2019 SRAI Annual Meeting October 19-23 Carla DeMarco, HBA, Research Communications & Grants Manager, University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada Adventures in Podcasting
A work in progress “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
− Walt Disney Entrepreneur, animator, voice actor & film producer Adventures in Podcasting
Introduction
How this podcast came to be
Some tech talk
Challenges & Lessons learned
Positive Outcomes Twitter cjdemarco UTM_Research Instagram cjdemarco69 uoftmississaugaresearch About me Research Communications & Grants Manager at University of Toronto Mississauga
Twitter cjdemarco UTM_Research Instagram cjdemarco69 About me Timeline at
1990 2000 2006 2017 About me Mostly an introvert Sometimes runner Also love reading, yoga, music, listening to CBC and …
A Podcast
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A podcast, or generically netcast, is an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download and listen to.
It is often available for subscription, so that new episodes are automatically downloaded via web syndication to the user's own local computer, mobile application, or portable media player. It is distinct from Internet radio, which involves streaming rather than downloading. A Brief History of Podcasting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
First podcast, which was a “special RSS-with-enclosures feed” was posted as a MP3 file as part of a Harvard blog in 2003 – this was previously a text-only RSS feed.
And in 2004, the “media-in-newsfeed idea was picked up by multiple developer groups,” and the first podcasting client was iPodderX, later renamed Transistr due to dispute with Apple, and released first for the Mac and then the PC. 2018 General Podcast Stats From podcastinginsights.com
525,000 active shows
Over 18.5 million episodes 2019 General Podcast Stats From podcastinginsights.com
750,000 active shows
Over 30 million episodes The Percolating Ideas
Use a podcast as an alternative way to feature researchers How to get around some of the obvious stumbling blocks (time, resources, skills, etc.) The Research
Started speaking to other communications people at UofT and beyond So many online resources about podcasting and this blog about podcasting for beginners quickly became one of my favourites https://blog.bufferapp.com/podcasting-for- beginners quickly became my favourite The Research (cont’d)
From the Buffer Social blog some of the more practical tips included the following: Get a good microphone Sample outline (show intro, intro music, topic 1, topic 2, interlude, closing remarks, etc.) Suggested ideal length for podcast (22 minutes) The Plan
Put together a plan to present Sourced the equipment Came up with a lineup of people to profile and some themes to cover The Mission
To showcase UTM research and researchers To generate new and original content Coming to terms with the fact that I am not out / not equipped to produce the next This American Life, 99% invisible, The Moth, or Reply All … The Equipment - Podcast in a box
• Zoom H4N Recorder • 2 Schur mics and 2 LINK chords for the mics • 2 mic stands The Set-up The Name
Naming the podcast was a challenge because we have all disciplines & departments to cover The List
Basic instructions to remind myself
(forward my phone, offer the guest water, take a picture, have them sign a photo-release form/waiver, etc.) The Interview
Professor Ulrich Krull, Chemical & Physical Sciences The Tech Talk
And this is totally coming from a non-techy person The Editing
The editing process is what takes up the majority of my time in podcasting The Editing I use a FREE program called Audacity The Editing The Platform SoundCloud The Repository The Transcript The Lessons Learned (and in some cases what I will call “anec-don’ts”) The Second Interview Season 1 Episode 2
Professor Alexandra Gillespie, English & Drama Recorded interview in a noisy environment The Fourth Interview Season 1 Episode 4
Professor Evonne Levy, Visual Studies A serious interviewee The First (real) Interview Season 1 Episode 5
Embargoed information
Professor Rhonda McEwen, Institute of Communication, Culture, Information & Technology The Unexpected Season 1 Episode 6
Professor Christine Shaw, Blackwood Gallery
Bumped up the interview to announce large grant The Big Edit Season 1 Episode 11
Professor Soo Min Toh, Institute for Management & Innovation Way too much material for podcast – lots to edit out The Challenges
Getting used to new programs – SoundCloud is pretty easy. Also learning about RSS feeds, etc. Some of the aforementioned audio issues – all newbie mistakes or learning how to improve. How to market and get it out to broader audience? The Engagement of Students? The Positive Outcomes The Positive Outcomes
It has been archived on our institutional repository (TSpace) as another platform for people to access the podcast – it has to do with researchers and their outputs. On top of the listens it gets on SoundCloud, it has an additional 1500 through TSpace. One of the profs said that the podcast helped recruit international students who heard her interview. It’s recently been added to a recruitment office communications vehicle in a segment called “why UTM?” that is sent to students who have been accepted. The Positive Outcomes Season 1 Episode 12
Professor Ron Buliung, Geography Used podcast as part of a class assignment The Positive Outcomes Season 1 Episode 3
Professor Loren Martin, Psychology Linked to podcast from his website The Positive Outcomes Season 2 Episode 8
Professor Jennifer Stellar, Psychology Podcast was picked up in another UofT media vehicle and yielded a large number of listens The Positive Outcomes Season 1 Episode 8 Season 2 Episodes 1 & 6 Season 3 Episode 2
Repurposing podcast content
Professor Neda Maghbouleh Professors Jodie Jenkinson & Shelley Wall, and PhD candidate Andrea Gauthier (center) The Positive Outcomes Season 3 Episodes 4 & 5
Professor Arsalan Kahnemuyipour Professor Tracey Galloway Timing podcasts with commemorative days - e.g. multiculturalism day, National Indigenous Peoples Day Boosts morale The Positive Outcomes Establishes good rapport The Stats As of September 2019 - over 9550 listens & counting total The Stats The Stats The Team
Professor VP, Research Professor Bryan Stewart Director, Research Devin Kreuger & me The Silent Partner
Audiophile & musician Tim Lane “I think the only way for you to grow and evolve is to keep listening, keep moving forward, keep jumping in and trying to experience.”
− Dianne Reeves Jazz singer References
Buffer Social Blog https://blog.bufferapp.com/podcasting-for- beginners History of Podcasting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_podcasting National Post article about the rise of podcasting http://nationalpost.com/podcast-news-how-a-once-nerdy-audio-tool-is- ushering-in-a-new-golden-age-of-radio Podcast definition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast RSS definition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS UofT’s TSpace https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/ VIEW to the U on SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/user-642323930 Thank you!
Carla DeMarco Research Communications & Grants Manager Office of Vice-Principal, Research
Twitter @cjdemarco @UTM_Research Instagram cjdemarco69 uoftmississaugaresearch Questions?