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ColdFusion Podcasts, past and present (and future?)

Note: This blog post is from 2008. Some content may be outdated--though not necessarily. Same with links and subsequent comments from myself or others. Corrections are welcome, in the comments. And I may revise the content as necessary.
In my blog entry yesterday about Kay Smoljak's valiant effort to do a weekly news entry, I commented about how others have tried it in the past, It's a tough job. Two of those who did were CF-related podcasts.

If you were asked how many CF podcasts are there, and have there been, what would be your answer? I did a little digging myself and present here what I found. It's a fun trip down memory lane of the world of CF podcasting.

If I've missed any, please do let me know.

Current (still running)

The following podcasts are still being updated:

  • ColdFusion Weekly, with Matt Woodward and Peter Farrell
  • CFUnited, playing recordings of conference presentations, hosted by Christian Ready
  • All Things Adobe has had one CF-related podcast, but has a category for them so may have more

Past

The following all appear no longer to be being updated:

  • OutLoud, with Hal Helms and Jeff Peters, ran for 47 episodes from Oct 2005 through Sep 2007
  • The ColdFusion Podcast, with Bryan Kaiser and Michael Haynie, ran for 38 episodes from Oct 2005 through Jan 2007
  • ColdFusion Muse, with Mark Kruger, ran for 13 episodes from Nov 2005 through May 2006
  • cfframeworks.com offered 8 interview podcasts hosted by Nick Tong and Kola Oyedeji, from Jan-Mar 2007
  • Mark Drew offered a few CFEclipse Videos as a podcast in 2006 (note they videos were designed to be small enough to view in an iPod)
  • the WebDU conference organizers (Geoff Bowers and Daemon), presented a couple of recordings of previous WebDU conferences in 2005
  • the Scotch on the Rocks conference organizers (Stephen Moretti and Andy Allan) tried to do this also with one episode in 2007
  • Aboutcast ran for a couple of episodes in 2006, hosted by Nic Tunney and AboutWeb
  • Steven Erat made two attempts at podcasts in 2005, first with the CFMX 7 podcast, where he read selected Macromedia Devnet articles about CF7, and then the even shorter-lived CF NewsRadio
  • I'm my own sql, hosted by C. Hatton Humphrey, ran out of HouseofFusion.com for just a couple of episodes in late 2006

Again, I welcome additions or corrections to this list. If you have any to offer, please do let me know.

Future?

Finally, what about that "and future?" tag in the subject? Well, I've been torn about saying anything before it's ready, but I've been contemplating entering the podcasting realm for a long time. I know others have considered it. Clearly, the list above shows that it's tough to make it.

That said, I've begun serious discussions with a colleague who some will know, John Mason, who runs FusionLink and FusionLink Labs (which has lots of neat stuff!). We've also worked together as board members of the Atlanta CF user group over the years.

I'll have more to say about what we plan. Naturally, I'd rather not just copycat what others have done. Indeed, I think there are a lot of areas that have not been covered, and we both are excited about the prospects. Look for more news in the near future. In the meantime, feel free to leave comments about what you might like to see in a podcast. Open your eyes beyond what you've heard before, and think beyond just what you may like. What do you think the CF Community, whether beginners or experts, could benefit hearing in a podcast form? We'll share out plans, and perhaps fold in some of yours, in the near future.

PS I know that others have also hinted at doing a podcast and then not gotten around to it. Again, I've been reluctant to say anything before being close, but since I had this history resource and wanted to share it, I figured I may as well "put my name into the race", to borrow a term from the current election season. :-)

Comments
I'm still an active listner of Matt and Peters ColdFusion weekly, I was a bit cut when Brian and Michael wound up the ColdFusion podcast...

but I didn't realise that OutLoud was officially over - I just thought it was on a loooooong hiatus. That's a loss. The banter between Hal Helms and Jeff Peters was entertaining and thought provoking. Where else can you hear about empiric victories or motorcycles or woodworking as it relates to software development? and of course some of the hassles Hal went through with the start-up company he worked at for a while (and why it ran into trouble).

are these the new "radio shows" for the digital age?
What's next: The CF-Goons show? or Monty Pythons Flying Website, perhaps?
# Posted By barry.b | 2/15/08 2:22 AM
I would suspect that Hal and Jeff really are just taking a long break. They have indicated they'll be back - although maybe Charlie has since heard they've changed their mind?

I floated the idea of doing an occasional short podcast - to a lot of positive feedback - but never quite found the time (I have plenty of notes). My plan was a short, interview-based format, that would feature a different CFer in each episode and look more at how they came to be a CFer and what their background is (as well as a little about what they do day-to-day). I felt that it would be nice to get a "human" look at many of the names we see on mailing lists and blogs.
Guys, guys, I didn't declare any podcasts "officially over" or dead. I said specifically of the "past" list merely that they "appear no longer to be being updated". I stand by my statement. :-) I have no inside info from Hal or Jeff that they've officially ended the podcast.

