Wednesday, December 11, 2019

An Open Letter to KendallCast fans and contributers

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Greetings brothers and sisters in podcasting,

2019 was another big year for the network.  By my count, as I'm writing this, we've released 70 podcast episodes(hopefully we'll hit 75 or 76 by the end of the year).  We hit episode 37 of "Beyond Bulbasaur", episode 53 of "That's What We Called Music?" and episode 64 of "The Pull List."  In addition to the three established shows, we started the "Star Wars Movie Round Table," with 11 episodes discussing every Star Wars movie to date.  We also are 5 episodes into "Bad Deck Breakdowns," and produced a handful of one off special edition podcasts.  Perhaps the most impressive thing to me is that I count 16 total people who contributed to one or more of the shows.

I want 2020 to take what we've established and grow as a network.  Honestly, I have no idea how to go about this.  The "Star Wars Movie Round Table" is going to become the "KendallCast Movie Round Table," where we discuss a different classic film each month, but that's the only idea that I have set in stone.  I'm open to any suggestions for how to improve the network, whether those are things I can do, things others can do, or things I can do to encourage others.  I did have a few, possibly pie in the sky, ideas that I'd like some feedback on.

  • Social Media:  Would the network benefit from a Slack, Discord, Facebook Group, or other social media presence?  
    • Currently, we have the website and share episodes on our personal Twitter and/or Facebook accounts, and I share our episodes with a small number of groups that I'm a part of.  
    • A more formal social media presence like the ones I mentioned might help folks from one podcast get to know one another and encourage collaboration beyond the stuff I personally think of
    • This also could lead to making life more difficult, since some people may not adopt the particular platform.
  • KendallCast as a network:
    • Currently, I host, edit, post, and am generally the guy in charge of every show.  This means that, while I might put out 6 or 7 shows in a month, we might only get one or two episodes of "Beyond Bulbasaur."  If others took on additional responsibility, we might be able to be more consistent.
    • Would others be willing to take more responsibility if we changed the name of the network to not make it my name?  I'm not particularly attached to the name, and it's not like we have an impossibly huge audience who could not adjust to a name that suggests a group effort, rather than a vanity project(which the network has admittedly been up to this point).
    • Would it be helpful to collaborate with other independent podcasters, perhaps making KendallCast the foundation for a completely new network?
    • Alternatively, would it be better to submit some or all of the shows to an existing network?
I'd encourage everyone who reads this, whether you are a direct contributor to the network, a listener, or just someone who stumbles upon this to reach out however you can.  Although I've been doing this for many years at this point, I have no idea how to successfully grow a network or create a community.

-Kendall

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