Good morning everyone. Today I want to look at the geocachers who upload the most images according to project-gc. In Canada, bluelamb03 leads the way with 37,404 pictures. Locally, Peter&Gloria have uploaded 1,348 images. Looking South of the border, mortonfox in Delaware has uploaded 34,215 images. MinotRanger leads all North Dakota geocachers with 757. Looking East, SafeChrisLaurie leads Minnesota geocachers with 19,765 and LOST - SOUL in Illinois has uploaded 4,896.
This week I want to shine a spotlight on one of the longest running and only geocaching podcast that takes live call-ins from listeners, The Geocaching Podcast. The show recently recorded it's 600th episode in January of this year. Let's hop into our DeLorean and do a brief history of the show.
Geocacher XpunkX creates a weekly call-in talk show for geocachers, using the TalkShoe platform for the show in 2007. XpunkX would soon be joined by Darrylw4 and Montu Rider as co-hosts later in the year. There would be a variety of co-hosts over the years. A new segment is added to the show in 2009 where geocacher The Bad Cop does a Geocaching Question of the Day. LookoutLisa (from Cache Advance) takes over the Geocaching Question of the Day in 2012. The Geocaching Podcast stopped taking live on-air calls in July, 2013. Current host, scottberks (Scott Berks) joins the show in October, 2013. Another of the current hosts, TAZZ427 (Chad Courtney), joins the show in December, 2014. May, 2018 was an important time for the podcast. Scott Berks takes over as owner of the show and places the podcast on temporary hiatus for rebranding. The show would return in October, 2018 and on-air calls from listeners also makes it's return. Joining the show at this time is the 3rd piece to the current team, shortyknits (Jessie Brown) in the role of call screener.
What we see when we watch the podcast is the final result after using a couple of platforms to make things happen. I had asked Jessie about the behind the scenes and what it takes to put on a show. The Geocaching Podcast uses Streamyard to record the show. This is what we see with the hosts, banners, and background. They also use Restream to actually broadcast the show and push the stream to whatever social media channels that are being used. In this case, it's YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Periscope. This is also embedded into The Geocaching Podcast website. Restream also compiles all of the comments from all the different social medias and pulls it all back into Streamyard. This allows the hosts to see the comments from everywhere. Streamyard also allows the hosts to share those comments on the screen. For the on-air calls, the show uses a service called Call In Studio. Both Scott and Jesse are dialed in and have control of the calls through their website.
As for the show topics, those are planned in advance as much as six to eight weeks. Current affairs and anything that the hosts feels the need to be discussed can squeeze into the lineup. How do they have the guests on screen as well? The guests also use Streamyard. Not all guests are on the screen. The occasional one chooses to call in instead of being visible. As for the topics themselves, Scott and Jessie are open to suggestions. It could take several weeks to a few months before your suggestion makes it as an episode. I have sent Jesse some ideas that could be show topics.
As mentioned, The Geocaching Podcast is the only show that takes live call-ins from the listeners. Their webpage does have a few call-in tips for those that are thinking of calling in for the first time. You can read that here > Call in tips First thing to remember is that you are calling an 808 number. That means long distance charges will apply to your phone bill. We all make long distance phone calls to family and friends, so depending on your phone plan, it shouldn't cost much. What is it like to actually call in? I took the plunge one evening. March 4th, episode 605. I'm stepping out of my comfort zone by doing this. I'm the type that sits in the back and listens. I'm about to talk to the people I watch every Wednesday night. To me, they're sort of celebrities. Needless to say, I started to get nervous. The first thing I noticed that after I dialed, my phone said I was calling Hawaii. Knowing that it was snowing outside and there was a heavy snowfall advisory as well, I looked at the phone and said to myself "dang (I didn't actually use that word LOL), I wish I was in Hawaii, not calling Hawaii". Once connected, I'm immediately placed on hold, but I can listen to the show as I wait. Soon Jessie answered the phone. Now I'm even more nervous. I'm actually talking to shortyknits. She gets my particulars and places me back on hold as I wait for my turn. How nervous am I? Jessie had asked me for my address, and instead of giving her my physical address, I started giving her my e-mail address. Before Scott takes my call, I hear a beep, then Scott introduces me. I'm on the show. I'm trying to stay calm but I know I'm not.
