Ironically, the podcasting podcast disappoints.
March 16, 2006
In theory, it was led by a panel of four, including one woman, Laura Swisher. In reality it was dominated by the nasal, obnoxious Chris Pirillo of Lockergnome ("If you type 'chris' into Google and click 'I'm feeling lucky,' you'll get me"). Laura answered a question in the thirteenth minute, and did not speak again until literally the last minute:
Chris: Laura, do you have anything to say?
Laura: No, I'm good.
Chris. Okay.
Even more annoyingly, most of the conversation was driven by questions from the audience and—and I can't believe they weren't on top of this in the PODCASTING panel—the audience's questions were not recorded! So, after the panel's introduction, the entire podcast consisted of silences punctuated by "okay ... yeah" from the panelists, followed by the answer to a question I hadn't heard. I literally threw up my hands in frustration when this happened:
[long silence]
Chris: Wait, can you repeat that again? It was a really good quote. Can you please repeat it.
[much longer silence]
Chris: All right. And that's fine.
Grrrrrr ....
UPDATE: Chris Pirillo responded to this post; make sure you read his comments and my reaction.
ANOTHER UPDATE: I heard from a nice guy who worked like a madman, with little help, to record 100 SXSW panels in four days. They've created an actual feed for the podcasts so they are easier to synch up.
Just for the record, I want to say that, overall, I was really happy with the quality of the podcasts, and of course I was thrilled that they were free! Thanks SXSW!
1. Chill.
2. I had requested a roaming mic before the thing began.
3. Levels were all over the place to begin with.
4. I'm not *THAT* obnoxious, but I was starting to get a cold.
5. I gave up trying to repeat everything - it's difficult to do when you have a handful of folks (each with something they might or might not want to say).
6. At least we didn't use PowerPoint.
7. You shouldn't complain too loudly for getting the thing for free. ;)
I responded to Chris by email last night but thought I should put it in the comments for all to see:
"Ha ha! You found my blog! I thought I lived at such a level of obscurity that you'd never come across my little thoughts. Not that I'm sorry you did.
"I am really, really glad the podcasts were free. It was great to be able to listen in on something I'll probably never attend in person. The first few I listened to were so thought-provoking, and they gave me such high hopes for the rest, which is the first thing that led me to be disappointed by the Podcasting 2.0 one. It probably could not have lived up to my expectations.
"The main problem was not being able to hear the questions. That's not a dig at you, I know you were not the one handling logistics in the room. I just wish someone had taken care of it, because the discussion (as podcast) would have been much richer. But, as you say, I can't complain about getting something for free, and even a flawed peek inside the sessions is better than nothing.
"Lastly, maybe I should have been more specific about what I meant by obnoxious. ;) For an example, I found your attitude towards amateurs -- that those beginners who are interested in podcasting shouldn't bother; they should leave a voicemail -- condescending and insulting. I say this as someone who is interested in trying it out, learning how to edit audio with Audacity, see what comes of it. No, I'm not going to spend $600 on a mic, but I'm going to play around and learn something and have fun doing it, and maybe my mom or my brother will listen. You (rhetorical You) don't think I have anything worthwhile to say? No problem! Don't listen!
"That's all. Hope that maybe clarifies a bit. Tomorrow when I'm more alert I think I'll paste this in my comments section so others can see.
"Thanks for sharing your comments."
This doesn't happen often on my site. (Last time was when I made complaints about the Segou music festival and was contacted by the organizers.) Fun!
...and don't forget the time my husband e-mailed you. ;) Isn't it fun being opinionated? This seems to have happened to me a lot lately on my blog, so I've toned down my oft-abrasive opinions quite a bit. I think it takes away from my content a little bit, but hey, at least everyone is comfortable for the most part. :)
