Practically Social

Minter Dial is one of the first remote interviews Charlie ever recorded and he is absolutely delighted to have an update on Minter’s work. In addition to a 16 year career at L’Oreal, Minter is an author of several books as well as an accomplished podcaster. His latest book, YOU LEAD, How Being Yourself Makes You A Better Leader, is Charlie's latest excuse to catch up with Minter and get to enjoy some of his magic. The book argues that business leaders deliver superior results when they are themselves and come across as genuine. Practically Social completely agrees! Join us! 

Just like old times, Jeff, Charlie and Podville Media sound engineer Robb Spewak were back together in the Glover Park studio for episode 52! Charlie shares a dishwasher story and the guys talk about hashtag missteps and misperceptions. Charlie gives a shout-out to Brad Sherman and the relaunch of Launch Financial and Robb goes excessively nerdy during the Tip Before We Go segment covering musical motifs, melodies and the mystique of the radio jingle.

After a conversation about the status of podcast listening trends and the steady increase in advertising dollars (“Podcast Advertising To Surpass $1B This Year,” according to a podcast revenue study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and shared by Jeff) the guys talked about new hires at Podcast Village, soon to be Podville Media. Charlie gave an update on the Bethesda podcast meetup group and Sound Engineer Robb Spewak offered another tip, this time resulting in the show’s first bleep!

Charlie provides an update on his special project, “Songs of His Times,” Jeff shares positive news about ad spending and one of the lessons in publishing: the profitability of specialization. A few Podville Media podcasts receive Communicator Awards and another episode of the JFK Assassination series by the American Diplomat is live. In our “A Tip Before We Go” segment, sound engineer Robb Spewak goes deep again, this time revealing the little things we do to make a podcast sound so great. Hint: silence the breath but maintain the rhythm.

As an update to Episode 37 when the guys talked about the op-ed (opposite the editorial page), Jeff shares news from The New York Times that they will no longer use the term op-ed, and instead call it the “guest essay.” The NYT’s reasoning: in the internet space, can anything be opposite something? Charlie brings up user experience and customer experience and Robb blows us away with another podcast engineering tip, this one on how the mute button can really mess with the track. In the what’s new at Podville Media segment, the guys talked about a three-part series on the American Diplomat podcast covering Charles Thomas and the JFK Assassination. All this and more on your favorite PR and social media podcast!

The show opened on a down note, as Jeff and Charlie discussed news that Maddy (“here are the guys!”) Masiello will be leaving Podcast Village (soon to be Podville Media) for New York City. We wish her well and hope she doesn’t forget us. The guys continued their discussion about Room Rater and adding an audio rating system. They also shared frustrations with social media dashboards and boring automated posts (“Happy Arbor Day!”), many of which get zero engagement. Sound engineer Robb Spewak is back with another podcasting tip, this time on filling the silence during interviews.

Jeff took a road trip to Elon University in North Carolina where his daughter Julia is a freshman. While walking around campus they checked out the Elon School of Communications, home of the Elon News Network and the ENN Radio podcast where student journalists extend stories that appear in their newspaper, The Pendulum. The guys talked about James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, and his tips for prioritizing what’s important. Charlie talks about Shoeman and sound engineer Robb Spewak reveals another podcast tip, this one on his “save as you go” technique.

Charlie talks about the golf business and use of QR codes and other technology. Sound engineer Robb Spewak offers another audio tip, this time on over-modulation. Jeff brings up the popular Room Rater Twitter account, @ratemyskyperoom, which scores TV pundits’ pretty rooms and backdrops, and the guys suggest creating an audio version to rate sound quality. Practically Social listeners will now be treated to new music by Joel’s Beanie Beltran to close out each episode. The voice of Maddy Masiello still welcomes our listeners (“Here are the guys!”) with the Spinto Band.

We go deep with podcasting audio tips in this episode, thanks to sound engineer Robb Spewak. The guys talk about LinkedIn cold calls and how more podcast hosts are on the receiving end of off-target PR pitches. The recently vaccinated Jeff talks about a webinar he attended by The Daily Record on diversity, equity and inclusion and Charlie draws a link between crisis communications planning and “walking the talk” when it comes to corporate DE&I. A big welcome to new music at the end of the show by Joel’s Beanie Beltran. Check it out on Spotify!

The guys talk about Clubhouse -- again -- and the magic of creativity. Jeff recalls how at one of his first agency jobs, Richardson, Myers & Donofrio in Baltimore, they named the conference rooms “Theatre A” and “Theatre B” to help employees understand what those rooms were all about, especially during client meetings and pitches. Podville Media is in the process of naming studios, so ideas are welcomed. Charlie introduces Beanie Beltran at the top of the episode.