The passions of producing FIR

assembly

 

If you listened to FIR 465 on Monday, or you subscribe to the FIR blog posts RSS feed, you’ll know that I won’t be co-presenting today’s episode of The Hobson and Holtz Report podcast with Shel.

Instead, you’ll have the opportunity of enjoying the participation of guest co-host Kami Watson Huyse, a public relations consultant based in Houston, Texas, principal of virtual agency My PR Pro, active in social media circles and a long-time blogger.

We’ve had a few other instances in recent weeks where I’ve not been able to co-host our twice-weekly show. It’s more usually been the other way around, with Shel’s travels and schedules more often producing a solo performance from me.

Which brings me to a question I’ve been asked a few times recently – when I do a solo show, how come I don’t do what Shel does when he’s solo, which is to get a guest co-host, as he’s doing with today’s show?

The straightforward answer is largely a tech-related one. Basically, Shel’s hardware-based rig and overall setup (here’s his travel rig to give you a good idea) means he’s able to bring in different elements of a show – other co-host live via Skype, recorded contributor reports, listener comments, etc – as a seamless whole and capture a one-hour show with all those elements in one single-pass recording.

In contrast, I don’t use any of that hardware – my rig is a Sony Vaio laptop PC, microphone and headphones, Adobe Audition 3, and that’s about it: I’m not as passionate about the hardware as Shel is.

So I focus on assembling the pre-recorded elements of a show including my recording, Shel’s contributions, reports, comments, etc, in editing mode to mix and produce the content as a final MP3 file which I then publish. I guess it’s the assembly of the elements that appeals greatly to me. (As a kid, I loved Meccano, Hornby 00 trainsets and Lego and, when a bit older, was more interested in producing plays in my amateur dramatics society than acting in them: go figure.)

That set-up doesn’t allow at all for a live co-host. What I have done in the past is grab a segment with someone via Skype if they’re available – like this one with Bryan Person last October – which I record beforehand and then add into the show when I edit and assemble.

And by the way, in reference to the IKEA parts assembly diagramme above, no, I don’t like assembling home furniture and other DIY-type activity. Go figure that one.

kamiHowever we create FIR, the end result (including the passion) is always the same; it’s the process that’s different.

So relax and enjoy today’s FIR with Shel and guest co-host Kami Watson Huyse, and I’ll be back on Monday. Can’t wait!

Neville Hobson

Social Strategist, Communicator, Writer, and Podcaster with a curiosity for tech and how people use it. Believer in an Internet for everyone. Early adopter (and leaver) and experimenter with social media. Occasional test pilot of shiny new objects. Avid tea drinker.

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