1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,280 And joining us now in the PBJ Spotlight, Jill Jaris and Alison Brown, the hosts of Olympic 2 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:08,880 Fever. And ladies, thank you so much for coming on the show. 3 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:10,560 Oh, thank you for having us. 4 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:11,440 Thank you. 5 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:14,640 Now, the first question is, how do you two know each other? 6 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:24,000 I know we worked together a long time ago in the library of a consulting firm. 7 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,920 And what is the obsession with the Olympics? 8 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:29,920 I don't know if I'd call it an obsession. 9 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:32,160 It's just a lifestyle, right? 10 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:38,000 I don't know. There's something about the Olympics that captures me. 11 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:44,960 And it's that spirit of bringing everyone together and trying to be the best you can be. 12 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:50,240 And you see athletes push themselves to be faster, higher, stronger. 13 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:56,160 And you think it inspires you to be a better person in whatever aspect you can be. 14 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:58,160 That's what I think of when I think of the Olympics. 15 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:05,040 And it's just it captivates me to see sports I don't get access to and people living out their passion. 16 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:06,880 Yeah, I would agree. 17 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:12,160 And I would say that that passion is what always captured my imagination, that you can put 18 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:20,640 everything you are and your entire rest of your life is on hold to achieve a goal is so single 19 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:26,240 minded and so incredible to me that I find that wonderful. 20 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:28,720 And I just like watching sports. 21 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:29,840 Cool. 22 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,560 And seeing people really do a good job at it. 23 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:38,960 So having a passion for the Olympics or love for the Olympics is one thing, 24 00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:42,800 but then you two decide you're going to get together to do a podcast about the Olympics. 25 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:44,800 So talk about how that whole thing came about. 26 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:52,640 Right. So I in 2016, I started tried to do a blog for the Rio Olympics. 27 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:54,320 And I'm a freelance writer by day. 28 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:59,120 I don't have a ton of people to talk with, like you have a water cooler or like Alison was right 29 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:00,720 behind me at work. 30 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:03,520 So we just turn around and talk about the Olympics whenever they were on. 31 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,520 And so I thought, oh, a blog might be nice to do. 32 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:16,800 And putting that together was a lot of work and way more time intensive than I could do by myself 33 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:18,160 and do it the way I wanted to do. 34 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:21,360 And then so that didn't really work so well. 35 00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:27,040 And I've loved podcasts for years and I love the medium. 36 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:33,360 I love that intimate connection you have with the show hosts, with the other fans of the show. 37 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:40,560 And I just thought, well, maybe a podcast would be a good way to fulfill what I want to talk about 38 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:42,000 when I talk about the Olympics. 39 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:47,040 So Alison was coming in through town one day and I just looked at her and said, oh, hey, 40 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:48,640 do you want to do a podcast about the Olympics? 41 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:49,360 And she's like, yeah. 42 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:52,000 I didn't know what I was saying. 43 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:55,440 I really didn't. 44 00:02:55,440 --> 00:03:01,200 It was just, you know, Jill and I always worked very well together when we were working together 45 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:02,160 and we had a lot of fun. 46 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,800 So I was like, oh, I listen to podcasts. 47 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:06,080 How hard could it be? 48 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:06,580 Yeah. 49 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:07,940 Right. 50 00:03:07,940 --> 00:03:12,880 And yeah, the time intensive aspect of it hasn't gone away. 51 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:18,720 But I think there's something more magical in creating that community of people who you 52 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:25,840 interact with regularly and talk actually talking with athletes and organizers and people 53 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:34,080 who have background roles in the games and listening to that is just, it's really special. 54 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,920 So tell us how you did get it started. 55 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,080 What was the first thing that you did? 56 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:41,360 Did you get a hosting company? 57 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:42,800 Did you go out and buy microphones? 58 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:47,040 Take us through those first steps so that anyone that's listening that is thinking about 59 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,160 launching a podcast kind of gets an idea how you did it. 60 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:57,520 So I am a member of Media Bistro and they had a course with Maurice Cherry, which was 61 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,280 like a six week thing with how to start a podcast. 62 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:07,440 And Media Bistro's courses used to be like you took one, they'd show it live and it would 63 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:08,640 take a full six weeks. 64 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:14,320 And then afterwards they would repackage it as a self-study course. 