Today marks a milestone that I honestly never thought we would be celebrating. Last night, my podcast TOSAs Talking Tech hit the 20,000-download mark. It is hard for me to comprehend that amount of support for a small podcast started by two teachers looking to get tech tips out to their fellow teachers.

We started podcasting in early October 2015, and it was almost on a whim. I had some podcast equipment from a previous project and it was just sitting around collecting dust. My fellow Tech Specialist and I were having the same problems trainers have all over education, we couldn’t get people to voluntary trainings after school, and yet we had a mandate and a job to do. It was obvious that our current strategies were not working, and so we thought up an on-demand style PD that could be based on screencasts and podcasts, to be there and ready when our teachers were ready to start learning. As many of you know, I cajoled and pleaded and begged and, in the end, tricked Mike into recording our first podcast, telling him “I just want to test something out, can you read this with me on the mic?” Two hours later, that episode was up on iTunes and I was awaiting approval for our new show, TOSAs Talking Tech.

When I got the approval email I excitedly told Mike, “Our show is out and up on iTunes, you can download it now!” He looked at me like I was crazy, and pulled out his phone in disbelief, and sure enough, there we were.

It took some convincing to get another episode out of Mike, considering I had edited, published and promoted while he was oblivious, but record another we did. And another. And another. And now, almost 65 episodes later, I still somehow get him to put on those headphones and talk tech with me on a weekly basis.

This milestone means a lot for me, personally too. Podcasting was a passion project that I immediately fell in love with and threw lots of time, effort and money into. I am a gadget hound, and this hobby can be dangerous! But getting the traction it has and being able to reach out and affect so many teachers in the classroom is something that I only dreamed about. We are not big on iTunes, and our stream is not monetized in any way, but I don’t really care about that. I think I would be podcasting something if all I had was my phone, some sound effects and someone to bounce my ideas off of.

But 20,000 downloads means that my passion project has reached many more than I thought possible. And I need to thank some of our supporters, inspirations, and co-conspirators with which this day would not have come. I would like to thank the following:

Michael Jephcott- what can I say, my friend? Started from the bottom . . . and now we are slightly above the bottom! I have had a blast, and you make talking into a microphone fun. You are always there to bounce ideas off of, to come up with creative content, and to encourage and support in whatever capacity is needed. You make my pie-in-the-sky ideas do-able and keep me grounded in reality. You are the best partner a guy could ask for.

Bassett Unified and our boss, Deborah French- you allowed two teachers with a silly idea to run with it. You continue to support us, and even spotlight our shows on your site. You are always encouraging and supportive, and that faith in what we are doing gives us the strength and keeps our passion ignited to carry on. Thank you for this opportunity to support and help teachers.

Brian Briggs and Ryan O’Donnell- your podcast “Check This Out” and your session on podcasting at Fall Cue 2015 gave us the push to go on. We only had one show published when I went to your session and you gave me the spark to carry on and showed us that educational podcasting has a place in our community. You have been a constant support and inspiration for us, and have even popped by the dogpound to have a chat. Your friendship has meant so much to a small startup podcast.

To Our crazy office mates, the Dogpound- thanks for allowing us to take over the office for a couple hours a month to do our podcasting thing. You were some of our first guests, and your voices provide the bumpers and intros to our show. Your support and encouragement means a lot, and that fact that your listen to our podcasts even after sitting around with us all day and hearing us record them speaks loudly.

To our top fans- Coach Ben Cogswell, Roland Aichele, John Eick, Kyle Anderson, Ann Kozma, Cate Tolani, Lindsey Blass, Pablo Diaz, Jon Corippo, Nicole Beardsley, Kristina Allison, Eddie Simoneau, David Platt, Jason Seliskar, Katie Warren, Jody Green, Judy Blakeney, #connectedTL, #cuechat, #TOSAchat, #OCCUE, #IACUE, and #SGVCUE peeps. Your feedback and encouragement keep us going and help to ensure that our content stays relevant!

To our Manic Minute Interviewees- You are a fun part of our show and we love talking to you! You help grow our podcast and keep it fun by talking to new and exciting people.

To CUE- Your PLN has been there for us, supporting us and encouraging us, giving us space at conferences and tech-fests to spread the love for podcasting, audio in the classroom, and make contacts with educators from across the globe. Your Rockstar events changed the way we do PD, and changed the way we teach and learn. Thank you for your constant support.

 

Thank you again for going along with us on this journey, and here is to 20,000 more downloads!