What the heck are you doing blogging on the Monday after your wedding? And why would you do a champagne cruise with Shel Holtz instead of with Cindy? I demand a blog entry from Cindy. It's time to hear HER side of the story.

Laura:

Here at Crescenzo Communications, we have a motto: The Work Never Stops.

No, just kidding. Our real motto is: Sorry We Missed The Deadline.

I don't leave for Italy until Wednesday, so I have a couple of days to bang out some work. But I'm on semi-vacation, too. Sort of a work vacation until we leave.

And Cindy would have been ON the champagne cruise with Shel and his wife. I think. I WAS going to ask her . . . but we've been together a lot lately, and she may want a break from me already.

People tend to want breaks from me.

Steve C.

Laura beat me to my question... so now I can answer yours. Nope, never. Listen to podcasts that is. And I am a card carrying geek, ostensibly an early adopter.

I have listened on occasion to "internet radio" (streaming variety) but for some reason I have a very short temper with it - much less forgiving of commercials, for instance. Maybe its the "buffering" thing, or bandwidth issues, or whatever, but as soon as the first break comes, BAM, i'm gone. Like written words on the 'net, I think I am a skimmer and scanner of audio content as well. Always looking to ffwd to ONLY the parts I want to hear, and nothing else.

I *read* Shel's podcast descriptions as they are posted, but then think, well, kind of interesting... but nah, I'll pass. So, maybe its just not on my radar yet (and I am an MP3 player user...well.... ogg file user anyway, which just increased my street cred.) but I really can't be bothered. And I am really not sure why...

I agree with Neruda. I'm a Web junkie now, and I can't stand linear presentations any more. I want a menu of topics, and if a topic interests me, I want hyperlinks and the ability to cut-and-paste.

I guess I work with eyes and fingers more than with ears. Other people, other ways.

First off, thanks again to Laura for asking the question all of us were thinking--why are you blogging instead of snogging in Italy with the new Mrs. C? The whole we-are-not-leaving-until-Wednesday explanation was good (and smart... usually you need a day or so to recover from a wedding).

As for the podcast thing, the only one I listen to is iTunes New Music Tuesday...mainly because I cannot figure out how to remove it from my iPod, it automatically loads a new one onto my iPod every week when I charge my pod, and I occasionally hear new music I want to go buy. I have seen podcasts on websites and toyed with the thought of listening to them, but never have so far.

I would be open to the idea though, especially if you do one, which I know would turn out to be both informative and hilarious. So I say give it a shot...what could it hurt?

Sonya

Hey man,

Nice blog you've got.

I believe podcasting is quite interesting, but honestly, I can't stand podcasts that last more than 20 minutes. I believe it's better to have like part 1 and part 2, both lasting 20 minutes, than just 1 podcast lasting 40 minutes.

Anyway, good luck man!

Daniel Wagner
Ponta Grossa, Brasil

Aw, c'mon, Tim. You've given up on linear media? You don't read books? Watch TV? Go to the movies? And there's no value to listening to a conversation as audio? I coulda sworn that "sound" was among our senses...

Stevie C:

Yes, I listen to a few podcasts: Disney's, Dawn & Drew, the Good Beer & Shel & Neville's!

Itunes greatly facilitated the inclusion of more of these as subscribing is very easy. They're great for working out to as it takes your mind off the exercise.

Congratulations, Steve! And have a blast in Italy. (Oh, and no, I've never listened to a podcast. One of these days...)

Daniel, I have not given up on linear media for entertainment - just for information. When watching TV for news I am a channel-hopper. When using a book for information I usually use the index and table of contents heavily.

I will tolerate a linear presentation of information if the topic requires a sequential unfolding. That such unfolding is rarely done well is another topic entirely.

I listen to a few podcasts on a regular basis. The content of many podcasts seems to be pretty hit-and-miss in my opinion, but good podcasts can be really good. I for one would definitely be interested in a Steve C podcast.

It occurs to me that Steve C would be kinda like the Howard Stern of the podcast world.

Congratulations, Steve! I love weddings and kept going to my own for years. I wish you and Cindy all of the very best. My wives have mellowed me, but I hope Cindy doesn't have that kind of redeeming value on you life (well, on your life is ok, but not your pithy, biting writing). I look forward to the next time our paths cross, Uncle Fester. Thanks for your support. --Connie

I'm not a podcast listener yet, but I've been thinking a lot about it lately. And if I could listen at work, I'm sure I would have started already. My boyfriend works from home and regularly listens to internet radio and podcasts. His fave of late is CBC Radio 3 (http://www.cbcradio3.com/) ... oh yeah, we're Canadian ... CBC is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Anyway, you may have heard the buzz that Canadian indie music is hot hot hot these days. Whether you've heard it or not, a great way to check it out is to listen in on this podcast.

