LabRats #092: at New Media Expo 2007, I

Are podcasts here to stay? All creators involved in this new medium are perfectly convinced this is the case. Otherwise, they wouldn't be involved in it, after all.

First and foremost, those who create podcasts must be interested in their topics themselves. While this should be a rule of thumb in any and all creative endeavours, it isn't, especially where mass production is involved.

Secondly, podcasts, just like their other media relatives, should know their goal is not only to inform and entertain, they could also educate their viewers. Again, this holds true for all of the other media, too, but in podcasts it's easier done than said.

A series of podcasts on science where some of the parts can get more than 100,000 downloads, now, that's amazing. It started as a summer-evening conversation over beers about the increased role science plays in our lives and how little we know about it. From a broadcast on a college community radio it developed into one of the best known podcasts available.

One of the secrets: the creators know and respect their audiences. Again, one would have expected all of the media to know this secret. Turns out this is one of the particular attractions for successful podcasts. Logically, it seems the so-called classic media must have forgotten something.

Want to see that science can be a good basis for exciting podcasts? Go to This Week In Science to see what a good science podcast site is all about.

In this installment of LabRats, Andy Walker and Sean Carruthers also show it isn't always easy. There are such things as intellectual rights, something more than a few of podcast creators seem to forget, and they shouldn't. After all, what if somebody used THEIR creation without permission, never mind paying them?

For those of you interested in getting started with your own podcast, be it audio or video, consider the following equipment: Samson Microphone, Garage Band, MacBook Pro, Sony HDC-F950 Camera, Sound Devices 722t, and the Canon HV20 HD Camera.

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