At the invitation of Beetcafe.com, the UK's most prolific podcaster, Richard Vobes, stopped by for a visit to the Coronado Theater during his Pods Across America Tour. The Vobes tour has gone from Chicago to Wisconsin to Texas and back again during a two week tour of the Midwest.
Richard, from Worthing in West Sussex in the UK, started podcasting in January of 2005 with a 30 minute magazine format style show. By continuing to record and upload a daily podcast (that's 7 days a week with no relent) he has now surpassed the 475 show mark and is well on his way to attaining a second year of continuous podcasting, an unprecedented achievement.
'There were only two or three other UK podcasters out there when I started, and they only produced shows intermittently. I produce a show every day without fail!'
How does he manage to produce a high quality daily show? What's his secret?
Richard comes from an entertainment background, and he took to producing his own podcast like a duck to water. 'I used to make corporate videos and put television pitches together', he says, 'all useful stuff when it comes to the technical side of podcasting'. Curiously, this dedicated podcaster was actually trained in the silent art of mime!
'I went to the Desmond Jones School of Mime for a year back in the mid eighties and incredibly it taught me a lot about entertaining an audience and the use of sound as a focus'.
With his lovely daughter Georgie, and best mate, Jimmy, you can be assured that the Vobes show is no ordinary show.
He stresses that, unlike a lot of podshows out there, his is not a niche market podcast. The show is aimed at everyone and doesn't evolve around the computer tech industry, swearing or long monotone rants with no substance as so many of the early podcasts from America seemed to. 'I have a life' he shouts, 'and I like to take my microphone to discover other peoples lives'.
The Vobes Show has covered such interesting topics as life during the Second World War (with contributions from surviving veterans), secret Satanic sects and spooky goings on in ghost houses. He has covered big events such as The London to Brighton veteran car rally and potted history's such as the Gun Powder Plot of 1605! Currently, favourites with his audience are the Friday Murder Investigations, audio tours of castles, period houses, historic cinemas and other varied locations and topics, including beer tastings. As well as being informative, the show is light hearted, full of comedy with fun, laughter and tongue-in-cheek rants!
Is he complacent after producing so many shows? 'No way!' he laughs, 'I am still learning my craft, but each day I am getting better!'
Check it out at www.Vobes.com and get your daily dollop of the Vobes. |