Awesome post my friend. I can’t tell you the number of times, over the past five years, that I’ve lost sight of why did all these podcasts that I produce. I’ve almost thrown in the towel on more than one occasion. Each time, I came to the same conclusion…. Podcasting isn’t about becoming an Internet SuperStar, it’s about sharing your passion with the world, in hopes that you’ll connect with a community of people that share your passion. That’s the real power of podcasting!

Keep up doing what you love most!

Cliff

In the old days various fields of interest were briefly and shallowly recorded by the mainstream media, from time to time, through the distorted looking glass of ‘entertainment’. It is only now, in an age where the big companies do not control the information gate, that individual topics can be covered in depth.

One of the things I like most about PCDU is the blend you have found between current events and documenting aviation people’s stories. I lament the lost stories of our elders, never recorded in their own voice. You are capturing snapshots of real people’s aviation lives, in their own words. Awesome!

Another great thing about PCDU is, being by aviators for aviators, you do not have to spend a huge amount of time selling a story to the listener before leaping into it. Mainstream media has to try to convince you that the next story is amazing, so you will not switch channel. You, however, know your audience is already interested so you can just get on qith it.

The best thing about what you do, IMHO, is build community. We are a disparate bunch, separated by distance and by the different aspects of aviation we have chosen. We all, however, have a love of the sky and an interest in the aviation experiences of others. It is by weaving a podcast out of these different threads that you have created the rich tapestry that is PCDU.

Yes, it is early days and any field of endeavour is difficult to continue once the excitement of the new wears off, and the sacrifices of time and effort become apparent. That is a challenge.

Might I suggest that you need not be apologetic about asking your listeners for financial contributions… we spend $10 on a magazine or $20 on a book with little thought but somehow think that a quality podcast should be free. I don’t actually think people will mind making a donation from time to time, but you have to ask them. And don’t apologize for it! Cover your costs and, better still, make a few bucks, and the long term survival of PCDU will not be in doubt.

Enough sunshine from me! Well, perhaps one more little ray… Steve and Grant… and your understanding families… thankyou for PCDU!

I recently had that moment where a co-worker (whom I didn’t know because they work on the other side of the room) hears me order lunch at the cafeteria and says to me ‘Hey you were on that podcast thingy about the ATC training weren’t you? That was a good show.’ Something extremely strange for me to be given praise for something I’d recorded with PCDU and put out without the thought that someone would recognise me, by voice alone, and give me feedback! I now understand what the UCAP guys meant when they said that on their podcast. That a fellow controller thought that content was not only good enough to download and listen to but to randomly recognise my voice and give me the feedback about the show was an extremely humbling experience.

You are both great guys who have set the bar high in the podcasting world for quality of not only the material but the show itself. In true Aussie spirit I say, bring on the half ton of episodes.