With one Season of Out of the Fishbowl wrapped, i guess that kind of makes me a Podcaster.

Which i have wanted to be and do for the longest time. And unless it had absolutely blown up and had a million listeners in the first week, i don’t think it could have gone much better. Although finding one more person to listen to Episode I: Pineapple on Pizza, so that i can hit 300 listens of that particular episode is top priority. So please recommend it to a friend! 

The best part for me about Season I has been the feedback. i have written and published a book before – ‘i, church’, that with a few exceptions had SO MUCH excitement BEFORE people got hold of a copy and then so much silence afterwards. Which in some ways is a little bit worse than a face to face “Your book sucked!”

But not only were people giving feedback, it was really specific. So i knew which parts people liked or had found challenging. People were talking about things they were going to try do differently [Like change up the voices that inform them or consider increased community involvement] And that is really helpful.

i also received a free Podcast Audit from Podcast Matchmakers and Steph Fuccio which was beyond helpful. Largely because she said super positive things about most of the episode but also gave me some really helpful tips that i am going to make use of as i start recording Season II.

There was also a lot of it. From Twitterer friends to strangers who happened to discover and listen to an episode, so many specific and super encouraging words that made it easy enough to decide to get going on a second season.

To be absolutely honest, one of my favourite parts from the whole of season I was my niece Jen sending out the most committed and passionate “Episode Three: You can’t handle the Truth” anyone has ever heard. My decision to get children to announce the episode titles is one of my greatest moves on the show so far!

Out of the Fishbowl Recap: Season I

Earlier today i did a brief tweet recap of the first 7 episodes and so here they are – clicking on them – if you see one you missed – will take you directly to them or else you can always search on Apple or Spotify or most other places you like to podcast.

A secondary benefit for me during this time of becoming a Podcaster is that i have started to listen to podcasts. Again, something that i have always wanted to do but never found the rhythm and space for until now. For me, discovering Goodpods on the Twitterer and in the app store was a game-changer. Most days now begin with an early morning coffee and a listen to one of the new shows i have discovered.

There are so many and i am still in the early days of discovery, but Smartless with Jason Bateman/Will Arnett/Sean Hayes is a favourite along with No Stupid Questions [Freakonomics team] No Such Thing as a Fish [QI team] are three that i really enjoy a lot.  Then there is the delightful Indie Zombie Survival romp Zed1Pod [that i will be cameo’ing in or at least my best zombie moan will in the next episode!] and a whole lot more. But Goodpods made it easy for me to discover and keep up to date with. And helped me get going on a routine!

Season II

i do not want to give anything away except to say I AM BEYOND EXCITED AND READY to start recording and sharing Season II. A lot of the skeleton planning has happened already and so all that is needed is to flesh the episodes out and then start bringing them to life. But with the tips and feedback i have received, i am confident that Season II is going to be even more brilliant and hopefully even better received than Season I.

One idea i have been playing around with is hosting a Twitterer Space either the day or week of release of each episode so that there is a space to engage with the material while it is fresh. i am not sure if we have enough of a regular audience for this yet, but perhaps i will give it a go with episode I and if it lands well, continue from there.

All this to say, if you are not yet caught up with all 7 episodes of Season I, please make some time and get on to them. Once Season II drops you will not want to be going back. If you are not yet following the codcast on the Twitterer give @FishbowlCodcast a follow so that you can stay up to date. And please encourage your friends to give one episode a listen and see if it might not be for them!

Hope to be speaking to you soon when Out of the Fishbowl Season II heads your way…