An end (for now) and what’s next
From where I sit, The Pod Party pilot was a success. Since I like numbers when I know there are people are behind them:
63 folks were signed up for The Pod Party mailing list.
The fewest listeners we had to a daily episode was 7 (the last day) and the highest number of listeners we had was 29 (the first day). Average listenership to a daily episode was 16 listeners.
All together, we consumed 248 episodes during the course of the sixteen day pilot.
180 suggestions of podcasts and podcast episodes were made by listeners. Episodes of Radiolab, Reply All, This American Life, Freakonomics, and 99% Invisible were the most suggested as connections to the daily listening.
I asked the following questions (all optional, all free response) in the closing survey to improve The Pod Party as it returns later this summer.
How many of the daily episodes did you manage to listen to during The Pod Party? I'm curious how much overlap we had in listeners from day to day.
What episodes did you enjoy during The Pod Party? Why? My secret hope was for you to discover one new thing. *crosses fingers*
What episodes did you skip or dislike during The Pod Party? Why? It's okay if you didn't like some of them (there are a few I probably won't return to in the near future, too).
Will you add any podcasts we listened to during The Pod Party to your listening repertoire? Which ones? If so, awesome! My secret hope is realized!
Would you be a part of The Pod Party in the future? Why or why not? This was a pilot, but I fully intend to continue if you all are in, too.
What questions would you add to the daily survey? Why? The why is important here. Each question on the daily survey has a purpose, and I'm definitely open to more suggestions as long as there's a compelling reason why.
If The Pod Party shifted to a participant-driven weekly queue of listening, would you still listen and/or contribute a playlist of episodes? This would allow for a wider range of podcasts for us to listen to, discuss, and brainstorm together. (The episodes would still be distributed daily.)
What podcasts do you listen to regularly? Be as exhaustive as you'd like.
Is there anything else you'd like to share with me about this project? Help me make this better for next time!
Nineteen people responded to the closing survey, and here are some observations based on what I read:
The listening pace was intense. I agree wholeheartedly. I wanted to concentrate the goodness for the pilot, but I don’t know that I can keep up curating pace moving forward either.
Prepare the listener for what’s ahead. Suggestions included themed/topical weeks, content advisories, length, publishing a queue of podcasts for the week right from the start, and consider an RSS (Huffduffer was proposed).
Tweak the survey. More questions on the survey would make it a. clearer for participants and b. solicit better quality and more helpful responses. The most asked for addition to listener survey: “What did you like/dislike this episode?” (Related suggestion: customizing the survey each day would be a smart move, and consider including questions that clarify the distinctions between similar podcasts and similar episodes based on both style and content.)
Everyone listens to podcasts for different reasons. And the corollary: everyone likes the podcasts that they like for different reasons. This was most clear in the answers to the “What episodes did you enjoy?” and “What episodes did you skip or dislike?” survey questions, plus the free responses about improvements for the future and the exhaustive list of podcasts participants listen to. My own biases were definitely present in this pilot, since I gravitate toward a specific style of podcast (more journalism than fiction, more structured than conversational), though I did attempt to vary my listening for the most potential connections between podcasts.Â
There were some standouts and duds during the pilot. Us & Them, 99% Invisible, and Popaganda were the most mentioned in both the “I enjoyed this” and “I would consider subscribing” categories. The selected episodes of Millennial, The Truth, Wham Bam Pow, 2 Dope Queens and How To Do Everything were the most divisive episodes we listened to.
I’ve got much to think about as The Pod Party moves into its next iteration. My aim: more to come by the end of this month!Â
So excited for the next round you can’t even handle it? Get ready by joining The Pod Party mailing list.