65 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:20,560 So I was on the self-study program and Maurice did a great job in breaking everything down, 66 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,080 all the things you needed to do and the order you needed to do them in. 67 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,880 And here's a cheap version of getting it done. 68 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:31,040 Here's a more expensive way to get it done. 69 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:37,920 And he just was really good about, hey, get into this, see what you need and just take 70 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:38,800 it as it comes. 71 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,720 So that's how I did it. 72 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:48,960 And in terms of planning out, Jill really handles all the technical things. 73 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:54,240 And when we were planning, I just started thinking of what do I like to listen to? 74 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:55,760 What attracts me to a show? 75 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,680 What's missing in Olympic coverage? 76 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:03,760 And so I was, she's working out all these technical things and I would just send her 77 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:07,040 these emails like, well, what if we did this and what if we did this and what? 78 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:11,360 So we just started thinking of what do we like to listen to? 79 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:13,280 And what do we wish existed? 80 00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:16,080 And let's make that the format. 81 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:17,600 Exactly. 82 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:18,560 Go ahead, Jill. 83 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:19,440 I didn't mean to interrupt. 84 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:20,480 Oh, no, that's OK. 85 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:26,080 And I was going to say, like, the other thing that frustrated me was I like to talk and 86 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:27,680 listen to things about the Olympics. 87 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:32,720 And at the time, there was nothing regular in the podcast field. 88 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:39,840 So there would be podcasts that would pop up for like the two or three weeks around 89 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:41,920 the games and then they'd go away. 90 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,360 So in London, the BBC did a great podcast and then it went away. 91 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,680 And then NBC usually puts up a podcast right around the Olympics and it goes away. 92 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,160 And same with there's a couple of other that come and go. 93 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:59,920 And so we wanted to be a place that says, hey, the Olympics go on every day for these 94 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:00,640 people. 95 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:03,520 So we should have a podcast that does that. 96 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:09,680 Now, back to the kind of like the beginning, did after you talked to Maurice and you kind 97 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:15,440 of got an idea from him, what hosting company did you go with and talk about the equipment 98 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:16,160 aspect of it? 99 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:19,040 I can see you have an ATR 2100 right in front of you. 100 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:19,840 I do. 101 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:20,560 Is that right? 102 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:23,360 That's a gift from Alison. 103 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,160 That was her Christmas present last year. 104 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:27,760 Nice, nice. 105 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:35,120 So I went with Libsyn for hosting because that seemed reasonably priced and the service 106 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:35,680 was good. 107 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,960 And Libsyn service has been really good with me. 108 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:42,960 I'm not, you know, I handle the technical aspects, but I'm not a super technical person. 109 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:46,720 So there's a lot of times where I need to push back and go, hey, can you explain this 110 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:47,280 in English? 111 00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:49,200 Because I don't understand what you're saying. 112 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:51,600 But they've been really great. 113 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:58,000 And then I use Audacity for editing. 114 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:05,120 When we do our show, we do end up doing a lot of piecemeal stuff. 115 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:09,920 So Alison and I get together over Skype and we record that. 116 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:16,720 And then I throw in the interviews that we do because they're all separate and recorded 117 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:17,520 separately. 118 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:21,840 And throw on the music at the beginning and the end. 119 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:24,320 And so there's a lot of editing that goes into it. 120 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:28,080 I don't have a mixer yet, but that's on my list. 121 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:34,800 It was more like, let me get a feel for what's going on and what I need and build over time. 122 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:42,160 So we definitely jumped in without really knowing, which I think was good in a way because 123 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,800 we did a lot of learning on the job. 124 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:51,600 Which helped both content development and I think on the technical side as well. 125 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:55,440 Now Jill, do you remember or Alison, do you remember how much money you guys had to invest 126 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:56,640 at the beginning? 127 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:58,640 Not a lot. 128 00:07:58,640 --> 00:07:59,440 Sure. 129 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:01,120 No, not much. 130 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:06,560 We spent money on music and we spent money on a logo. 131 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:10,160 I think we spent like $100, $125 on a logo. 132 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:12,480 And we love our logo so much. 133 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:16,320 That was money well spent. 