Last week I went through the podcasts I listen to, or at least those I own up to listening to. This week, I’m following up on that theme by reviewing how we record the
Dover Download podcast. First off, it isn’t live. Believe it or not, I’ve been asked that. So, no, it isn’t radio. It is a pre-recorded podcast.
The intention of the podcast is to share what is occurring in Dover and help communicate information about programs and activities that are occurring here in the Dover community. With that in mind, Mike Gillis, our talented Media Services director, and I have developed a list of topics. Some of these are topics that we’d like to learn more about, and others we’ve been asked to discuss. We are trying to expose all areas of the City, and by the end of the summer, each department should have been showcased at least once.
So, we have a running list of topics. I schedule the recording of the shows with Mike and the guest. Typically, the scheduling is one to three weeks ahead of the recording. We try and record a few at once. In fact, we typically record three to four episodes back-to-back, so if needed, we can be a month deep in content. The sessions are maybe 30-45 minutes each, depending on the topic, the depth of the topic, and the number of guests.
We have a simple outline, as you may have noticed. Intro the topic, introduce the guest, chat, and ask the guest about what makes Dover special. Straight and to the point. We’d rather have tight episodes that people can commute with and have multiple conversations with the guest to flesh out a topic than have long conversations that the listener might lose steam on. I am not sure how the 3-hour podcasts occur. The recording and the editing alone must take a lot out of the hosts and guests.
So, we record, and then Media Services intercuts the opening, the interludes, and the ending credits. By Monday, I get a copy of the edited show to review. We have a schedule of topics that we hope to cover and release weekly into August at this point.
In all, for season two, we have 52 weekly episodes. Will they all occur? Maybe. We’ll see as we get closer to go. I like the idea of having both topical episodes (Public Works Week is next week) and general episodes where we learn about, say the Arena Commissions mission. Both are important and meet the mission of the Dover Download podcast.
Ok, no more podcast chatter for a while.
PS: 28 ballparks down, two to go.
PPS: Happy birthday to the three or four people I know with birthdays today. I know they do because it’s my wife’s anniversary, so happy anniversary to her. Why she stays with him is unclear to me, but his life is better because she does.
