Matthew Snodgrass from ADM and Lippe Taylor interviews both Tim Bourquin of TNC New Media and Rick Calvert of Blog World Expo about the sale of Tim’s New Media Expo to Rick’s Blog World Expo. Separately, the two conventions were delivering a wide array of content and attendees. As the scope of the two shows started to overlap, Tim and Rick realized that the community would be better served by a single – and greater – convention. You can find out more about the combined show at http://www.blogworldexpo.com. We also get Tim and Rick’s thoughts on social media today and the use of it by corporations.

Tim Bourquin is Founder and CEO of TNC New Media, Inc., an online media company that has developed, launched and grown several advertising-supported podcasting sites.  Under Tim’s leadership, TNC New Media has also used podcasting and other forms of new media as a promotional tool for everything from corporate events and tradeshows to product launches.  In 2005, Tim launched the Podcast and New Media Expo, a convention and conference for podcasters and online video creators.  The event, was recently sold to BlogWorld Expo, is held annually and attracts thousands of podcasters who attend to learn how to create compelling shows and grow their audience.

Rick Calvert is the CEO and Co-Founder of BlogWorld & New Media Expo. He has been active the trade show industry since 1998 working on three Tradeshow Week 200 events including the SEMA Show (#4), AWFS®Vegas (#39) and the DEMA Show #(97), as well as one of the nation’s largest consumer shows, Comicon. He has been a voracious new media consumer since 2000, launched his own blog in 2005 and formed BlogWorld & New Media Expo in 2007.

For more information, check out these posts at Blog World Expo:
BlogWorld & New Media Expo Now One Super Huge Event!
BlogWorld Expo Acquires New Media Expo
 

Matthew Snodgrass from ADM and Lippe Taylor interviews Scott Monty, head of social media for Ford Motor Company. Scott, formerly with Crayon, joined Ford just five months ago at a tumultuous time for both Ford and the U.S. auto industry in general. News and rumors are flying around the Web about the auto industries’ tough financial times, but Scott is finding a way to manage the mayhem and create real conversations about what Ford is doing in a time of crisis.

The Ford Story – http://thefordstory.com
Ford Digital Snippets – http://ford.digitalsnippets.com
Ford’s Corporate Twitter account – http://twitter.com/FordDriveOne

Scott Monty is currently the head of social media for Ford Motor Company, where he holds the title Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager. While his role is based in the Corporate Communications area, he is a strategic advisor on all social media activities across the company. From blogger relations to marketing support to customer service to internal communications and more, social media touches many facets of Ford business, and Scott is there to ensure it is consistent across all of them. You can follow Scott (@scottmonty) on Twitter.

Matt Snodgrass is the secretary of the ADM and is SVP of Digital Marketing for Lippe Taylor, a brand communications agency based in Manhattan. Matt has been involved with digital production and marketing for over 10 years. You can reach him at mattsnod (Twitter/Flickr/Skype), mattsnod@yahoo.com, and www.mattsnod.com 

1. SPIN-OFF: While this didn’t work very well for the M.A.S.H. spin-off, AfterMASH, it was a formula for success for All in the Family. That show had spin-offs and spin-offs of spin-offs, including Maude, The Jeffersons, Archie Bunker’s Place, Gloria, 704 Hauser, Good Times, and Checking In. Your podcast has probably grown in areas beyond where it originated, so capitalize on that, and create a spin-off show for this new audience segment. GeekBriefTV has done this successfully with The Big Trip, iCali, Dear Cali, and CarnivoreTV. Each of these shows is satisfying a sub-set her their audience and, in turn, increasing their downloads and ad revenue.
2. CONSISTENCY: I know this point has been beaten to death, as it applies to both podcasts and blogs. You must put out fresh content on a regular basis, otherwise your numbers will drop off. The listenership of my podcast, The Dave and Matt Show, had a significant drop-off when we went on hiatus. This condition is evident in this year’s TV season with shows coming back from hiatus. Skellie has a great post about blog frequency. Of course, this doesn’t have to mean you have to produce a new show each time. If you have a healthy archive of episodes, you can create a “best-of” episode, a “bloopers” show, or have someone guest-host your show.
3. CHANGE IT UP: This tip borders on Darwinistic, but if you find that your audience is dwindling (downloads, ratings, viewership, etc.), then shake things up and evolve over time. One of the best media podcasts out there, in my opinion, is Shelly Palmer’s MediaBytes. He is perhaps the best aggregator of media business news out there, and he puts his own spin on the news from his many (many, many) years in the industry. However, if you listen to the first episodes, they are quite different in format than what you hear today.
4. NETWORKS: One way to ensure the longevity of your podcast property is to not hang your hat on the one show’s name. For instance, one consistently funny show I listen to is Pacific Coast Hellway. The producer, Mark Yoshimoto-Nemcoff, has made slight adjustments to the show’s format to keep it fresh. However, the property is the show, and vice-versa. When I met with the producers of the Wedding Podcast Network, I thought their move to have their enterprise under a “network” moniker was brilliant. They have around 10 shows in their network right now. If one fails, the network lives on. Similarly, if Private Practice gets cancelled, ABC network isn’t going anywhere.
5. DON’T CALL IT A PODCAST: Now, this isn’t a hard and fast rule, but if you call your show a podcast, you’ve instantly narrowed the perception of what your audience should expect. You’ve identified your show by the medium on which it is distributed. The”pod” portion of podcast has confused a lot of non-listeners into thinking that you have to have an iPod to listen to a podcast. However, according to Edison Media Research, more than two-thirds of podcast consumers listen/view podcasts on a computer over a portable device. Today, people can watch a podcast on an a phone, a computer, a television, a portable media player, an AppleTV, and a refrigerator (seriously). If you call your show a “show”, it doesn’t paint you into a corner in terms of distribution. Leo LaPorte was sort of on the right track when he started calling his podcasts “netcasts.”

These are just a few tips, and I encourage you to use the comments section to add your own. And please incorporate at least a few of these tips, because I wanted to listen to you experts-in-your-field for many years to come.

(Re-post from www.mattsnod.com)