134 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:22,880 Equipment wise, I had originally started with a headset microphone that was really cheap. 135 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:27,760 And then now I've got the ATR that Alison kindly gifted me. 136 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:30,400 I still have a cheap headset that I'm using. 137 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:35,520 So I think I'm going to buy myself the better microphone this Christmas. 138 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:41,600 And beyond that, it's been like we spent money on the music and the music. 139 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:46,320 We spent money on hosting and website. 140 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:52,080 This past fall we just purchased a WordPress site. 141 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:59,280 So we spent a year doing Libsyn's basic site and just making sure we focused on the quality 142 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:00,080 of the content. 143 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:05,920 And then once we were very comfortable with, okay, this is how we do our thing, then it 144 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:09,120 was time to, okay, add more features. 145 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:14,720 And add a better website and think about where else to invest. 146 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:16,400 I know we spent money on travel. 147 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:23,200 So we traveled to Lake Placid to cover a pin collectors convention. 148 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:25,760 And we ended up talking with some Bob's letters while we were there. 149 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,680 And I had to go to Montreal for something else. 150 00:09:29,680 --> 00:09:35,200 So I had a few days and did some interviews up there and also went out to Long Beach, 151 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:39,040 California for another collectors convention and talked with some people out there as 152 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:39,360 well. 153 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:47,280 So travel has been a little bit of an expense, but we try to do everything we can remotely. 154 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:51,600 Well, it sounds like you did it perfectly at the beginning there, like a lot of podcasters 155 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:53,440 do to keep the expenses down. 156 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:56,160 Now, how are you getting the word out about the show? 157 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:57,040 How do you market it? 158 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:00,560 Well, we have all our social media. 159 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:02,800 It's all Olimfever. 160 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:06,720 So we're on Twitter, we're on Facebook and Instagram. 161 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:08,960 That's been our biggest source. 162 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:13,840 We went to podcast movement. 163 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:19,120 So that was a great way to connect with a lot of people who actually spread the word 164 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:20,800 for us, which has been very helpful. 165 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:27,440 And even our guests have been very helpful in attracting their fans to listen to that 166 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:28,640 particular episode. 167 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:32,160 And then they tend to sometimes stick around. 168 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:34,400 Oh, I didn't know this even existed. 169 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:37,680 So the guests have been a big boon in that aspect. 170 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:38,960 Right. 171 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:43,040 And we've done a little bit of Facebook advertising, but not a ton. 172 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:53,760 Now, and every week I'll post the show on different Reddit threads and different Facebook 173 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:54,240 groups. 174 00:10:55,360 --> 00:11:02,720 Sometimes when we're busy with our day jobs, the marketing aspect of it takes a little 175 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:03,520 bit of a slide. 176 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:05,520 And we just have to accept that. 177 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:08,080 So we're trying to get the word out. 178 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:14,880 Now we're heading into when we, of course, we had a huge spike in listenership from Pyeong 179 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:21,440 Chang, and that of course dissipated, but not, we ended up getting some more regular 180 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:23,360 listeners from the Olympics themselves. 181 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:29,760 And we just know that our podcast is cyclical and we're going to get a big boost in 2020 182 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:30,800 when Tokyo happens. 183 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:34,720 And then, you know, listenership will go down again, but it's finding those people who 184 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:36,720 want to hear these stories. 185 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:41,120 And sometimes they only want to hear one or two sports or one or two people. 186 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:43,920 But, you know, that's that's the nature of the beast. 187 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:45,520 So we have the show. 188 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:49,520 So who's listening and how many, you know, how many listeners are you getting per episode? 189 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:59,920 We get, I would say, upwards within a month or so, we get two to two fifty in depth. 190 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:05,680 Two fifty in downloads, two hundred to two hundred fifty different episodes do much better. 191 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:13,200 We've had Jason Bryant, who is a wrestling podcaster and announcer. 192 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:14,480 He's been on a couple of times. 193 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:18,800 And then when he helps us market, we get a ton of his listeners because they want to 194 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:20,720 hear him for good reason. 