by the way, I didn’t backlink to anyone, I don’t want to feed or be part of the SEO on this. If you’re reading this, it’s because you already value my opinion on other things, or think I’m a tool without seeing my trackback or 453rd comment on a post.

general | 8 Comments »

PodCamp Montreal 2008 52, originally uploaded by Eva Blue.
 
 
I had the opportunity to speak at a few conferences this year, and once again, I enjoyed it thoroughly.  From a marathon 2 day presentation at podcamp Toronto, to a few work-related sessions, to presenting in french at Podcamp Montreal, I feel I had a good year for a non-professional speaker. No tomatoes thrown my way is a good thing.

I really enjoy is speaking/presenting at conferences. Be it at PAB , podcamps or work-related events, I truly enjoy walking into a room and building a connection with the people there. There’s a magical moment when people “get” (and hopefully agree with) what you’re presenting. I remember putting the audio together for the “podcasting 101″ session in Montreal, and seeing the faces of session attendees light up when all the bits of un-related audio were played back as an audio program. It was at that moment I knew they “got it”. It’s quite a rush, really. Some were just politely paying attention to whatever I was doing, but the playback started, and they jumped in. I could see the way they were sitting change - from laid back almost falling over the chair, to leaning forward, tilting a favoured ear towards the speakers. It’s quite powerful.

To me, speaking presentations are just as much a self-sell as anything. If you do a good job, not only will you walk out of the session with more people convinced of your position, chances are you will be more convinced too. Presenting gives me a chance to show myself how much I know about a subject, as if my presenting to others was proof to me of my knowledge.

A great example of this is audio. Having edited audio for so many years, it’s easy to forget that what we do is create magic.  We do!  Don’t sell yourself short! What we do is take a bunch of disconnected audio bits and make it into a statement/show/demonstration. We literally make something out of nothing. What is more cool than that?

Looking forward to ‘09, I’ll likely be speaking at a few events, and one of the hardest things for me is to decide a topic. For an open event like a podcamp, my attitude has always been “I’ll do what we need or think is missing” which is great, but I often find myself doing Audacity workshops or more skills-based sessions.

These sessions are fun, but I’d like to try something different…

So I put the question to you, dear friends, who know me or read or listen to what I create, what would make a good Bob-session?

I’d love to hear your thoughts,

edit: Added Eva Blue’s picture, which inspired this post in the first place!

general | 2 Comments »

Alcatraz, originally uploaded by Bob Goyetche. (well Duh!)

I’ve been tagged with an internet meme. I’m still not sure if I like these or not, they’ve kinda become the chain letters of the modern age…. “List 5 things about 14 things you didn’t know about 3 things, or we’ll shoot the dolphin!”

Anywho, I sure don’t want to be seen as a wet towel, or see that poor dolphin get shot, so I’ll respond to Mark Blevis‘ tag and even use his own text to do it…

I guess it’s my Bob’s day to catch up on meme’s I’ve Bob has fallen behind on kept up on. Thankfully, this one only dates back to yesterday this morning – Derek K. Miller Mark Blevis tagged me so blame him (and Derek Miller).

It works like this: if you use Flickr, go to the sixth page of your photostream and pick the sixth picture there, then post it to your blog. The resulting photo (below above) captures fellow panelists in action at the Kidlit ‘08 conference in Portland, OR.  the Alactraz prison in San Francisco.

And now I need to tag my own people lest I get cursed or something, and my armpit hair irreperably intertwines with my iPod headphone cord or whatever…

Rob Lee, Richard Bunky Bell, CC Chapman, Scarborough Dude, Whitney Hoffman, and soon to be Ex-Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Let’s go people - that poor dolphin is getting antsy!

general | 7 Comments »

I’m young enough to think “Bah - it’s a silly jib jab thing..”

I’m old enough to still be impressed at the technology that makes it happen…

Can you name the elves?

general | 5 Comments »

Quiznos is pretty new to my area, so it’s still been somewhat of treat to head there.

Not really knowing the menu, I look to the signs for guidance. The sign says, black angus sub on this kind of bread, and lists the prices.

I order what’s in the picture and description, and they answer me that this kind of bread will cost me $0.40 extra.

What?

I want what’s on the sign, with the price clearly marked on the sign.  I tell them as much. I’m told that’s “just an example” and have to pay extra to get that bread. I’m confused - what else do I not know about this sign and its lies? Is that not meat?

Ok, it’s only $0.40, but I’m one of those people that get upset if I think I’m being played for a fool. It’s one of those things..

I tell them again them the price is right there on the sign, only to get told to call the Quiznos 800 number if I’m not happy about paying extra.

