Podcacher.com
Did you know that there is a free, weekly audio show all about Geocaching? Check out the PodCacher podcast at www.podcacher.com. We are Sonny and Sandy, a husband and wife geocaching team in Southern California who have created a "podcast" about geocaching. Podcasting is a way to listen to "radio-like" audio shows on an MP3 player. You can also listen to the shows any time you want right on the computer. PodCacher began in July 2005 and has over 100 shows today! All of the past shows are available on the website.
There
are just some things that go well together. Chocolate and peanut butter,
rain outside and a warm fire inside, and of course outdoor adventure and
technology come together to form geocaching. In the same way, audio shows
and mobile technology have come together to make podcasts a reality.
From the beginning, we wanted to deliver high quality, family-friendly shows that would inform, inspire and entertain! We thought a podcast would be a good fit. Geocachers are adventurous, use computers, and are very mobile; also a good description for podcast listeners! So we designed a program that delivers news, tips and tricks, tools of the trade, caching stories, interviews, live audio events, and more! We've created special shows about "travel caching" and "photo caching tips". We even have a "guest listener" call in, Tony the Trail Guy, who gives Tasty Trail Treat recipe ideas.
We've had a great time creating these shows. They're fun and have connected us with geocachers from all around the globe! We have thousands of listeners worldwide and the number just keeps on growing. One of the reasons that more and more geocachers continue to find out about podcacher is what we like to call "guerrilla marketing". At this point we don't have a huge promotional budget and we rely on our listeners to help get the word out about the show. Listeners have created CDs with some of our shows, they've printed out flyers, and dropped these in caches as they find them. Many of our listeners have told their friends about the show via their local forums, or on their blogs. Listeners have even created travel bugs and geocaches that let others know about PodCacher.
PodCacher is more than just a free weekly audio show. We've also constructed a website that we hope becomes a waypoint for cachers to stop by and get their fill of geocaching content. PodCacher might be just the place to recharge your batteries and feed that geocaching hunger. Recently, we've invited other geocachers to write short, "blog-type" articles for PodCacher. They write about caching from their various perspectives. They bring in great news and insights from all around the world. We have some great writers at this point, but are always keeping an eye out for anyone else who might want to contribute and feel they could add value to PodCacher.
In order to foster a sense of community, we've also created the PodCacher Forums, a place for geocachers to stop by and connect with other like minds. Although there are already many forums out there, one thing that makes the PodCacher Forums unique is the "Show Builder" area. Cachers can actually help us build our weekly shows! We are constantly getting GREAT (and we do mean great) content from our listeners. They've sent us stories, recorded audio, email, and most of all outstanding ideas! Because of our listeners ideas, we've created a wide variety of shows and have some imaginative and innovative plans for future shows coming soon!
One innovation we've had fun with recently is our "PodCacher Hotline". It's a simple voice mail number and our listeners have been calling and recording great audio for us there. We've asked them to put the number (206 A CACHER) on their cell phones so they can call at a moment's notice. We've gotten lots of calls from cachers in the field about to embark on an adventure or a first to find. When we post their audio on the show, it makes our listeners feel like they're along for the cache hunt! Fun stuff!
Drop by www.podcacher.com for more information and "Keep on Cachin'!"