Mad Money Machine

Podcast Expo 2006 Notes

As you may have heard me say, I attended the Podcast Expo in Ontario CA this past weekend. It was the first time I have attended any podcast-related event and actually the first expo of any kind since 1997 when I had the amazingly good fortune to be able to attend an all-expense-paid trip to the Microsoft Developers Conference in Nice, France. Wow, what an experience that was.

But Podcast Expo 2006 was more important for me and the Mad Money Machine. The energy that I received has really motivated me to keep the MMM going and make it as good a show as I can make it. You keep listening, and I’ll keep talking. A deal?

The most amazing thing was that some people came up to me and said not only that they listen to the MMM, but that it is one of their favorite shows! I cannot tell you how motivating that is for me, knowing that I’m not talking purely into the vacuum of space. Or worse, that people listen and hate it.

Oh, and I put in a respectable, if perhaps overly conservative, performance at the Holdem’ tournament. I almost made it to the final table out of four tables. I think out of roughly 30 players starting, I went all in and then all out at about 10-11-12th place or something. (But in that hand I had A-3 of hearts and the flop saw two more hearts show up. But alas, the final heart for the flush stayed with the deck and had me relinquishing my seat.) You could definitely tell the difference in knowing the statistics of which cards should win and knowing how to bluff when you don’t have the cards. Those guys were good.

I had 2nd row center seats for the first two keynotes: Leo Laporte (of This Week in Tech) and Ron Moore the Executive Producer of Battlestar Galactica. (I think on Ticketmaster they could have gone for a hundred bucks.) The audio from those should be available in a few days in case you are interested in details. I liked how Leo said we need more than Apple’s iTunes in the podcasting space. Help Microsoft! And Ron talked about how and why he does his podcast. He said virtually nothing about the upcoming season. He said he wondered why he was invited to a Podcast Expo, after all.

I met Steve from The SG Show where he and his 8-year old son Sam do a conversational podcast. I’ve subscribed and I hope you’ll take a listen too. They’ve got a great thing going between them.

I met David G. Lopez from the Behind the Wedding Mic podcast. What an upbeat guy David is and a joy to talk with. While I’m hoping I won’t have much to do with weddings for many years, I did listen to his show and he puts on a first-class program. And hey David, thanks for the tip of entering the drawing to win the Samson Q1U Microphone! I was in the car ready to head for the airport when they called me and said I had won!

I met Michael Auzenne of Manager Tools, winner of the Best Business Podcast at PodcastAwards.com. What a surprise to find out that he lives in Northern Virginia also! We will definitely have to have a podcasters meetup somewhere in Tyson’s Corner or someplace because I also met the MommyCast four who also live here. Any other Northern Virginia, DC, or Maryland podcasters out there?

Unfortunately for me, Manager Tools did not take the prize for Best Podcast overall, because that means I won’t have a chance to win best business podcast next year either (ha ha). But seriously, I do listen to Manager Tools and I know why it has such a huge following. Great material! If you haven’t hear their two-part podcast on Meal Etiquette, you risk looking foolish. (After hearing their show, I was careful not to eat a salad or ribs when I met with my sponsor.) And their newest podcast on running large meetings is one that I wish all presenters that I have to listen to in the future would listen to now.

Best podcast went to Grape Radio. WOW, what a great thing they have going there. I met Jay Selman and he has so many ideas on how to promote a show, how to monitize a show. I told him he should write a book. Nah, stick to making great shows.

I met Don D. Lewis of Low Country Radio who gave me some tips on using Adobe Audition that I told him I thought paid for the trip. His shows’ audio quality is first-rate.

I met Frank Edward Nora of The Overnightscape. He is now beyond 550 shows and has been doing podcasts since before podcasting. His suggested word for it is “New-Time Radio,” you know, as opposed to “Old-Time Radio.”

I told Leo Laporte that we already have the words: audio, stereo, radio, video. So instead of podcast, how about “netio?” Also, I asked him to record a tag for my show on my portable recorder. He said, “Hi this is Leo Laporte of This Week in Tech and when I get mad at my money I always listen to the Mad Money Machine.” When I went back to listen to it on my recorder, it wasn’t there. Bad recorder. Bad recorder.

After the panel discussion that Frank Barnako held on advertising in podcasting, I spoke with him about how I thought that when big media comes in and takes over all of the top 1000 spots, us independents still won’t be attractive to advertisers. I don’t think he concurred with that thought. He then whipped out his microphone and itsy-bitsy recorder from his bag and interviewed me about the Mad Money Machine podcast. I have no idea now what I said, but I hope it was coherent and factual. I should have recorded it myself!

In the Rocketboom guy’s keynote, he talked about how he sells $4000 worth of T-shirts a month without trying AT ALL. And imagine what he could do if he put any effort into it. Amazing what happens when attention turns into dollars.

The early history of podcasting is still being written. It is fun being a part of it. Let’s work together to make sure it turns out great.