eNetworking 101: The Blog: Finishing SLA's 23 Things

I began SLA's 23 Things in June and have done a few blog posts about it. Since I was already familiar with the tools, I took this opportunity to see how they were presenting the information and to sometimes explore other things (like Meez).

Week #9 -- the last week -- was about podcasting. A couple years ago, I helped the local library consortium create a podcasting studio and got them started on podcasting. And while I understand the power of sound, I have not delved into podcasting myself, until two weeks ago when I joined Maurice Coleman on his podcast T is for Training. Like the podcast Uncontrolled Vocabulary hosted by Greg Schwartz, Maurice is using TalkShoe to create and store his episodes. TalkShoe is a "service that enables anyone to easily create, join, or listen to Live Interactive Discussions, Conversations, Podcasts and Audioblogs." The best part about TalkShoe is that it is free. The company has said that it may created advanced services/features in the future that it will charge for.

So what was it like being on a call-in show, knowing that others were listening and that others would hear the whole thing later? Fun! It took a few minutes to get used to the TalkShoe "window", but then it was smooth sailing. Several people were on the call and a few more were listening and interacting through the chat feature, so there were several conversations going on a once, with the most important one being the call itself (because was being recorded). What was very cool was that Maurice had the podcast posted to his web site when minutes after the show concluded. Wow!

With TalkShoe being so easy, I'm think that a colleague and I can use it as part of a product we're developing. And I'm wondering about using it with some other things I'm doing. My mind is "a buzz"!

Wrapping up 23 Things: Now while I didn't really do all of the 23 Things as outlined in the lessons, I want to thank the workgroup that developed the lessons. You all did a great job and provided a wonderful service to the Association. You gave everyone permission to play, to try stuff out, and to not worry about failing. We need to remember what little children know, play is one way of learning and if you are learning you can't fail.