Listener Companion Podcast?

[Muadib]

So, I was at work today and I was listening to one of the listener roundtable shows and I remembered an idea I had awhile back but never posted. I love the listener roundtable shows, I think that one of the best things about this show is the amount of interaction between the hosts and the listeners and the guests and the listeners (question bank) I also think that we have some extremely intelligent listeners who have some brilliant perspectives on all aspects of the paranormal. I think it's one of the shows greatest strengths and it keeps me coming back to the forums time and time again, but, what about those who don't have time to participate in the forums or don't feel comfortable with forums in general? Why should these people not get the benefit of the intelligent, informed discussions that happen on this forum on a daily basis?

So I came up with the idea of a listener companion podcast, it would basically be like a listener roundtable that happens every week, but Gene and Chris don't have to participate unless they want to, this would be something created solely by the listeners. We'd need to find someone willing to host it, one of the moderators would be a good choice I think, someone like Goggs or Jeff Crowell, provided they could find the time and were interested. We'd also need to figure out the logistics, things like how we would record it, when it would happen, how we determine who's going to be on it and things of that nature. The format would be just the listeners who want to participate discussing the past weeks show roundtable style. I think it could pretty great if we could get it off of the ground, and Gene and Chris could even offer it as premium content if they wanted to or make it part of a Paracast Youtube channel or something like that.

I don't know, what does everyone else think? Is this a shit idea or am I onto something here?

 

[smcder]

I don't know, what does everyone else think? Is this a shit idea or am I onto something here?

I think you are onto something . . .

 

[Burnt State]

This is an exceptional idea and a great way to consolidate both listener feedback and critical ideas. It would require some heavy editing to keep it focussed and worthwhile to listen to as a companion piece. I love the idea of diversifying voices as well through a companion podcast as it gives a lot of other forum members opportunities to yap and share new perspectives in a dynamic live format.

 

[Randall]

The Paracast is a commercial venture with name and advertising rights and I think it would need Gene's approval in order to use any of the Paracast branding. To do that you'd need to convince Gene that there would be some net benefit for him.

I've had requests and suggestions in the past for USI to do a podcast, but with both Chris and Gene already doing such an excellent job, it would seem kind of redundant. Still, I admit that sometimes it would be nice to do more appearances, so I'm constantly torn by the idea of doing something. What I really think would be cool is to get sponsored by someone with a serious production budget for video presentations. I can think of some really great cases that could benefit from a 100% realistic portrayal.

 

[Muadib]

The Paracast is a commercial venture with name and advertising rights and I think it would need Gene's approval in order to use any of the Paracast branding. To do that you'd need to convince Gene that there would be some net benefit for him.

I've had requests and suggestions in the past for USI to do a podcast, but with both Chris and Gene already doing such an excellent job, it would seem kind of redundant. Still, I admit that sometimes it would be nice to do more appearances, so I'm constantly torn by the idea of doing something. What I really think would be cool is to get sponsored by someone with a serious production budget for video presentations. I can think of some really great cases that could benefit from a 100% realistic portrayal.

True, but it wouldn't necessarily have to make use of the Paracast brand name and I'm certainly not thinking about doing it to generate cash via ad revenue. If it was something Gene and Chris wanted to sanction or be involved with, that's one thing, but there are other ways of going about it. Obviously, there could be benefits for the show as a whole, but all that would depend on the quality of the product and whether or not Gene and Chris would be interested in doing something with it. I honestly had something a bit more informal in mind than a structured radio show with ads, like you said the original show does that so well I don't see much point to it. This would be something made by the listeners for the listeners and while it would definitely need to be structured, I don't see it needing to be quite as rigid as the radio format that the Paracast makes use of. Ultimately, it was just an idea and maybe that's all it will ever be, but I do think this show is missing an opportunity by not making more use of its amazing listener base, the listener roundtables are great but far to infrequent for my tastes.

 

[Randall]

True, but it wouldn't necessarily have to make use of the Paracast brand name and I'm certainly not thinking about doing it to generate cash via ad revenue. If it was something Gene and Chris wanted to sanction or be involved with, that's one thing, but there are other ways of going about it. Obviously, there could be benefits for the show as a whole, but all that would depend on the quality of the product and whether or not Gene and Chris would be interested in doing something with it. I honestly had something a bit more informal in mind than a structured radio show with ads, like you said the original show does that so well I don't see much point to it. This would be something made by the listeners for the listeners and while it would definitely need to be structured, I don't see it needing to be quite as rigid as the radio format that the Paracast makes use of. Ultimately, it was just an idea and maybe that's all it will ever be, but I do think this show is missing an opportunity by not making more use of its amazing listener base, the listener roundtables are great but far to infrequent for my tastes.

Hmm, I like the spirit of this idea. Let it percolate and see what happens. Maybe something will materialize. Like this: instant, intuitive online group voice chats. We could use the forum to setup the chats and then all sign on, and have someone record them ( which should be easy ) and then all we'd need is storage space to host the audio files. For that maybe we could use something like: http://www.podbean.com/site/podcastDetail/index/pid/90932

 

[Muadib]

Hmm, I like the spirit of this idea. Let it percolate and see what happens. Maybe something will materialize. Like this: instant, intuitive online group voice chats. We could use the forum to setup the chats and then all sign on, and have someone record them ( which should be easy ) and then all we'd need is storage space to host the audio files. For that maybe we could use something like: http://www.podbean.com/site/podcastDetail/index/pid/90932

Yeah I was thinking of something similar to group voice chat, maybe like a Teamspeak or Ventrillo server (if it's still around, been awhile since I used Vent) which would be handy because everyone isn't mic'd up at the same time as long as you're using the push to talk feature, it would give us the added benefit of being able to designate a moderator, that way order could be maintained if things suddenly got out of hand and it would also be very simple to record. Thanks for the Podbean link, I wasn't familiar with that site but it seems like it would be perfect for something like this...

