SHEL HOLTZ suggests a tactic worth elevating to the status of "best practise in podcasting" when considering the audible recorded dimension of conferences. He recommends edited versions of spoken material from conferences. There's no compelling interest from potential listeners for the complete recording of an entire conference. Just as curators in the visual arts do not show audiences everything an artist does, there's no need for podcasters to release every second of recording from conference sessions. There's a curatorial imperative to new media. Podcasters who don't edit their stuff risk boring their audiences and that leads to people scrubbing forward through content, even unsubscribing to podcast feeds because they're too tedious.
Edited audible versions of conferences "provides value to those who can’t make it to the conference without giving away the benefits of attending in person," writes Shel Holtz. "If anything, the podcasts should make professionals more anxious to attend the conference next year while providing them with some truly worthwhile content."
I watch students edit two hours of studio chat down to less than 25 minutes of educational revision material. Researchers and producers in broadcast studios try to ensure what goes out on the mic offers a focused approach to a topic. Over the years, people have become accustomed to this style of presentation. Podcasters have to adopt a curatorial perspective and embrace these listener expectations or their numbers will tell them the harsh truth about their audiences.
Shel Holtz -- "OTRO to podcast media relations 2006"