195 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:29,520 So it spikes depending on who's on the show, how much they help us market 196 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:32,400 and how much marketing time we're doing ourselves. 197 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:35,840 Now, exactly tell us tell us what the show is about. 198 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:41,520 What are you trying to you're trying to incorporate certain segments or interviews into each 199 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:46,560 show and make sure that you have some time to talk to each other about a specific sport 200 00:12:46,560 --> 00:12:49,360 or kind of give us a rundown of how you put in the pieces together? 201 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:52,880 Well, we it really depends on what we're covering. 202 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:56,880 We've evolved to have an interview pretty much every show. 203 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:02,960 And then we always do an update on what's happening for Tokyo 2020 and also an update 204 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:05,840 on what we call Team Olympic Fever. 205 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:08,880 These are past guests and where they've been competing. 206 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:11,600 We always talk to each other. 207 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:13,920 That's kind of the most fun that we have. 208 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:18,320 Whether that's the most fun for the listeners is another question. 209 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:25,920 But, you know, that's in our personalities really are a central element to the show. 210 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:28,320 And to how we put together the show. 211 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:33,840 So how much the interview versus, you know, what we call chit chat will depend on the 212 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:34,560 subject matter. 213 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:38,960 You know, some interviews are 40 minutes long, some interviews are 15. 214 00:13:39,680 --> 00:13:42,560 So it will depend how much. 215 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:45,040 But those are always the main pieces. 216 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:51,680 And then if there's a big piece of news, you know, a particular when they're choosing a 217 00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:56,080 city or there's a big report that comes out, we will cover that as well. 218 00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:01,040 And is it a one hour show and is it weekly or time varies? 219 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:03,200 It is a weekly show. 220 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:06,560 So we come out on Thursdays ish. 221 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:10,960 Sometimes the episode sometimes it's in the wee hours of Friday morning depending on my 222 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:13,840 schedule and how much editing I do. 223 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:19,280 And we at the beginning when we were working on the format said it's going to be a nice 224 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:24,480 type 30 because I do listen to some podcasts that go on and on extensively. 225 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:29,600 And I've had to stop listening to some because I just don't have two hours every day to devote 226 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:30,640 to one person. 227 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:35,280 You know, I'd rather be able to spread my time around to a lot of different shows. 228 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:37,440 So we thought it's going to be a nice type 30. 229 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:41,760 And we've never really been a nice type 30 for a normal episode. 230 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:45,680 You know, during during Pyeongchang, we were much better about that because we did a daily 231 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:47,760 wrap up show of what we watched. 232 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:49,520 And those were a lot shorter. 233 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:55,120 But ours are usually I would say 40 to 45 minutes, 40 to 50 minutes. 234 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:57,840 Rarely do we go over an hour. 235 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:00,720 I'm pretty adamant about not getting over an hour. 236 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:05,680 I think we only have one or two that are actually over an hour. 237 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:06,240 Right. 238 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:08,080 And it's just over an hour. 239 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:10,720 You know, one oh five, one oh three, things like that. 240 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:14,320 So are you making money? 241 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:16,880 Not yet. 242 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:17,760 Not yet. 243 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:18,480 Working on it. 244 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:22,240 What's your what kind of plan do you have to try and incorporate some revenue? 245 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:30,640 So the usual merch patrons, we've had a donation campaign during the Olympics. 246 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:35,920 We had a donation campaign that was really successful in that it covered our hosting 247 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:42,080 and our email addresses and some other basic expense for the entire year. 248 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:44,240 So that was really good and helpful. 249 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:48,720 We've been approached by sponsors and we're trying to make something work in that. 250 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:56,640 And I think coming going forward in 2019, we want to build a sponsorship package and 251 00:15:56,640 --> 00:16:04,400 explore other ways where we can monetize our content in different venues that we hadn't 252 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:11,520 thought of, like not just put the podcast out on our website or on a podcast platform, 253 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:19,040 but try to think of other places where podcasts might be heard and see if we can license our 254 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:19,840 content that way. 255 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:22,640 What are your biggest challenges? 256 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:24,160 Time. 257 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:25,280 Yes. 258 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:26,720 Time. 259 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:28,960 Just we both have day jobs. 260 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:34,320 We both have families matching up our schedules can be tricky sometimes. 