Rob is a super nice guy, but he seems very resistant to the way podcasting is evolving. Recently he has been on a tirade against bumper ads.

I think Kirk brings fresh ears to the topic because, while he is not a podcaster, he is an avid listener. Most of us are not making our podcasts for other podcasters, so we should pay attention to what listeners think is important.

Just to be clear, the junior high analogy was simply a convenient way to talk
about the developmental stage of present podcasts without referring to "dog
years." It wasn’t a backhanded way of insulting Mr. W at Podcast 411.

I understand what you’re saying about music as filler. Not a good idea. All it
does is waste listeners’ time and everyone’s bandwidth.

Enjoy your blog. Keep posting. And when you get a chance, come visit mine,
Podcasting Dallas, at http://podcastingdallas.blogspot.com.

Later.

Larry Stevens
Podcasting Dallas
Dallas Podcasting Meetup Goup, Organizer

Thanks for your comments. My rules are not intended to be the be-all and
end-all of podcasting "rules" or "guidelines". But you say some valuable
things – too many podcasters think that they’ll attract audiences (hence, be
successful) by doing whatever crosses their mind. Your junior high school
analogy is very apt; lots of podcasts have that "junior high newspaper" feel to
them.

This is fine, imho, if people want to listen. Until recently, the vast majority of
podcasts were boostrapped into the ether. But this is going to change. It does
pay to have some idea of what makes good content (I like that word better
than product).

As for rule #7, well, it’s a pet peeve. You see, here in France, radio shows do
that all the time. They talk for 7 minutes, toss in a song; talk for another 7
minutes, toss in song #2. And so on. The songs are there to do nothing more
than fill space. I’ve heard too many podcasts that do the same thing. "Ok, it’s
time for a break." Music… Why have a break? Does the listener need to get up
and pee, or go get a beer?

Eventually, I’ll be coming up with a few more for a listener’s guide to
podcasting I’m working on. I didn’t want to have a list of ten "podcastments",
as a frend suggested, because I don’t like round numbers. :-)

Rob made it very clear that he not only doesn’t think much of Kirk’s rules, he
doesn’t think much of rules of any kind for podcasting. His website lists, if I
recall, about 40 podcasts, which, in podcasting years, is like being in middle
school (or what I grew up calling junior high). That said, and judging from the
extensive advice on creating podcasts hosted on his website — good stuff, by
the way — I’d say Rob is in deep denial of the need for rules to be creative.

That’s appropriate, really, because most middle schoolers think they have the
world by the tail and don’t much like rules of any kind and can’t or won’t
admit that they’re wrong.

Kirk’s rules are really not much more than good commonsense guidelines for
creating a quality product. If you object to the word "product," you probably
don’t like rules, either — much like Rob of Podcast411. But the truth is,
podcasts are a product — a work product, an intellectual product, a product
to be hawked in the marketplace of ideas and entertainment.

To say that there are no rules in podcasting is not only shortsighted, it’s
indicative of an intellect that simply does not grasp that structure is created
by parameters, by guidelines, and by rules. And creativity is nothing if not
structure. Yes, there ARE rules for podcasting, just like there ARE rules for
radio. Rules, not Commandments. Don’t like Kirk’s Rules? That’s fine. Make
your own. In fact, I daresay that it’s impossible to do a podcast of any kind
without following, or creating on-the-fly, some set of rules.

Anarchy is an interesting concept for about 5 minutes. However, rules are the
outside influence that Newton referred to in his 2nd Law of Thermodynamics:
Without an outside influence, everything turns to crap. (I’m not sure if that’s
an exact quotation; I’m paraphrasing.)

Want to play, be creative? Define a space for it. Without rules, we might have
playgrounds built in the middle of freeways.

Using Kirk’s Seven Rules of Effective Podcasting are a good start at defining
your podcast playground. Are they the best rules? Or the only rules? Can’t say
that they are. I would probably replace #7 with one of my own because I think
Kirk’s #7 smacks too much of being a "rule" instead of a "guideline."

My Rule #7? Be consistent. People tune in and return to a podcast (or, in my
experience, a radio program) because it’s dependably consistent. Does that
mean you can’t ever change? No. But once you establish the theme or format
of your podcast, you should make changes only incrementally and judiciously
in order to maintain your audience.

Now, go make YOUR rules, and make good podcasts, too.

Larry Stevens
http://podcastingdallas.blogspot.com/

What is the link to your podcast? I could not find it on the site.

I am sure I just missed it.

I am always looking for new podcasts to subscribe to.

Thanks

Rob W
podCast411

http://www.podcast411.com