This weekend I was watching the Cubs play the Dodgers — OK I was dozing on the couch while the Cubs game happened to be on — when I heard the announcers read a promo for the Cubs first ever, “Social Media Night” at the park. Curious, I went to the Cubs Web site for… [Read more…]
April 27, 2012
It’s entirely possible this blog post was written for me by a computer. It wasn’t, but it is entirely possible. In his NTS Daily newsletter Al Peterson pointed out a recent Wired magazine article profiling a company called Narrative Science that is teaching computers to write news stories. Using algorithms, the system is able to churn out articles with frightening speed and accuracy. According to Wired,… [Read more…]
April 5, 2012
Buried deep in the Pew Research Center’s annual State of the News Media 2012 report is an interesting statistic about how people consume news; and it’s one that bodes well for mainstream mediums like radio. What first grabbed my attention was this little gem, “Just 9% of digital news consumers say they ‘very often’ follow news… [Read more…]
April 4, 2012
I just discovered GoRadio.com a site that features four channels of programming described as interactive digital magazines with live radio streams. The channels have unique names like “#allin,”"Meta,” “Downhome” and “Indigo” and, while they parallel familiar radio formats, have their own unique spin. In addition to music each channel features articles and content relevant to the target audience. What really caught my attention was this posting on the jobs… [Read more…]
March 30, 2012
Stop for a second, pull out your smartphone and look at all the apps you’ve downloaded. I’m willing to bet there are a lot that you used once or maybe twice and never opened again. You’re not alone. According to a recent study more than one out of every four apps are played with once and never used… [Read more…]
March 29, 2012
While he may very well be a competitor to Talent Mechanic, I recently came across a story that talked about the success of Cliff Ravenscraft, also known as The Podcast Answer Man. According to an article in the Social Media Examiner, Ravenscraft started his first podcast in 2006 because he wanted to talk about the show… [Read more…]
March 27, 2012
I have a friend who recently started watching Battlestar Galactica and, after watching the first season and a half, is considering bailing on the series. While I realize I am geekier than most and loved that series in an arguably unhealthy way, he’s in the meat of the best part and is considering giving up. If he was in… [Read more…]
January 13, 2012
According to TIPPR, a company that does Deal-of-the-Day type programs, throughout the holiday season experiences were a more popular gift than goods. According to an article and infographic on the Web site Digiday, TIPPR found that 80% of the most popular deals during the holiday season offered food, entertainment, or health and beauty services or, in other words, the chance to experience something. I believe… [Read more…]
January 2, 2012
This post initially ran on October 27 just after Clear Channel made some pretty sweeping cuts in the programming departments of many smaller market stations. As more centralized programming will undoubtedly be a recurring theme in 2012 I thought it was worth revisiting. New posts will return to Free Estimates: the Talent Mechanic Blog tomorrow. Let’s… [Read more…]
December 23, 2011
As many of you know, a big component of my business at Talent Mechanic is coaching podcasters and I would like to introduce you to one of my clients; Mark Seinfelt. Mark is an excellent writer who has published several novels and has a true love and passion for the written word. His show, “Word Patriots,”… [Read more…]
May 7, 2012
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