261 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:40,960 And then matching our schedules with our guests can also be a little complicated. 262 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:41,520 Right. 263 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:45,840 So time is definitely an enemy at times. 264 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:46,160 Right. 265 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:51,760 And also, like, we can get information overload pretty quickly. 266 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:55,440 And it can be overwhelming when you think about the Olympics. 267 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:57,360 It's enormous. 268 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:03,200 And we know that there are some great people out there doing figure skating analysis or 269 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:04,720 gymnastics analysis. 270 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:06,080 And they do such a good job. 271 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:09,200 And you think, oh, why can't we do that? 272 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:13,440 And then you remember, oh, well, we have like 20 times the sports that you do. 273 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:16,480 So it's building up our base knowledge. 274 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:21,440 And we just keep in mind that every little bit of research we do or everything we read 275 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:26,160 helps us be better subject experts. 276 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:31,520 Now on the subject of interviews, how are you doing them so you have good quality sound? 277 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:37,200 Because that's a big deal when listeners are tuned into a podcast. 278 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:39,360 We've had a couple that have been. 279 00:17:39,360 --> 00:17:41,680 I see shaking your head. 280 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:42,320 What happened? 281 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:47,600 Yeah, we've had a couple where we weren't even sure we were going to use them because 282 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:48,800 the sound was so poor. 283 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:55,680 Generally, we've done them over Skype, which has worked very well. 284 00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:58,800 At a few events, we've done them in person. 285 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,520 So that tape tends to be obviously better. 286 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:06,160 The ones from New York, because we were outdoors at this huge media event, but those were very 287 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,440 short, so that worked out well because we had pieces. 288 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:16,480 So yeah, definitely sound quality for interviews can be a challenge. 289 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:19,120 Yeah, so let me tell you some stories. 290 00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:19,620 OK. 291 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:24,240 If this inspires anybody to just get out there and do it. 292 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:32,800 We started, we both had little handheld, very cheap tape recorders, pocket ones like mine 293 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:34,480 is a USB Sony thing. 294 00:18:35,120 --> 00:18:42,160 And then as we got money and our Olympics donation campaign actually paid for this, I 295 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,600 got in a Zoom H4N Pro. 296 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:48,320 So that was helpful. 297 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:51,840 We get better sound quality in in person. 298 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:54,880 Interviews, which has been very helpful. 299 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:56,960 So here's the thing. 300 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:02,560 So not everybody has not all of our guests have Skype or want to use Skype. 301 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:12,320 So getting that Zoom attached to my MacBook Pro has been a real challenge for me. 302 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:17,600 And I was watching some YouTube videos and I found one that was that made sense to my 303 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:19,040 non-technical brain. 304 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:21,840 And I said, I just have to get this cable. 305 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:23,840 So order the cable from Amazon. 306 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:25,840 It disappears off my front porch. 307 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:27,840 Then it takes me a little time. 308 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:28,880 Yeah, yeah, that was really bad. 309 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:33,600 Then I had to find another vendor and thank goodness for podcast movement, because that 310 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:37,600 showed me to a good vendor for audio equipment. 311 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:42,160 Got the cord and it doesn't work with my Zoom H4N. 312 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:48,160 So and before that, what we were doing, if people couldn't get to it, we would have 313 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:49,200 to get to it. 314 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:51,200 So we had to get to it. 315 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:55,200 And then people couldn't get to us over Skype. 316 00:19:55,200 --> 00:20:03,200 Literally, it was I set up a speakerphone, tiled everyone in and had like two recorders 317 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,680 going on around me and hoped for the best. 318 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:13,280 And we really hit a wall with one interview that was on a really bad cell phone connection. 319 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:19,120 Fantastic, but I was cringing with the sound quality and not sure how to get it better. 320 00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:23,120 And then I got this cable and it doesn't work and I don't know what to do. 321 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:28,320 And then I realized, well, you know, I could just spend a little money and get Skype credit 322 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:30,480 and Allison and I can Skype. 323 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:34,720 We can Skype together and we can look at each other, which we really prefer that because 324 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:35,920 it that helps us. 325 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:38,720 And then we just dial them up. 326 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:42,560 And yeah, it costs a little bit of money, but oh my gosh, the sound quality is so much 327 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:43,600 better. 