One thing that the show does is they fast forward the international callers. Basically jumping the line. They appreciate the callers and don't want the international ones to ring up an expensive phone bill. I have heard on a recent episode where a local caller was placed back on hold so Scott could take a call from Australia. I'm on the air and I don't want to take too long talking, so I ramble through my piece a little faster than I should have. I think it took away from the story itself. My nervousness didn't help either. For the record, I have not listened to that episode, at least not the portion when I was on. I don't like watching or listening to myself. Part of the reason why I don't do vlogging. For those that have seen Joshua the Geocaching Vlogger, I'm the polar opposite.
To put on a show like this does cost money. The equipment, the platforms used, everything costs money. This is money that comes out of their pockets. To offset some of the costs, there are a couple of sponsors, such as Practical Geocaching, Cachly, Logwerk, FTF Magazine, Pathtags.com, and more. They also rely on Patreon support to help pay the bills. For only a few dollars per month, you can help support the show and keep it on the air. I'm a Patreon supporter of the show. It's basically costing me the equivalent of one large chocolate milk (I don't drink coffee) and a donut that I can live without. You can be a Patreon supporter here > GCPodcast Patreon page. One of the things that Patreon members get is bonus videos and sometimes a bonus show. On Saturday, Scott shared a video that gave the Patreon members a better look at his work station.
(Geo-dog and the boys have been away at their mom's, so I haven't had this greeting in awhile)
This week I want to shine a spotlight on one of the longest running and only geocaching podcast that takes live call-ins from listeners, The Geocaching Podcast. The show recently recorded it's 600th episode in January of this year. Let's hop into our DeLorean and do a brief history of the show.
Geocacher XpunkX creates a weekly call-in talk show for geocachers, using the TalkShoe platform for the show in 2007. XpunkX would soon be joined by Darrylw4 and Montu Rider as co-hosts later in the year. There would be a variety of co-hosts over the years. A new segment is added to the show in 2009 where geocacher The Bad Cop does a Geocaching Question of the Day. LookoutLisa (from Cache Advance) takes over the Geocaching Question of the Day in 2012. The Geocaching Podcast stopped taking live on-air calls in July, 2013. Current host, scottberks (Scott Berks) joins the show in October, 2013. Another of the current hosts, TAZZ427 (Chad Courtney), joins the show in December, 2014. May, 2018 was an important time for the podcast. Scott Berks takes over as owner of the show and places the podcast on temporary hiatus for rebranding. The show would return in October, 2018 and on-air calls from listeners also makes it's return. Joining the show at this time is the 3rd piece to the current team, shortyknits (Jessie Brown) in the role of call screener.
At the top left is Scott, the current host. To his virtual left is the other current show host Chad. At the top right is XpunkX, the show's creator. On the bottom are just a few of the show's previous hosts. To the left is Infoferret, in the middle is DarrylW4 (some may know him as the current host of Geocaching Gearheads podcast), and to the bottom left is StevensAdInfinitum.
What we see when we watch the podcast is the final result after using a couple of platforms to make things happen. I had asked Jessie about the behind the scenes and what it takes to put on a show. The Geocaching Podcast uses Streamyard to record the show. This is what we see with the hosts, banners, and background. They also use Restream to actually broadcast the show and push the stream to whatever social media channels that are being used. In this case, it's YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Periscope. This is also embedded into The Geocaching Podcast website. Restream also compiles all of the comments from all the different social medias and pulls it all back into Streamyard. This allows the hosts to see the comments from everywhere. Streamyard also allows the hosts to share those comments on the screen. For the on-air calls, the show uses a service called Call In Studio. Both Scott and Jesse are dialed in and have control of the calls through their website.