Another early podcast favorite from Canada is by our resident rock historian, Alan Cross. It's called The Ongoing History of New Music and can be found here: http://www.edge.ca

--richelle

um - and no - i don't do any promotional work for either of those media outlets (cbc or the edge). :)

--richelle

Steve:

Business before pleasure:
Podcasts -- no, not even Shel's. Wouldn't even know how to go about trying to experience one ... but I'm usually about 10 years behind the curve, so maybe someday in the next decade.

And now, on to Stevie C. matters:
There's definitely some Dr. Evil in your photo here, too, in addition to Uncle Fester. It looks like a hallucination of some sort itself, so it goes nicely with the title of your blog.

Congrats to you and Cindy on your nuptials! There's nothing better than being married to the right person. My wife and I just celebrated our 21st anniversary; I hope you and Cindy enjoy that many and more. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting the new Mrs. C. (as far as I know), but she must be one special lady.

See you in D.C. soon!

First off, hats off to you for really good blog - it's great read. Now on to podcasts.... Being a commuter, I've entirely abandoned FM for podcasts. It's the only time I have to escape the commercials and learn new things - I'm a big fan of Shel & Neville's Podcast and have about a dozen others I listent to (did I mention that it's a really long commute?). I'm sure I'm not the only geek with a podcatcher, an MP3 player and some free time to listen.

I encourage you to take a stab at enhancing your excellent blog with an occasional podcast - see if you and your audience think - my money says it'll be well received.
Best of luck!
Pat

Pretend it's 1992. Then the question would be: Do you use e-mail? In 2005 Steve poses the question, "do you listen to podcasts?" I say this kindly, but it reminds me of Henry Ford. In 1908 or so, he combines the assembly line, marketing, and automobiles to create one of the biggest changes in human culture. But by 1945, Pres. Roosevelt had to recall his son from the war in Europe to run Ford because Henry was no longer a change agent and he had atrophied into his comfort zone and was running his company into the ground.

My company has a lot of sales people who drive cars which have CD players. I am in the process of creating "10-Minute Topics" which are focused on best practices. If they don't have mp3 players, I'll burn CD's for them to listen in their cars. Groundrules:
10 minutes or less to keep it from boring them to sleep
Two voices, one asking questions, again to keep it from being boring
90% scripted so that we are concise and don't have a lot of tangents, uh's and ahhh's.

Don't just stand there, change something!

Regards,

Glenn

Steve:

Who even knew you were available? Oh well. Congrats!

I've loved talk radio since I was a kid in the '70s listening to CBS Radio Mystery Theater, so I think I'll be a podcast natural once I figure how to do it. First I have to figure out how to record "CSI" on my VCR. Truly the reason I haven't listened to podcasts yet is because I don't have an ipod, but the new Nano is on my Christmas list.

I have no doubt this is gonna be big. The ipod has become the gift of choice when we do an Employee or Agent incentive. Because it can be caught automatically (if I understand it correctly), it's both a push and a pull ...

Kathy, dont be fooled by the name "pod"cast - the process certainly does not require an iPOD, or any kind of mp3 player for that matter. Anything at all that can play an audio file - such as the very computer you used to make this blog comment - can be used to listen. Granted, some are more mobile than others.

Now, about recording CSI on your "VCR", can't help you there - it's not 1979 anymore...

- Neruda

I’m surprised not many people are interested in you doing a podcast, Steve. I for one would definitely listen and I think you’d do a great job, especially if your columns are anything to go by.

I’ve been listening to podcasts for a few months now and have learnt a few things:

• Podcasts are so much better than streaming audio/video because you download and save the whole mp3 file to your computer, so you can listen any time without needing to be connected to the internet and without the buffering problems, stalling, cut-outs, etc you get with streaming.
• You don’t need an iPod or mp3 player. You can listen on your computer or burn podcasts to CD (normal audio cd or mp3 cd) and listen in your car or at home.
• It helps if the podcast is available as a direct mp3 download (and as a WinZip version for corporate firewalls that don’t allow audio files through) for people who just want to listen without any special software.
• iTunes makes it incredibly easy to subscribe to your favourite podcasts. It’s free to download for Mac and PC and is a lot simpler and more intuitive than the RSS feeders that I’ve tried and found a bit daunting.
• Like radio, two presenters are better than one: gives a more dynamic show with people bouncing off each other.
• I disagree that they need to be short; if the presenters and the topic are interesting, then it’s no different to listening to a good radio show.
• Podcasts bring bloggers and columnists to life. I started listening to a Mini Cooper podcast at www.whiteroofradio.com because another Chicagoan Gabe Bridger of www.motoringfile.com was involved and it’s really nice to hear the voice of someone whose website you visit regularly.

Steve, if you wanted to dip your toes in the water, maybe you could see if Shel would have you on as a guest once in a while? There don’t seem to be many good corporate communications podcasts around so yours would be a great addition.