328 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,960 Yeah, I have to tell you, I will not do interviews on a cell phone anymore. 329 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:50,080 It's just that and it makes it so much harder because so many people are getting rid of 330 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:50,960 their landlines. 331 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:56,320 And if you're not a podcaster, the chances of you using Skype are probably 50-50. 332 00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:58,880 So it's you got to have the good quality. 333 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:02,640 So whatever it takes, it sounds like you're trying to get it done that way. 334 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:03,140 Right. 335 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:08,800 I was going to say we've done various interviews in various places. 336 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:14,080 You know, we joke about Jill putting a blanket over her head to block out the room sound. 337 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:19,360 I've been, you know, in my bathroom, you know, kind of padded around, doors closed. 338 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:22,400 I mean, we've done some strange setups. 339 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:22,880 Right. 340 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:26,960 Yeah, we both lived in construction zones this past year. 341 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:29,440 So we've had to deal with how do we get around that? 342 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:36,480 And yeah, it's been a challenge, but I think we're making those baby steps to getting 343 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:37,120 better. 344 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:43,040 And it'll, you know, over time, we're going to get better equipment and that's just going 345 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:43,760 to evolve. 346 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:48,000 And, you know, we'll cringe when we listen to the old episodes, but, you know, for a 347 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:54,400 lot of reasons, you know, how many episodes, how many episodes are you up to now and how 348 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:57,520 much time are you putting into editing each episode? 349 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:06,240 We are up to episode 63 or 64 with and that's regular episodes. 350 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:10,400 So we have a bonus episode that's out there because we had a really good interview and 351 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:14,160 we just wanted to put the whole thing out and that was over an hour. 352 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:20,160 And then the dailies from Pyeongchang are different. 353 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:26,640 So the thing that I was thinking about yesterday was I'm so proud of us for getting an episode 354 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:27,840 out every week. 355 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:28,320 Yes. 356 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:34,160 Despite all the chaos that has gone on, we got an episode out. 357 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:37,360 Even if some of them will make us cringe later. 358 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:40,400 And I think that's super important when you're starting. 359 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:46,400 You made the commitment, you get it out there and you just keep that going for yourself. 360 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:54,240 You just keep going and you keep working and that helps you feel better about what you're 361 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:54,800 doing. 362 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:55,600 Right. 363 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:59,120 And we've had episodes where we're like, I don't know what we're doing this week. 364 00:22:59,120 --> 00:23:06,720 And one was magical in that Alison said, well, you know, it's the Athens 1896, the very 365 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:08,720 first modern Olympic Games, the anniversary. 366 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,040 Why don't we watch this old mini series? 367 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:13,040 And I had never heard of it. 368 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:18,960 So we watched that and I started looking at the guy who won the first Olympic medal in 369 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:25,920 modern history and discovered that that medal is in a college that's maybe a three hour 370 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:27,040 drive from me. 371 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:31,520 So I called the college and the special collections librarian was like, yeah, I'll take you 372 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:32,320 through all that stuff. 373 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:36,320 And I hopped in the car and went up and got to hold the first Olympic medal. 374 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:37,120 Very nice. 375 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:43,520 Yeah, things just, there's been a lot of times where things have just somehow fallen 376 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:47,920 into place and we both look at each other and say, I have no idea how we just put that 377 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:50,480 episode together, but okay, let's go. 378 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:55,680 So and now that we've got a groove, we're really working on building a new Olympic 379 00:23:55,680 --> 00:24:02,720 medal, we're really working on building up a stable of interviews, I guess you can say 380 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:07,680 like trying to work ahead as much as we can so that when we have the weeks where we're 381 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:11,040 really tight on time, we have something to fall back on. 382 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:15,360 So how much time are you putting into editing like a lot of time? 383 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:22,400 Yes, I put in a lot of time because there is a lot of piecing things together, but I 384 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:24,240 also edit our interviews. 385 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:33,920 I would say a little significantly and so that I do cut down spaces that are long, long 386 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:34,800 pauses. 