In 2004, I discovered files on the internet called ‘audio blogs’ (later called ‘podcasts’). They were usually 30-45 minutes in length and consisted of conversations between people on a wide variety of topics. The content was much different than traditional radio. There was no ‘watch’ organization censuring the language and no time-limit restrictions. Some of the shows I listened to were “The Daily Source Code” with Adam Curry and The Dawn and Drew Show.
I did not own an mp3 player, so I would burn an hours’ worth of shows to audio CD and listen during my work commute, working out, or when I went to bed. After awhile it became tedious to burn CDs so I bought an mp3 player. I refused to buy an Apple iPod because I felt it was way too expensive. I found a brand called iRiver that was much cheaper and allowed me to record my own stereo audio stream, as well.
iTunes did not support podcasts at that time. You had to download a free ‘pod catcher’ such as iPodder and Juice. You would subscribe to podcast RSS feeds from an on-line ‘aggregator’.
My Own Podcast
A year later, it occurred to me that there were no podcasts about geocaching, my favorite hobby. I decided to create one focusing on geocaching-related activities and geocachers in the St. Louis area. I did research to determine the bare minimum equipment I would need to create, edit, and publish episodes. I learned how to edit an XML metadata file (RSS feed) containing episode info and upload it to iTunes,which now provided a place to advertise home-grown podcasts. Since I was the SLAGA (St. Louis Area Geocachers Association) webmaster, it was easy for me to publish the actual mp3 file episodes on the internet without depending on any other web site or pay any monthly fees.
From 2005 – 2008, I recorded audio from geocaching events and interviewed geocachers outdoors and at my dining room table. I published a new episode every week or so. I tried to keep episodes between 25 – 45 minutes because that seemed to be the sweet spot on podcast episode duration based on presumed consumer attention span and commute time.
During the time I was creating podcasts, a handful of others around the country were creating their own geocaching podcast content. Occasionally I would appear as a guest on those podcasts. There was very little overlap in our content because we were physically distributed around the U.S. and had different ideas as to what we wanted our podcasts to be. I decided I did not want to try to grow a following or a community around my podcasts. One geocaching podcast that started just before I created mine was ‘Podcacher’. Sonny and Sandy continue to make episodes out of the San Diego area and cover geocaching topics world wide.
Episodes 1 – 100
The SLAGA (St. Louis Area Geocachers Association) web site still provides an on-line index to the podcasts. Episode #1 was audio I gathered at an event in St. Charles, Missouri where SLAGA had a booth to explain geocaching to the general public. I recorded on an iRiver mp3 player. The audio was terrible, but it was a start. Later episodes included interviews with local geocachers at my dining room table where I could better control of the ambient noise and lay out the audio equipment ahead of time. But I liked to get audio while outdoors because that is where geocaching takes place! I would attend geocaching events and grab a few people who I knew were prolific in the hobby or had interesting stories to tell. I created a poor-man’s wireless microphone setup so that I could attach a microphone to the interviewee as we walked around the woods.
I created audio podcasts at MOGA events (Midwest Open Geocaching Adventure) – (episodes #20 – #22). In order to help promote the hobby of geocaching, I had discussions with local land managers about rules and regulations of placing geocaches on public land and how the hobby promoted family values and respect for property. In 2006, I took a week-long trip by myself to Arkansas to interview geocachers in that state (episodes #36 – #41). The only full phone interview I ever did was with Eric Colley – writer, director and producer of ‘GPS, The Movie (episode #28). During the summer of 2008, I was nearing three years of production and 100 episodes. I decided to make episode #100 a retrospective of previous episodes. I chose a few people I previously interviewed and called them up on Skype to find out where they were now and what new geocaching adventures they had been on.
