Episode 33: Views from the Coop is Back Online with the Blog Queen!

July 31, 2007

Sorry for the lag in posting but I haven’t been able to post to the blog in a couple of weeks due to technical problems. It looks like everything’s all straightened out now and I can catch you up with what’s been happening with the podcast!

As you know, I have been looking for alternative methods of creating an interactive podcast and am happy to say that I’ve found something that works well. I recorded a podcast with a special guest co-host, Kim Beasley the Blog Queen, on Friday, July 20th via Free Conference Call. Needless to say, we blabbed about blogs…business blogs specifically. Kim spends a lot of time working with business owners who are either not sure blogging will work for them as a business tool or if they have decided to blog, what do they need to know about blogging for business.

Kim is the owner of Agape3 Services. As part of those business services, Kim offers:

• www.CustomizeWordPress.com (providing WordPress installation, customization and training)
• www.KimBeasley.com (providing business tips to help you grow your business
• www.A3WebDesign.com (providing web design and advanced programming services)
• www.TheOuchFactor.com (providing business solutions to business owner regarding their business issues

She pretty passionate on the subject of business blogging and it comes through on the podcast. She was such a sweetie. We recorded a GREAT show and then I went and erased the recording. The way Free Conference Call works is that you press the ‘9′ key on your telephone or VoIP keypad to start the recording, then press it again when you finish. I did fine with the first ‘9′ but when I pressed it to stop the recording, I didn’t immediately hear the message that the recording had stopped, so I pressed ‘9′ again and as a result, started recording over the first recording! Being the sweetie that she is, Kim came back and re-recorded the show with me. Thanks, Kim!

I’ll be introducing other guest co-hosts within the next few weeks/months. Kristi is still taking a break from podcasting after the death of her sister, Sandi. I miss her terribly but do understand that she needs some time to devote to other things. Hopefully, she’ll be joining me again in the future.

For those of you who have been a part of the Coop Crew during the shows I recorded from our Co-opworld VoIP conference room, I hope you’ll think about joining me again with Free Conference Call. It’s very easy to use and can accomodate up to 96 participants. The downside is that even though the conference itself is free, the call to access the conference room isn’t (unless you live in the same area code as the dialup number). Fortunately, you can access the conference with Skype if your account uses Skype-Out. I upgraded my free account to the account that lets me dial regular landline and cellphone lines for $24.95/year so the cost is minimal. It works great, too. Anyway, anyone who wants to join me is more than welcome. I’ll continue to let you know in advance in both the newsletter and on this blog about the next show and how you can dial in to join me.

Speaking of the next show, I’ll have two VERY special co-hosts on Views from the Coop this coming Friday morning, August 3, at 9am CST: My mom and the original Smart Chik, Gwen, and our friend, Dottye. Mom and Dottye are a couple of 70 year young tekkie chiks who decided last year that they could help other senior citizens learn to use their computers so they went down to the public library and started offering basic classes for beginners! They’re taking a summer break right now but plan to start the weekly classes back up in the fall. Their attendance grew from one lady to a dozen or more men and women over a few weeks. We’ll be chatting about why they did it, how they did it, and what they learned. You can find instructions for joining the conference on the homepage of Views from the Coop and of course, I’ll send them out in the newsletter.

If you’d like to receive the Views from the Coop newsletter, just drop me an e-mail and I’ll add you to the subscribers list. It’s great to be back in the podcasting seat again and I’m looking forward to introducing you to new (and used) tech topics on future shows. If you have a topic you’d like to discuss, let me know and I’ll plan a show with YOU as my special guest co-host!

If you’d like to listen to the podcast I did with Kim, you can hear it at http://rss.viewsfromthecoop.com!

Posted in Views From The Coop