387 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:41,760 I take out some ums that are very isolated and a lot of that is to cut down on time. 388 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:46,800 And Alison and I, we have a problem shutting up. 389 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:51,120 So there's a lot of stuff that we have to take out of our conversations as well, just 390 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:55,680 like, okay, that didn't work or I messed up an intro or something like that. 391 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:56,640 So I take that out. 392 00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:04,880 I would say that it might take me a good five or six hours to put an episode together. 393 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:06,880 Wow, that's a lot of time. 394 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:12,080 It is a lot of time, but I think for me, that's worth it. 395 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:21,200 And I think that the quality of the product that we put out, even if the sound quality 396 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:26,000 isn't there, the content and the way we edit it down works. 397 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:33,040 And it's always, and I do as much editing as I do because I'm just so conscious of our 398 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:37,040 listener's time and what they can afford to spend with us. 399 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:42,560 I want them to spend as much time as possible with us and not turn us off and say, I'm done, 400 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:45,440 I can't listen to you guys for that long. 401 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,880 So why do you two love to do this? 402 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:52,480 I like hanging out with Alison. 403 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:54,160 I was just about to say the same thing. 404 00:25:54,160 --> 00:26:00,000 I think, you know, we worked together for a couple years and then I moved to another 405 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:04,320 state and then, so we never, ever since we weren't working together, we really didn't 406 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:05,600 get to hang out. 407 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:09,840 And so now we get to see each other every week and that's, oh, I'm recording today. 408 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:14,640 So that's kind of something that I look forward to, just spending time with Jill and spending 409 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:16,320 time with the guests. 410 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:23,840 We have met so many fantastic people and had so many experiences that I would never have 411 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:24,800 anticipated. 412 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:30,080 And when our listeners communicate with us, I'm just, I want to have them all over for 413 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:30,480 dinner. 414 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:36,320 I just, you know, I love hanging out with the people that are in our community, that 415 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:40,080 are as a whole, they're just fun people. 416 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:47,280 Well, last question, as we're running out of time already, what advice do you have for 417 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:48,320 other podcasters? 418 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:51,600 Just jump in. 419 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:52,800 Yeah, get it done. 420 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:59,840 Don't, I mean, you can talk yourself out of doing anything, but just doing it, know 421 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:03,760 that you're going to be bad in the beginning, but it's going to get better. 422 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:04,960 You'll get smarter. 423 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:06,560 You'll become more polished. 424 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:08,320 Nobody starts off as an expert. 425 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:13,520 And I think we learn this every week when we talk to an athlete where we hear the highs 426 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:15,600 and the lows and how they get through all that. 427 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:18,160 Gosh. 428 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:22,880 Yeah, it's just, you will convince yourself you can't do it. 429 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:27,120 And I'm, you know, the first one who can think of every reason not to. 430 00:27:27,120 --> 00:27:33,280 So I think what was good is, and this I would say is if you can work with someone who will 431 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:37,840 just get you to do it, that's a huge help. 432 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:39,840 That is an enormous help. 433 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:41,840 We keep each other honest. 434 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:42,560 We do. 435 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:49,600 And I think it's much easier to do this show with a partner and you have that extra person 436 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:50,960 to bounce stuff off of. 437 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:53,040 And I don't know. 438 00:27:53,040 --> 00:28:01,360 We just, when we think about the past year and three months or so, I can't imagine not 439 00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:02,560 doing the podcast now. 440 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:08,080 We've had so many incredible experiences and talked with so many people. 441 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:14,400 I mean, we went rowing with an Olympic gold medalist and that was, you know, who gets 442 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:15,840 to do that on a daily basis. 443 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:17,840 Very cool. 444 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:24,400 So thank you, first of all, thank you both for coming on and Jill, where can people find 445 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:29,840 you, reach out to you, follow you, give us all the rundown so everybody that's listening 446 00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:34,720 can listen to your show or follow you on social media? 447 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:38,720 Oh, we are at olimfever.com. 448 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:41,840 So it's O-L-Y-M fever.com. 449 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:44,320 And we're Olimfever on every social media. 450 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:48,000 So we're on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook. 451 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:52,480 We have a Facebook group that's Olympic Fever Podcast and that's where we have a lot of 452 00:28:52,480 --> 00:29:15,440 fun on a daily basis.