You’ve only been open a few months, and you’re telling people crap like this?

Clearly, the employees have no power to make customers happy, or even to tape over an erroneous (and by Quebec consumer protection law, illegal) sign.

The sub was tasty, but the experience was soured.

What’s the lesson here? Do I want my $0.40 back? Nooo…

- but for less than half a dollar, Quiznos has given me a reason to drive right by next time..

general | 1 Comment »

thanks all for the great comments and emails on the previous post, let me expand on my thoughts a bit more…

First off, I AM NOT AGAINST MONETIZATION OF PODCASTS. I am, however tired of the discussion, because it’s not relevant to building the SKILL of creating good content. If I told you that you could make $xxx/month podcasting, and all you had to do was produce an interesting, informative, well-written, well paced, well produced show with a big audience, several times a week. Most of us (and I include myself in there) couldn’t do it.

Why? Is it because we’re not good? No, it’s because no one wants your god damned podcast. What they want, is your big audience. Notice how audience comes at the end of the list, if many of the previous criteria aren’t met, you can forget about the audience.

Even “how do I build an audience?” is a much more interesting conversation than “How do I make money”.

Why?

It’s a skill! All the things I listed above are skills. Skills are fun/meant to be taught/shared. How to make money isn’t a skill, well, at least not a podcasting skill - thus it’s irrelevance to me at podcamp’s & such..

If you agree with me on skills, then you may also agree that (most of the time) you need to build the skills before you can think of revenue. And that’s where I get discouraged, probably because I expose myself to too many people who think they can short circuit the process.

I’m not saying that turning a skill into money shouldn’t be talked about. What I’m saying is this is 2008. We need to move on. Any method for making money via podcasting (or blogging, or twittering, or whatever) is documented. We are no longer at the days when googling “podcast” gave us 100 hits.  If you really want to make money at something, you have two choices :

A- Copy what’s been done before  (here is where Google is your friend)

B- Do something completely unique where the uniqueness of it is what will make people give you money. (if it’s such a great idea, keeping it to yourself might be a good thing too)

Both of these approaches need at least some skill. I don’t see a third choice, maybe I’m just not seeing it right now.. do you see a third option?

Disclosure: No red-markers were supplied or injured in the writing of this blog

general | 6 Comments »

Just got in from Podcamp Ottawa, and it was a great day. Saw old friends, made new ones, and participated in great conversations.

After having now attended or helped organize 8 or so podcamps, as well as several other podcasting events, I thought I’d use the spirit of sharing to save some time to those of you about to attend an event like this.

Before you leave your house, you need to google the following topics :

• Monetizing your podcast
• Quitting your day job to podcast
• How podcast ad revenue will make you independently weathly.

Now take all the pages of results for these topics, and print them (Sorry trees, but I’ve a point to make). Make sure you print it clearly, on good quality paper.

Now take all those pages, and arrange them on your floor or wall so that they are all visible.

Now, using a red Sharpie ™ marker, circle each search result where someone had a successful outcome for one of those three points.

Visit those links, and very carefully read and implement what they say.

Then, when you attend the event,

Don’t freaking bring it up! ok?

Don’t thank me for saving you time, It’s my pleasure.

general | 12 Comments »

 One of the things that first got me interested in podcasting was the ability to play music. Music’s always been a big part of my life, and I’ve always liked indie stuff anyway, so podcasting was a great way to join these things together.  I was involved in early discussions to form AMP - the association of music podcasting in 2004, didn’t like where the rules were going or being hemmed in, walked away, created a show (mostlytunes) as my way of ‘doing my own thing’, then after most of the initial crowd were gone, joined AMP. I think AMP is podcasting’s best kept secret right now, it’s a core group of experienced & devoted music fans, and they really seem to be having fun. Funny how things work out.

It may seem strange to many that music was what drew me to podcasting. As the last couple of years have shown, I haven’t been very active in music podcasting, choosing to concentrate my limited time on community shows and events such as CPB, podcamps, PAB and things like that..

Today I went to the mostlytunes PO Box (and the Canadapost people are very nice about keeping packages for me longer than they should) and brought home a few CDs that were sent in :

I think I’ve put out 1 or 2  music episodes of my own in the last year, and I’m thinking maybe the universe is telling me it wants me to start playing tunes again. So I’m going to put 6 mostlytunes episodes out over the next 6 weeks. Let’s see if it still has traction, and more importantly, if I still enjoy doing it. Let’s find out together, k?

Watch www.mostlytunes.com this weekend for the first episode of this series..

general | No Comments »