In July 2006 I began my very first podcast, The Church Drama Podcast. (Someday I need to tell you that story.) It was a five-person podcast, done with both audio and video versions. Through the process of producing that podcast I learned about RSS feeds, how to develop a website using WordPress, and some of the challenges associated with podcasts, video, and audio production. Though I started by using a WordPress.com site, I quickly changed to a self-hosted solution using GoDaddy. I know, I know…but it was the cheapest solution I could find at the time.
The CDP was recorded weekly – most of the time – and gained a decent following. It was a lot of work and it depended on the availability of the podcast panel of myself, and the four other regulars of the show – Mary-Jane, Steve, Trish, and the Lovely Trudi. We had a lot of fun, but it’s amazing that we were able to continue the show for as long as we did with the twin monsters of schedule and scripts fighting us the entire time.
In September 2006 I began my first solo podcast, The Bible Quiz Podcast. By then I was thoroughly enamored with the idea of podcasts and I wanted to try my hand at producing a show that didn’t depend on anyone else showing up. I also wanted to try a different method in producing a podcast. Instead of using a self-hosted WordPress site, I went to Libsyn.
In the next few years I would start a few more podcasts, Wiilationships, Pastor Goss Sunday School Class, and Sunday Morning. Each of these gave me more experience in developing a regular audio podcast, but until 71o1, the CDP was still the only video podcast I attempted.
The whole idea of doing church video announcements everyday came because of podcasts, and I knew that if I attempted it, it would be as a podcast. Doing audio and video as a podcast adds an additional avenue for distribution. Potential viewers can find your show through your website, through iTunes, or any podcast app. They have the option of having the show delivered automatically through the podcast feed.
I wanted a robust hosting solution for the show. I didn’t want bandwidth to be a problem. We use Dreamhost as our internet provider, and they’ve been great. They offer free hosting for 501(c)3 non-profits. They also offer “unlimited” bandwidth and “unlimited” storage. But we all know there are hidden limitations. And I didn’t want to run into a problem down the road.
I had used Libsyn previously with the Bible Quiz Podcast because of the guarantee of unlimited bandwidth, but Libsyn isn’t a very friendly place to host, and they can end up being pretty pricey.
The solution was Vimeo. Vimeo Plus offers 5 gb of uploading per week at a very reasonable price. (I think it was even cheaper when I signed up.) I created the 71o1 channel in our church account, then created the 71o1 website that would show the daily videos. However, for reasons that take more writing than I care to do, I had to create a sub-site on 71o1 that would host the podcast version of the show.
By February 2011 I had worked out many of the details on doing the new video announcement show. I had decided on the name 71o1 – with a small letter “o” instead of the number zero – after checking the internet and discovering that an all-numeric 7101.com was already taken. I felt it was important that the show have a short, easy-to-remember name and associated website. “Seventy-one oh one dot com” seemed to fit.
I set a target date of March 1st for a test of the process – writing, filming, editing, posting. How would it work in real life? Was this something we could make work daily? Could we do it in 71 seconds or less? There was only one way to know for sure.
[Next: First and second tests]