First of all i would like to say thanks for podcasting. it is great entertainment for my hour long drive to and from work everyday. everybody wishes there were more podcasts, but how much time is there really?
if i may throw in my $.02. i think an hour is fine. no use cutting it down. i'm not sure why an hour is bad for some others. let us know.
it might be a good idea on the live shows to have a set topic and have q&a about those topics. maybe you can have guest speakers (specialists) on the show to help answer those specific questions? with a random format, it seems like it is easy to let a question drag on for no apparent reason, especially when every guest chimes in with their own advice. not being prepared for a certain topic can be an akward situation and it translates to the listener.
personally i am not a huge fan of the live shows. the volume levels are always bouncing around, someone is always gagging on the mic and it is difficult to hear a lot of what is going on sometimes. i like that fact that it can make it more interesting sometimes by having live callers on the air, but it is usually offset by poor sound or background noise.
i hope this helps a bit.

Hello zombie and :welcome: to TR. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Hi CarmieJo,
I would have to second the 1 hour format. It almost seemed like there was too much of a concerted effort to make it 45 minutes. Is there anyway to test the incoming phone calls ? One particular caller sounded way too loud.

thank you all for the feedback (here and other threads) by its nature the show is built around what the listeners want. and overwhelmingly it has been expressed that people want the show length to remain the same or even be longer. i will not continue the effort to reduce show times. The main reason for this was based on other info that must not be relevant to our audience.

regarding the controlled topics, this is something i have been trying to work out. the one issue is that live participation is not high enough to support this format. often struggle with enough people just to fill the show with random questions. right now we only have about 10-20 people that join live, and of those only 3-5 have microphones and are willing to speak on the show. so at this point im opting for what i can get. i am working on some target shows where we will be talking about a topic, and if someone has a question the can ask, if not we will continue the topic.. this way we are not dependent on questions to fill the show

as for the audio, unfortunately without a full studio and call-in equipment that i can manage we are stuck with what we have. I give everyone full opportunity to test there audio before the show starts to make sure we work out bugs, but that doesn't always fix everything. to make it worse the audio is done in a single track recording.. making high quality editing next to impossible for me (with my software and skill levels)

Hi CarmieJo,
I would have to second the 1 hour format. It almost seemed like there was too much of a concerted effort to make it 45 minutes.

I suggested a 72 hour marathon TRL, but it was shot down for some reason. It seemed like an easy way to get into the Guiness Book of Word Records. :D

I suggested a 72 hour marathon TRL, but it was shot down for some reason. It seemed like an easy way to get into the Guiness Book of Word Records. :D:lol: Does Guinness allow for potty breaks?

bring a bottle..lol

Carmie,

I'll send the coffee beans. ;)
Then you guys can take a serious break after the marathon. ::w00t!:

Rob,

I like the hour format but really dislike the audio quality on the Talkshoe network. too much difference from the volume levels between everyone participating.

Have you explored Blog Talk Radio? I am setting up a podcast on it for work and have heard nothing but great things. In essence its like hosting a live radio show in the internet and gives you RSS and iTunes capabilities. Plus its free and you can either call in via phone or use the computer.

Check it out at Blogtalkradio.com

Rob - I third the audio comments. You're a mac guy, right? Have you tried to import the file into iMovie or GarageBand where you can adjust sections of audio? Maybe that would help to adjust everyone to the same level during the post-editing. I know it's a lot of extra work...you're doing a tremendous favor for all of us by even producing the shows! :D

yes, i do bring it into garage band and do some minor editing..
part of the issue is that im not the best with audio stuff, the other part is what i mentioned before, single track recording. which means what i change is to the whole track. i cant take once voice down without affecting them all.. this means i have to edit every part of the track that needs and adjustments

i do hope the current a future shows are getting a bit better

- Out of all the 30 some podcasts I listen to, yours has the lowest volume and is really hard to hear. Not only the guest speakers but you, Rob, are also too quiet. The sound quality is SUBSTANTIALLY lower than the old shows - don't believe me, go download and older one.

- Also, your podcast is the only one that doesn't update properly all the time with iTunes. Making me unsibscribe and resubscribe all the time to get the latest episode. Kind of a pain - all the other 30+ podcasts I subscribe to seem to download fine the same day.

- If you do a TRL show, LIVE, it takes quite a few days to get it into podcast form so I can download it. That is kind of frustrating as I like the show and I'm anxious to get the content.

- I tried the TRL live 2 times and it was an aweful experience and I didn't like TalkShoe at all. So now I have to wait for the podcasts to get the show info. (And I'm a fulltime IT guy so I kinda know how to tweak it out for best quality/performance, etc. - just don't think TalkShoe is worth my time.) Also, if you only do it on a specific time of week/month, I'm limited on when I can participate.