(What we see when we watch the podcast)
(this is what it looks like from Scott's perspective)
As for the show topics, those are planned in advance as much as six to eight weeks. Current affairs and anything that the hosts feels the need to be discussed can squeeze into the lineup. How do they have the guests on screen as well? The guests also use Streamyard. Not all guests are on the screen. The occasional one chooses to call in instead of being visible. As for the topics themselves, Scott and Jessie are open to suggestions. It could take several weeks to a few months before your suggestion makes it as an episode. I have sent Jesse some ideas that could be show topics.
As mentioned, The Geocaching Podcast is the only show that takes live call-ins from the listeners. Their webpage does have a few call-in tips for those that are thinking of calling in for the first time. You can read that here > Call in tips First thing to remember is that you are calling an 808 number. That means long distance charges will apply to your phone bill. We all make long distance phone calls to family and friends, so depending on your phone plan, it shouldn't cost much. What is it like to actually call in? I took the plunge one evening. March 4th, episode 605. I'm stepping out of my comfort zone by doing this. I'm the type that sits in the back and listens. I'm about to talk to the people I watch every Wednesday night. To me, they're sort of celebrities. Needless to say, I started to get nervous. The first thing I noticed that after I dialed, my phone said I was calling Hawaii. Knowing that it was snowing outside and there was a heavy snowfall advisory as well, I looked at the phone and said to myself "dang (I didn't actually use that word LOL), I wish I was in Hawaii, not calling Hawaii". Once connected, I'm immediately placed on hold, but I can listen to the show as I wait. Soon Jessie answered the phone. Now I'm even more nervous. I'm actually talking to shortyknits. She gets my particulars and places me back on hold as I wait for my turn. How nervous am I? Jessie had asked me for my address, and instead of giving her my physical address, I started giving her my e-mail address. Before Scott takes my call, I hear a beep, then Scott introduces me. I'm on the show. I'm trying to stay calm but I know I'm not.
One thing that the show does is they fast forward the international callers. Basically jumping the line. They appreciate the callers and don't want the international ones to ring up an expensive phone bill. I have heard on a recent episode where a local caller was placed back on hold so Scott could take a call from Australia. I'm on the air and I don't want to take too long talking, so I ramble through my piece a little faster than I should have. I think it took away from the story itself. My nervousness didn't help either. For the record, I have not listened to that episode, at least not the portion when I was on. I don't like watching or listening to myself. Part of the reason why I don't do vlogging. For those that have seen Joshua the Geocaching Vlogger, I'm the polar opposite.
To put on a show like this does cost money. The equipment, the platforms used, everything costs money. This is money that comes out of their pockets. To offset some of the costs, there are a couple of sponsors, such as Practical Geocaching, Cachly, Logwerk, FTF Magazine, Pathtags.com, and more. They also rely on Patreon support to help pay the bills. For only a few dollars per month, you can help support the show and keep it on the air. I'm a Patreon supporter of the show. It's basically costing me the equivalent of one large chocolate milk (I don't drink coffee) and a donut that I can live without. You can be a Patreon supporter here > GCPodcast Patreon page. One of the things that Patreon members get is bonus videos and sometimes a bonus show. On Saturday, Scott shared a video that gave the Patreon members a better look at his work station.
As you can see, there are two monitors. One monitor displays what the show looks like to us. The other monitor has show notes and Call in Studio, where Jessie will send Scott the information as to who is on the phone, waiting to come on the show. Below one of the monitors is an I-pad for sound. This gives the opening show song, and any sound effects, like the sound of a tugboat horn when geocacher onaboat calls in. To the right is the sound board.
(how Scott sees the list of callers when Jessie sends him the info)
I hope you have enjoyed this look at the longest running podcast. Thank you to Jessie and Scott for their help. I hope I was able to do this topic justice (I am my own worst critic). Until next week, be happy, be safe, keep your distance (at least six feet from the next person, further if it's an in-law), try to enjoy life (even in this crazy, stressful time), have fun, but most importantly, wash your hands. Peace out.
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