Why is it that only contentious things draw comment on blogs? :-) Is no one intrigued about the wide range of podcasts that have come and gone? No one saying, "wow, I didn't realize there were that many"? :-)

And Sean, I was of course aware of your toe dipped in the water earlier last year. You were among those who I had in mind in my PS. :-) As for the interview format, I'd been considering that, too, though not for the podcast I have in mind with John. If you think that teaming up might help get that kind of podcast off the ground, let me know if you'd like to consider doing it with me (meaning, if having someone else would help make it happen, I'd love to consider working together on it: but I totally understand if you prefer to do it on your own or with someone else).

I have a lot of ideas, too, and rather than create one podcast with a smörgåsbord of features, I (and John) are each contemplating some variations in different podcasts. We wonder if we might even create something of a "network" of shows (not meaning that they need to be of our own making, but that we could cross-promote all CF-related podcasts together.)

I know some will quip that the CF world's not big enough for more than one podcast, but I beg to differ. The community is made up of a very wide range of people and types, with diverse experience and interests. I think there's plenty of room for new ideas, and audiences waiting to be tapped.

It's mostly a matter of voices making the time to produce, and then finding and promoting to the audiences.

My blog isn't nearly as popular as yours, Sean, so I don't expect to see quite as much response to these ideas as you had in yours. But that's ok. To quote Brian McNamee in the Senate hearings this week, "it is what it is". :-)
"The community is made up of a very wide range of people and types, with diverse experience and interests. I think there's plenty of room for new ideas, and audiences waiting to be tapped."

that's the true point isn't it. I mean ,if you compare Helms and Peters OutLoud to ColdFusion Weekly, they're almost chalk'n'cheese. OutLoud don't do a lot of very CF specific stuff but does well in thoughts on software development whereas Weekly is more "news" focused and has been running a good series of interviews with CF "celebrities" whether Mark Mandel or Tim Buntel, etc.

"Is no one intrigued about the wide range of podcasts that have come and gone?"

I am, although from the point of "gone" and therefore why and by extension, the podcast's raison d'être in the first place. This isn't a knock of the idea - or of efforts taken - but just a reminder that success breeds longevity and that success can come either doing better than "competitors" (and since there's no direct revenue model, the competition is for people's ears especially if people are time-starved) or by providing something that others are not (gaining a new audience).

There are lots of traditional media examples to draw upon, where they be Michael Parkinson's long running career or Ray Camden getting excited over a new series of "Lost" (I *still* can't see why). Or even recently one of our oldest traditional weekly publications closing down after 120 years (http://news.ninemsn....

I'm actually curious to see if there's any formal analysis/studies of podcasting to a niche technical audience - sparked by this thread I've just started looking. I'm wondering if podcasts can benefit from the same type of research-based decisions that traditional media employ, including numbers of people actively using that media.

more power to you, Charlie, in these efforts. I wish you lots of successful longevity with it.
# Posted By barry.b | 2/16/08 8:30 PM
Thanks for your thoughts and well-wishes, Barry.

As for whether "podcasts can benefit from the same type of research-based decisions that traditional media employ, including numbers of people actively using that media", well, I'd assert that there are so many different kinds of podcasts, that no one approach would suit all.

Just as some bloggers don't care how many people read their blogs, so too might some podcasters not care how wide their audience is compared to others. For some, it's just not about competition. And beyond that, they may have goals where comparisons don't matter.

For instance, some bloggers put their info out there first to share with others who may find it via searching (rather than worrying about how many subscribe or read their feed regularly). Others don't even care about that, just putting the info out there for themselves, for their own later reference. :-)

As for podcasts, my thinking is that this is about narrowcasting--providing info for specific narrow niches. Even within the CF audience, I can think of many subsets, and to me, even if one podcast reaches only a few hundred interested listeners, that's worth it. Some may wonder how that could be.

For one thing, someone doing the podcast may do it because they're indirectly marketing themselves to that niche. No, the CF Weekly doesn't do that for work, but you could say they kind of do it for Mach-ii. :-) And one of the podcasts I have in mind would be something that would help people solve CF problems, and as such, I'm sure it would help connect those with problems with myself and others who can help solve them.

And it can even be direct marketing: none of the CF podcasts have had any sort of advertisers, but it doesn't need to be that way. Sure, there are some in the community who will regard any commercial involvement to be a sell-out, but really, they don't make up the majority of the CF community, though they are very vocal. I'm prepared to dip my toes in the waters in helping connect those who have solutions with those who have problems, whether those are CMSs, monitoring tools, consulting services, and so on.

And some of the promotion can be for open source things. It doesn't need to be about making money--but there's also no reason some tools and projects wouldn't benefit by some promotion, especially via a medium that might reach people outside the normal segment that actively reads blogs, participates in mailing lists, attends user groups, and listens to current podcasts. :-)

So really, I see it as quite a wide open world. But that's me: I have an abundance mentality. It's clashed with those with scarcity one instead. :-)
Another new podcast has been announced: http://www.cfconvers... Adding this primarily in case others find this entry in the future.
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