Oh no! Airplane Geeks slightly less geeky??

Airplane Geeks of the World lament! Coutney Miller, one of the founders of the Airplane Geeks Podcast has left in search of employment opportunities up in Canada.
I hope that we'll still be able to hear him occasionally on the podcast - I think we'd all agree that his experience in the industry helps to give great insight into its workings, and his friendly style on the podcast is one of the factors in making it an easy show to listen to each week.

I'm sure I speak for all listeners to the podcast in wishing Courtney every success in his future endeavours. Speaking as a pilot who spends far too much time on the ground, I can only envy him and others like him who are able to fly regularly and make a living doing it.

I'd also like to thank him for allowing me to try my hand in the podcasting game by running my "Australia Desk" reports. It was Court who came up with the name - and the Tee Shirt -and if I'm somehow able to come up with a decent podcast of my own some day, I'll owe a great deal of gratitude to him.

Of course, the format of the show will change a bit now, and it's up to listeners to help Max out by sending in articles, or better still, by having a go at recording yourself reading local articles like I do each week. There is plenty of free software around to do it with (I use Audacity), so give it a try.

Best wishes Court. Hope it all works out perfectly for you & your family.

Podcasting - Netcasting. My thoughts on the concept

Depending on your loyalties, it's either a Podcast, or a Netcast.  Call it what you will, I discovered this medium in mid 2007.   I'd heard of the concept before that, but had not really bothered to see what it was all about.  And of course, I'm now a devotee.

The idea that you can sample whatever content takes your interest, whenever it suits you, is revolutionary.  However, the aspect that really impresses me is that it creates a real online community.  And more than just a community for the tech geeks, it encompases virtually any field of interest you can imagine.

The most appealing aspect of this medium is that it's not only for the media professionals.  Anyone can have a go at it with the minimum of equipment.  You can take in the excellent and professionally produced tech content from podcasting god, Leo Laporte, right through the spectrum to the completely amateur shows made on laptops with USB mics.  And it's all free to download whenever you choose.

Having an aviation background naturally swayed my interest in that direction when searching for content.  There are many excellent shows to be sampled here, covering everything from airlines to general aviation, news to politics and technical issues.  And the best part of it is the active encouragement by many podcasters for their audience to participate in the community.  Posting in the forums at Uncontrolled Airspace has allowed me to communicate with many others who, although I've never met them, share a common bond - people who "get it".

Relative newcomers to the aviation podcasting sphere are the Airplane Geeks.  These guys cover the aviation news of the week, and have a guest each week to cover various topics.  Of all the podcasters I've listened to, these guys offers the widest range of ways to participate in the online community they're building.  Email, voice mail, even audio files.  I recently decided to send in a couple of articles from local newspapers here in Australia which I thought they might find newsworthy, and was thrilled when the "Geeks" included them in an episode.  They appeared to appreciate the participation, so I sent in a few more articles & links, and now I'm the "Australia Desk".  

This is the greatest aspect of the new media era.  Allowing regular people to be active in their fields of interest, rather than just being spectators.  I'm really enjoying it, and I'm very grateful to Max & Courtney at the Geeks for allowing me the opportunity to contribute to their show.