Some of my findings...I am compiling the results to my original burning question. There is a good-sized amount of research out there on podcasting. I chose to research how podcasting is utilized in private industry using some Fortune 500 companies and some smaller. The information was weighty and reading my way through was time-consuming. Podcasting is quite popular in private industry. Basically, it is used for disseminating information to employees and/or consumers. The subject matter and targeted audiences are different from BCPS podcasts. They are using podcasts in some very interesting ways.
ASTD states that podcasting is beneficial to business because it offers learning without interrupting work, can be used on demand, low-cost, repeatable, subscription-based and embedded into the life of today's employees. Most of the podcasts I reviewed were informative and entertaining. One company has stated that podcasts are time-shifted listening, the TiVo of radio, while others are calling podcasts "edutainment".
Some of the companies that stood out for me are included in this posting. I am still sifting through information in order to compile a final report on my research.
Financial
Capital One, a financial services company based in McLean, VA, has a training program using podcasts that their employees use a customized Web portal to download lessons to play at their “leisure.” While there is no specific program, this company’s focus is to present information about topics that affect the entire company – from diversity to the elements that constitute the company’s quarterly earnings. They bought 3,000 iPods engraved with the company name. They believe that if these associates understand the business model, the more value they add to the company. (Ted Forbes, Director of Learning). They expect to reduce the time employees spend learning in a classroom, reduce the cost of travel to the corporate office for that training.
Initial results are promising: 65 percent of audio learners reported saving time over traditional learning methods. Dollar figures aren’t yet available. Forbes says that more podcast content is on the way, and will include speeches and even suggested listening from the company’s executives.
Publishing
In September of 2005, publishers Simon and Schuster kicked off a company-wide podcasting effort, called the The SimonSays podcast. They create weekly, half-hour shows featuring author interviews and other tidbits. One interview touting the new biography of Neil Armstrong combined sounds clips from the 1969 moon walk with excerpts from the book. This company has a lot of audio content. Thinking ahead, they see podcasts as a possible way of delivering short stories and books. If you subscribe to their RSS feed, you can see a list of all podcasts.
Pet Food
The Purina Companysponsors a radio talk show with veterinarians. It uses that show and takes out the on air ads. They offer these as informative audio podcasts for pet owners.
IT
Oracle is one of the first companies to bring Podcasting to a conference to reach audiences who may not have been able to attend. It is especially successful in their Worldwide division where attendees and non-attendees are able to listen to relevant content long after the conference is over.
IBM created a podcast series called IBM and the Future of… It was designed to help investors and the general public understand IBM’s future vision for tech trends and to learn about the company’s ongoing work and research in various industries. "IBM and the Future of Banking," the most recent installment, is currently ranked No. 55 on the iTunes Podcast Top 100 list, according to a representative. IBM’s goal was to get away from the corporate feel that touts, “our products are great” to a more grass roots-like podcast that lends itself to authenticity and usefulness to the general public. They have generated 2,700 Pocasts to date with 1,000,000 downloads.
Appliances
Whirlpool uses one person to record their podcasts. Audrey Reed-Granger records twice a week, after work and on weekends. She models her podcasts after radio broadcasts of the 40s and 50s. They are sponsored by Whirlpool, but it doesn’t pitch its products. Instead, she presents informational family-type episodes dealing with such topics as newlywed parents to be and stay at home dads.
ASTD states that podcasting is beneficial to business because it offers learning without interrupting work, can be used on demand, low-cost, repeatable, subscription-based and embedded into the life of today's employees. Most of the podcasts I reviewed were informative and entertaining. One company has stated that podcasts are time-shifted listening, the TiVo of radio, while others are calling podcasts "edutainment".
Some of the companies that stood out for me are included in this posting. I am still sifting through information in order to compile a final report on my research.
Financial
Capital One, a financial services company based in McLean, VA, has a training program using podcasts that their employees use a customized Web portal to download lessons to play at their “leisure.” While there is no specific program, this company’s focus is to present information about topics that affect the entire company – from diversity to the elements that constitute the company’s quarterly earnings. They bought 3,000 iPods engraved with the company name. They believe that if these associates understand the business model, the more value they add to the company. (Ted Forbes, Director of Learning). They expect to reduce the time employees spend learning in a classroom, reduce the cost of travel to the corporate office for that training.
Initial results are promising: 65 percent of audio learners reported saving time over traditional learning methods. Dollar figures aren’t yet available. Forbes says that more podcast content is on the way, and will include speeches and even suggested listening from the company’s executives.
Publishing
In September of 2005, publishers Simon and Schuster kicked off a company-wide podcasting effort, called the The SimonSays podcast. They create weekly, half-hour shows featuring author interviews and other tidbits. One interview touting the new biography of Neil Armstrong combined sounds clips from the 1969 moon walk with excerpts from the book. This company has a lot of audio content. Thinking ahead, they see podcasts as a possible way of delivering short stories and books. If you subscribe to their RSS feed, you can see a list of all podcasts.
Pet Food
The Purina Companysponsors a radio talk show with veterinarians. It uses that show and takes out the on air ads. They offer these as informative audio podcasts for pet owners.
IT
Oracle is one of the first companies to bring Podcasting to a conference to reach audiences who may not have been able to attend. It is especially successful in their Worldwide division where attendees and non-attendees are able to listen to relevant content long after the conference is over.
IBM created a podcast series called IBM and the Future of… It was designed to help investors and the general public understand IBM’s future vision for tech trends and to learn about the company’s ongoing work and research in various industries. "IBM and the Future of Banking," the most recent installment, is currently ranked No. 55 on the iTunes Podcast Top 100 list, according to a representative. IBM’s goal was to get away from the corporate feel that touts, “our products are great” to a more grass roots-like podcast that lends itself to authenticity and usefulness to the general public. They have generated 2,700 Pocasts to date with 1,000,000 downloads.
Appliances
Whirlpool uses one person to record their podcasts. Audrey Reed-Granger records twice a week, after work and on weekends. She models her podcasts after radio broadcasts of the 40s and 50s. They are sponsored by Whirlpool, but it doesn’t pitch its products. Instead, she presents informational family-type episodes dealing with such topics as newlywed parents to be and stay at home dads.
Some other interesting tidbits:
- There is an iPod sold every 1.5 seconds
- National Semiconductor spent $2.5 million on video iPods for all of their 8,500 employees
- EMC creates 3-4 new podcasts per week which are downloaded by the thousands
- After each podcast, IBM also creates a Q&A blog.
I have been researching how podcasts are utilized outside of BCPS. My approach was to create and send surveys about iPod use to corporations that are familiar to me. As many of you know, I come from private industry and thought that it would be useful to know how podcasts are being used outside of an educational setting. I sent the survey along with a personal note to a few departments in several companies. I chose communications, training and development, marketing and IT.