 

[Goggs Mackay]

I think there is plenty merit to this idea but first and foremost I suppose anything using the Paracast 'brand' as it were would have to be cleared with Gene.
Having been on a few times myself and knowing the quality of participation in the forums, I can imagine plenty worthy listeners who should contribute. I've no wish to promote myself to lead/steer/host this because I think we haven't heard from enough listeners to see who we may be missing. I think quite a few people might like a go but might be a bit apprehensive at the thought of being broadcast (naturally) but most would find (as Mike did recently) that when it happens, it's a far more comfortable experience than one might think.

Muadib - if you don't hear from Gene or Chris on this thread, I'd PM them - they don't read every thread - who has the time!

I think the listener roundtable shows have been pretty much universally popular and I really can envisage some really lively interactions of listeners, especially on the back of a good main show. We shall see. It's good that people even care enough to wish to evolve the Paracast brand.

 

[Muadib]

I think there is plenty merit to this idea but first and foremost I suppose anything using the Paracast 'brand' as it were would have to be cleared with Gene.
Having been on a few times myself and knowing the quality of participation in the forums, I can imagine plenty worthy listeners who should contribute. I've no wish to promote myself to lead/steer/host this because I think we haven't heard from enough listeners to see who we may be missing. I think quite a few people might like a go but might be a bit apprehensive at the thought of being broadcast (naturally) but most would find (as Mike did recently) that when it happens, it's a far more comfortable experience than one might think.

Muadib - if you don't hear from Gene or Chris on this thread, I'd PM them - they don't read every thread - who has the time!

I think the listener roundtable shows have been pretty much universally popular and I really can envisage some really lively interactions of listeners, especially on the back of a good main show. We shall see. It's good that people even care enough to wish to evolve the Paracast brand.

You or Mike would be my first choice of hosts, not only because you're both super intelligent but because you're both well liked and respected around here and you have awesome accents that make for great radio voices to boot. I don't know if I'll pursue this further with Gene or Chris, I'd like to get a general idea of how most of the long term forum members feel about this idea and their willingness to participate in making it happen before I'd involve Chris or Gene, simply because I don't have the time to put this whole thing together and it's very much an unfinished concept at this point. Thanks for your feedback though Goggs, it's much appreciated.

 

[Christopher O'Brien]

I think this is an idea with merit. Of course it would ultimately be up to Gene, since he is the "forum superhero."

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Part of the premium package perhaps?

 

[Christopher O'Brien]

Sure. My main concern would be possible trolls and/or people driven by a disruptive, negative agenda against the Paracast, its hosts or its listeners.

 

[Muadib]

Part of the premium package perhaps?

That was one of my suggestions, or you could offer it up on a Paracast themed Youtube channel perhaps, if the channel became popular that would certainly generate some serious ad revenue that you guys could use for your own purposes, like Gene's bills or Chris's investigations, or you could reinvest it back into the main show.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Well, we all have bills.

 

[Muadib]

Sure. My main concern would be possible trolls and/or people driven by a disruptive, negative agenda against the Paracast, its hosts or its listeners.

I thought of this too and in order to prevent things like that happening I would propose a period of time that you would have to be active on the forum and maybe even a certain number of posts you would have to make before you could apply to be part of the listener podcast. That way everyone on the show is a known quantity and obviously there should be other safeguards in place like the ability to forcibly moderate the conversation, only when necessary, to make sure that things never got to the point of being out of control. Of course, anything like that could also be done in editing as I don't think this would make for a good live show. There would obviously have to be a set of rules in place, possibly similar to those of the main show like no cursing and no political tangents if this was going to be part of the main Paracast family of products.

 

[Muadib]

Now that I think about it, you could even put in place a system of positive reinforcement whereby the listeners who participate in the listener podcast can be selected to appear on one of the main listener roundtables based on how much they impress Gene or Chris or maybe by the results of a forum poll of the listeners or something like that, kind of like a farm team for the main listener roundtable.

 

[Christopher O'Brien]

Now that I think about it, you could even put in place a system of positive reinforcement whereby the listeners who participate in the listener podcast can be selected to appear on one of the main listener roundtables based on how much they impress Gene or Chris or maybe by the results of a forum poll of the listeners or something like that, kind of like a farm team for the main listener roundtable.

Good point.

 

[Burnt State]

Sure. My main concern would be possible trolls and/or people driven by a disruptive, negative agenda against the Paracast, its hosts or its listeners.

I realky like Muadib's 'personal merit' model where you can promote thoughtful voices that can both critique or praise, but not be biased. Using those listener casts as a means to promote voices would be best facilitated by previous roundtable participants and listeners who are able to steer the conversation in positive directions and cut off pointess negativity, bias or inappropriate dialogue. At the same time, if it has no edge or critical insight, then it might not be worth listening to if it's all just congratulatory backslapping.

Beyond listeners applying to be on a companion podcast review, it would be even more exiting to sponsor proposals from listeners who may want to focus on more specific topics, as a small collective, to look at different historical cases, unique aspects of the phenomenon etc. and really take advantage of some of the heavy duty and imaginative thinking that constantly impresses. That would be really exceptional.