- I honestly liked the old show format better. Seems like it was WAY more organized and focused on the topic - full of details and great information. It was always a great resource for me being a new reefer - now somewhat experienced reefer. Maybe doing a regular style show every few TRL live shows would be nice as you could please both the old school Talking Reefers like myself (I've heard every episode almost twice) - and the new school Talking Reef Live crew that likes to hear all the discussion based material. I honestly liked hearing ONLY Rob or Rob and some guest discuss a topic.

I used to pull up the Talking Reef episode and listen to the discussion to find the information I needed as I Googled it to find the best answer...... now I just Google it. Any new content on TR Live isn't used as a good reference as it takes too long to sift through all the talking to find the data I need. My attention is turned to other sources to find the information.

Sorry if this offends anyone, just my 2 cents on this Talking Reef Live podcasts.


Red Bee

First of all, welcome to TR Ryan! Thanks so much for your input. I know that Rob is doing his best to tweak the TR Live to best fit the audience. I believe it's a bit difficult to keep doing the old format, because the "easy topics" have all be done at some point. Maybe you could make some suggestions as to topics/discussions that you would like to gather more information about.

At any rate, I'll let Rob answer to this as well....

Thanks for your input though! And glad to know there's some high altitude reefers out there! :D

Not to sound any more like a nage, but all the 'easy topics' are the questions that the live listeners keep bringing up. Maybe the old shows should be a prereq to participating in the current TR Live shows. :)

Anyway, I still LOVE the show for what it gave me, a great basis of understanding into this very new hobby - as well as a great reference for my beginning problems. I just wish there was more to gain. The last 3 or 4 episodes have been quite weak with content, and I'm starting to lose the excitement I used to get from listening.

ryan, thanks for the feedback.. let me try to address a few of those points...
first off hte volume, i didnt realize it was getting that low.. i will make sure to pay closer attention to that on the next show.
as for the issue with itunes.. mine download automatically every time without fail, and i have not heard that from anyone else.. so im not exactly sure what to do with it.
the delay in getting the live shows is because i dont publish them right away, this is intentional, but a bug.

now onto the real point.. the show content.. yes, all of the basic topics i know have been done.. there are some other ideas, but im struggling to find things i have not already covered in detail. the Live show does repeat a lot of those, but also gives people (new and old) to ask questions specific to their situation. which can be very helpful for those that can extrapolate. i TOTALLY understand that this might lead to some "less exciting" shows. and because they are less focused, i try real hard to get all of the discussed items in the show notes. THis way you can make the decision to listen. i would hate for people to get upset cause they listened to 70 minutes of show and got nothing... with the notes you can scan them real quick, and see.. yes that looks good.. or nah, i know that stuff. its has always been a challenge to keep shows good and engaging for everyone..
honestly part of the issue is that i haev less time to devote to it than i used to, and also keep in mind that i have been pumping out shows regularly for almost 2 years now... think about that for a sec.. thats alot of shows.. lol

anyways.. im open to topic ideas and if i can do something with them i will.. :)
i also try to promote community contributions.. videos, segments, topics, etc.. im sure you have heard them on the shwos before. im just trying to do what i can to keep the show engaging.

Hey guys,

I just wanted to say "HELLO!" to the people I hear on my Ipod every day! I found TR a couple of weeks ago and had no idea that there was a reef-based podcast! I have voraciously been listening to every episode I can get my ears on and I absolutely love it!

I don't think there's anything I would urge you to change at this point as far as the format goes. I like the old and new shows, love hearing the guest speakers. I think my favorites are the Q&A episodes because there are such a variety of good questions. I'm learning my way around the website and plan to help out by asking my own bizarre stuff!

I would love to hear more mid-level to advanced concepts being discussed and I do believe that the show is naturally advancing that way. Yeah, the audio can be a little rough at times, but it's not like Rob should be trying to produce a seamless late night talk show. I really respect the fact that he obviously puts so much work into this project, yet is very ethical to make sure he has other people on the show to represent a variety of opinions besides his own.

Five stars, guys! Carmie Jo, I'm in your neck of the woods and hope to get to one of those demonstrations and frag swaps. Just too darned shy ;)

_____

Laura

Welcome to TR Laura! Glad to hear that you are benefitting from Rob's great enthusiasm. And it's always great to have more enthusiasts in our ever-growing community.

So...hop right in...don't be shy!! :D

fishStank...lol, love the name, welcome.

hope you manage to catch up with carmie, cause then i'll have an easy diversion & plenty of time to grease up her scooter brakes..lol Plus of course secondary to me having a laugh is the fact you'll be mixing it with the best.

