Podcasters Who Didn’t Deliver the Norm

Normally I tend to harp on the negative aspects of what podcasters do, but this time I want to applaud two podcasts for doing something different. They each broke out of their normal mode to share content that was appropriate for their audience even though it didn’t fit their expected format. One is a case where a podcast went much longer than normal and the other is a case where they delivered a shorter than normal episode.

Get-It-Done-Guy PodcastLong, But Just Right

I don’t mind long shows as long as they are packed with content and aren’t long for the sake of being long. Stever Robbins at the Get-It-Done Guy podcast released an episode this week that was 20 minutes in length. His shows are normally between 5 and 7 minutes. Though the show was longer and an interview format (he normally does well-scripted monologues) it was appropriate and bursting with great information.

Short, But Appropriate

IPM Partnership Podcast logogThe other show is the IPM Partnership Podcast with Matt Barfield. Bro. Matt’s shows are usually 15 to 20 mintutes in length with him conducting an interview. In the episode I heard the other day he had someone else conduct the interview and the show was less than 8 minutes long. I applaud him for letting someone else take the mic and for not feeling like he had to fill 20 minutes of time when he only had 8 minutes of content.

Bravo to these two podcasts! And thank you both for being good examples of when it is appropriate to make a show longer and when to make one shorter.

Digital Calendar to the Rescue

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting in my office actually getting work done. (That is quite an amazing accomplishment most days.) Suddenly I got a notification on my phone that said I had an appointment in 1 hour.

image of book coverThe last time I thought about that particular appointment was 3 or 4 days prior to the event. However, because my calendar sends me these types of notifications I was able to prepare for my monthly time at the assisted living home where I am reading a book to the group. We are reading a book about Eric Liddell the Olympic gold medalist and missionary to China.eric-liddellbook cover image

While I enjoy the convenience of a paper calendar, and thbook cover imagee ability to see large blocks of time easily, this is one time where the digital calendar saved me.

Each time I enter an event in my calendar I try to remember to set a notification early enough that if I totally forget about the event, the calendar will remind me in enough time to make it there. In one case I had completely forgotten about scheduling a meeting in a church on a Sunday night in Maryland. My calendar notification went off Friday night to remind me of the speaking engagement. That gave me plenty of time to be ready for the event and no one at the church had to know that I forgot about being there. I think that is the only time I have spaced out on a meeting like that. At least, if I’ve missed others no one called me and told me about it.