Let's get podcasting

By Lynda Rathbone

It’s said that consumer adoption of new technologies is well over a year ahead of that in the corporate and public sectors. Some consumer technology isn’t appropriate for large organisations, or can be hampered by security concerns. Some is purely entertainment-related, some is expensive, most is yet unproven and some is given a misleading name. I feel this is the case with podcasting.

I used to work at Cable & Wireless and I just can’t imagine the business case I would have had to write to get podcasting approved for use on its corporate intranet or public website. The number crunchers would assume that it involved iPods, for one, and then we’d probably get into the whole music licensing thing before they even got beyond the table of contents.

But this is your call to action. Don’t sit back idly, waiting for this new technology to become main stream, or let your competitors get the advantage and don’t be put off by the name. Podcasting can change your organisation and the “pod” part of it is optional!

Wikipedia defines podcasting as “a method of publishing files via the internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed and receive new files automatically… it is distinct from other types of online audio delivery because of its subscription model, which uses the RSS 2.0 file format.”

Up until now, the medium has been used predominantly for downloading music, radio and video broadcasts.

Now you’re thinking, never mind radio or music – what about audio? What about broadcasting internal communications messages so groups within your organisation can download and listen to them on their mobiles, iPods or laptops? Most mobile handsets are now mp3-enabled so it’s reached the lowest common denominator in terms of hardware.

Or what if you’re a creator of technical documentation or training materials – with podcasting, you could produce a very low cost “talking manual” or “how to” series for installing your widgets and parts and then deliver it via free subscription to your resellers and suppliers, etc. Podcasting can also be enhanced with video on your computer or handheld. And since it’s a subscription model, you can push out updates and corrections pro-actively without relying on the user to check the site.

Or perhaps you want to enhance your current website with marketing or promotional content that will help consumers make purchasing decisions using audio and video enhancements – or advertise during other’s podcasts. Several big networks in the US are already using it as a marketing tool for their programming – take NBC and its TV show “I want to be a Hilton”. A podcast is used on its website to broadcast updates for the next show and keep you informed with news from the contestants during the week (www.nbc.com/nbc/I_Want_To_Be_a_Hilton/).

While most of you won’t have a TV show to promote, I guarantee you that podcasting will start taking off for internal use in organisations. And the best part? It’s cheap and easy to do. All you need is the ability to record mp3 files on your computer, some storage space to host the files and an mp3 player to listen to them.

Next issue I hope to find and feature some innovative ways of using podcasting, so if you have an idea or are using it yourself, please e-mail me on lynda@foursquaremedia.net.