I'm sorry, I feel like I really need to get something off my chest. Call it what you will.
Please don't be fooled into thinking that there is one and only one way forward in the podcasting world. There isn't. There are lots and lots of folks in on the act now and sadly I've found the world of podcasting, on the one hand a vicious place, and on the other a lovely place.
A lot of folks follow characters in the podcast world around like some great prophet, unfortunately the word for some is spelt p-r-o-f-i-t.
Let me get one thing straight ok? I do this because I LOVE it. I don't want to take money off you - I happily pay it out and invest time in bringing you the best show I can. I simply love the fact that you are willing to listen. No catch, no gimmick, no sign here... no financial gain.
When Alex, Neil, Adrian and I put on Podcastcon we did it at OUR OWN risk. The thing cost near five thousand pound to put on, we had a sponsor in to shoulder the cost. We did it, because we love podcasting. It's a great hobby.
I've stopped listening to some podcasts because of the incessant advertising, I shunned commercial radio to get away from that.
I have bottled this up for ages, but I was really disappointed that everyone shouted about podcastcon - THE world's first podcast conference (solely dedicated to podcasting). There was not one word from Adam Curry about this who seemed to shun it, and that hurt. This wasn't some half-baked thing that was written on the back of a cigarette packet. Folks flew in from all around the world and the event was covered by the BBC, Financial Times, Independent, Times.. you name it, it was covered. Yet no mention from the depths of Guildford. Why? I believe it was perhaps stuff to do with that abhorration to the English language; 'monetising'. It didn't fit into the strategy of things probably. Here I'm only presuming, and I am happy to stand corrected.
For the record, I asked Adam Curry if he'd like to speak..... silence prevailed. I asked a few further times and then just shrugged my shoulders at the contimuing silence and carried on. The worldwide following of podcastcon was palpable, and the serious media took it to the next level. I was a bit nonplussed at the outright shunning of such a seriously reported conference at such a high level but nevertheless carried on doing what I though was a great thing - doing stuff freely and promoting podcasting as much as I could, i still do that incidentally, and will continue to do so.
At any rate, I continued to listen to the DSC and in the last few weeks sadly came to the conclusion that I just couldn't listen any further to 'monetising' and 'strategy casts'. I freely accept the fact that some do like to listen. I am not one. I'm bored of it. This is a great hobby. I've made some wonderful mates and promoted some exceptional musicians, I'll continue to do that, because I love it.
I sneer at the QYDJ thing. I have to say it's the biggest load of old clap-trap I've heard in an age and works on the basis that (a) You're slightly retarded and want to be paid in magic beans (b) You enjoy being patronised (c) You hate what you do for a living.
Why on earth would I want to quit being a lawyer? I've studied for 10 gruelling years (8 of them back in the mid 80's / early 90's) and put in 22 long years to get to the stage I am. I'm committing a further two years study.
I absolutely love what I do for a living and love what I do for a hobby. I feel privileged I can do both. QYDJ is a little like asking a surgeon to quit his day job so he can become a full time stamp collector / model railway enthusiast. If you're poking poo from spikes in a sewage plant on a daily basis, I can just about see the attraction.This will NEVER pay, though it will make some great advertising revenue for the spike at the top of the triangle. At the bottom of the triangle is one large base. Does everything podcast have to boil down to money? Can't we just do this because... and here's a thought.... we actually like doing this as a hobby?
This 'monetizing' thing is absolutely driving me up the wall, I fear it is also driving a wedge between the folks who really love doing this and folks who are desperate to try to make the thing pay - at any cost.
Everyone is talking about PUM. Well, nearly everyone. That's another story. Again, no 'monetising'. A group of 12 of us gave our time freely to promote something we love. The next edition will be out soon and I'm really excited about it. 12 folks giving their time freely. No payback, just good, nice, community. The Swaziland podcasts were done in the same vein - a great community thing that I absolutely loved. No monetising at all - in fact, it was an expense I happily bore and I am desperate to do that again.
Adam Curry, Dave Winer - other names I don't even know have put their time and effort into this, and I applaud them for it, I really do. I just do not understand why the great community hobby has to make money - monetise (or is it monetize?). Why?
Now, after all that hypothesizing, I've come to realise one thing. Adam Curry and Podshow and all of the monetising has its place. Its not my thing, but then again, my thing probably isn't theirs. However, people do tend to look to Adam and some of the big names for direction - and I really do not think they need to. Honestly, I don't. There are plenty of maps, compasses and places to play.
Am I fed up at being ignored? No, I really am not, honestly. I just felt like I needed to blog this, it's nice, therapeutic and I really am over it. I just feel a bit sad really. There are some horrible, bitter twisted and downright nasty posts on different forums, and I would never scrape that barrel. I felt like I would like to articulate my voice on this issue sensibly.
As more folks come into podcasting, more characters will come in, and more direction. Don't feel as though you have to follow one camp. There are lots of voices and lots of diverse things going on. I really like some of the stuff going on, and not really that bothered with some of the other stuff. Stuff is precisely what I am looking at - there's lots and lots of it and this is just one tiny slice of the podcast pie.
I'm not going to talk about this any more now, I'm bored of it.
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