Seen and Heard in Edmonton

Our January meetup was billed as a debate between Taylor Chadwick of What It Is against Andrea Beça of That’s So Maven on how long a podcast should be.

“Debate” turned out to be a bit of a strong term. As Taylor says at one point, “it sounds like we’re just going to agree the whole time.” I accept responsibility. Everyone’s just so nice.

They do come from different points of view on what works for the length of their own shows. The sweet spot for What It Is — an arts interview show that Taylor does with Chris Cook and Brian Bergum — is 70 minutes. That’s So Maven — a show for, by and about female entrepreneurs that Andrea does with Lauren Dary — is about half an hour. Both have sound reasons for that, which you’ll hear in the podcast, along with the following points:

• How your content and format dictate length;
• How the growth of podcasting has made shorter shows more common;
• Audience feedback on length and what to do with it;
• Batch recording vs time-sensitive recording;
• Preparation vs editing for controlling length.

You’ll also hear questions and comments from Troy Pavlek of Basket of Yegs, Brandon Schatz of Yegs and Bacon and Doctor Whooch, Nick McQuik of The Quik and Slow Comedy Show, and Chris Chang-Yen Phillips of Let’s Find Out.

Incidentally, I usually like to keep my podcast to less than half an hour, but this one was so full of good stuff that it’s pushing 50 minutes. I guess you win this round, Taylor.

This episode is also available in iTunes, on Google Play, on SoundCloud or on Stitcher.

For even more on the art of podcasting, listen to Taylor’s conversation with Andrea along with Adam Rozenhart of The Expats and German Villegas of The Modern Manhood Podcast.

Many thanks to Edmonton Opera for sending one of our audience members to Cinderella (remember that Elektra is coming in March!). Thanks to Variant Edition for their hospitality, and to CafeRista for the treats. Shout-out to Edmojis, too.

Our next Edmonton Podcasting Meetup is on Saturday, Feb. 25, at Variant Edition. The topic is “How to get started, Part 2,” and we’ll be drawing on the experience of the team behind The Broadcast, which was in development at our first meetup on getting started, and is now a real thing. Register to attend here.

This episode of Seen and Heard in Edmonton is brought to you by Castria, where award-winning podcasters help you take your podcast from idea to reality.

Castria’s Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky will be on a panel about podcasting at iMedia on March 11. If you miss them there, find them at wearecastria.com.

Musical credits: Beethoven’s Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 2 No. 1, played by Daniel Veesey, from freemusicarchive.com.