Hi Ryan, :welcome: to TR! I too appreciate your taking the time to give us your comments. I personally have not encountered any problems with new TR shows downloading. I know that for some reason I had very low volume on one of the TRL shows. Like you I listen to a lot of podcasts and I have noticed that in general the call in type shows do have lower audio quality.

I do urge you to try to join in TRL one night. I am pretty busy keeping up with everything but there is a lot of enjoyable cross talk in the chat client that takes place. I just call in on my cell phone and don't mess with the Talkshoe VOIP. I had trouble with Talkshoe at first but seem to not have so much now. They have changed the look and feel of their client.

Laura, please make sure to look me up if you come out to one of our events. I'm the short lady with crutches. You will be amazed at how nice every one is! I've met a tons of super people in the local community. The first time I went to a frag swap at Down Under I just kind of stood back and watched. But before I left people were giving me frags to get my tank started on the way to reef! Watch out for V, he is trying to make my scooter fly like the saucer sled in Christmas Vacation!

Laura, please make sure to look me up if you come out to one of our events. I'm the short lady with crutches. You will be amazed at how nice every one is! I've met a tons of super people in the local community. The first time I went to a frag swap at Down Under I just kind of stood back and watched. But before I left people were giving me frags to get my tank started on the way to reef! Watch out for V, he is trying to make my scooter fly like the saucer sled in Christmas Vacation!

That sounds like a plan! I'll keep my eyes and ears out for the next swap and convince myself that the fellow reefers won't bite me! Speaking of Down Under, can't wait to see Kevin's new store next weekend!

Yeah, and I am going to be so busy with the Raleigh Aquarium Society Workshop that I may not make it in until Monday. :(

Rob,
I really enjoy TR, not a big fan of the live format and would reverse Ryan's recommendations to 1 live for every 3-4 planned (However, I know how difficult it is to pump out engaging content week after week:shout: ) I greatly appreciate all the work/time that must go into each show and thank you for it!!

A show idea may be different ways to "move up" (aside from convinving our spouse of the true need to do such ;) ) I'm going from my 75 to a 150 and really can't have both set-up at the same time, so how best to accomplish such mid-level events would be useful.

The volume has been getting lower. I listen in my car via Ipod transmitter and I have had to turn the volme on the radio way up, esp for the last episode.

I too have had some struggles downloading from Itunes, but i do with Reefcast also and I assume that is either an Itunes (read Apple) issue or a vast anti aquatic conspriacy!!

You could always get Astrivan to make some more video's, the randomness of his cat shots are a real hoot! And I love his custom cover for his tube/fuge :D

thanks for the feed back..
i am working on two things here..
a.) trying to wrap more structure around the live shows..
b.) trying to get back into the old style pre-recorded shows...

i will continue to investigate the audio issues but i thought i had the last few up louder

trl staff, i really appreciate the show and have had fun listinging in for quite some time now. it has been a while since i have commented also. i just wanted to add a couple things and elaborate on what others have said.
1st: i think the Live format is getting weak. i am losing interest and have even shut it down without finishing the episode. maybe my skill level is getting better and i am tired of hearing such basic questions and answers. i dont know, it could be me.
2nd: seems that there just isnt enough content in the live show to keep anybody's attention. last show, you even had the hosts getting up and leaving.
3rd: talkshoe is weak. i have to turn up the radio volume (i play my ipod through the radio) so high that all i hear is white noise and muffled voices. not sure, but i think i am not alone here.
4th: might be time to have some more"advanced" skill level shows. i think listernership would go up if we had subjects that we could really learn about. it. i seriously wonder if someone who calls in wanting to know how much light their sps reef needs is serious. that question is asked every minute on every reef site 24-7. trl seems like it should be about questions beyond that.
5th:potential problem: there are so many reef related resources out there that it is difficult to find "new" info and keep it fresh without stealing from other sources or just causing more info overlap.
i wish i had time to add more to the show and actually take part in it but i dont. i am just a listener at this time. in fact, i should be in bed now. hope this helps. this is a great show in our crazy little hobby world.

zombiereef..
it appears you have found many of the same issues i have run into...
The live show Q&A is about what people ask for.. If advanced people's join in and ask advanced questions, then we have advanced topics.. see what i mean here? This biggest issue is that live participation on TRL is so low right now my hands are rather strapped when it comes to this specific section of the show. This is why i am looking at wrapping more structure around it when we do them, longer more formal intro topics, etc.. like what we did with the feeding show and what were going to do with the tank cleaning show this weekend.. I really want to keep it good for the people that listen, but keeping fresh content on a weekly or even monthly basis can get difficult. i will say though, myself and the TR staff are talking in the background on different ways to spin the regular and the live shows.. hopefully it works for everyone.