[Show Notes by Daniel M. Clark]

The Geek Dads this week were myself, Joe and Scott – Sam couldn’t join us this week, though we hope that we can get him on a couple more times before he starts his new teaching job.

My computer, the one doing the recording, had a failing hard drive. You may notice a whirring noise at some points because my microphone jack also decided to stop working, so I was recording through the laptop’s internal microphone. The computer died later that day, and I had to get it replaced, which is one reason why this show, recorded last Wednesday, is going up today.

Our topics this week:

• Sam’s teaching job
• Joe being under a tornado watch, and dealing with taking the family into the bathroom tub for safety
• Lobster!
• Kid competitions, hockey and skating
• Skiing in various places in the US
• Illness, fevers and general yucky-ness
• Swine flu (OMG WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!)
• Asthma, nebulizers
• Autism
• Scott tells a story about a false positive on a genetic test
• Swamp coolers
• More about autism
• Enough of the depressing stuff! We move on geeky topics… or topic. Twitter. Of course.
• Who we follow and why (and who we no longer follow and why)
• Various clients – Nambu, Tweetie, Tweetdeck
• Having multiple accounts and managing them
• Twitter “chats”

The show runs a hair over an hour. Enjoy!

From various locations along the FM tuner, the Geek Dads at Home spend a considerable amount of time during Episode Eight discussing the attributes of the podcasting craft. We also get into some technical aspects as well as ideas on how to monetize a podcast network.

But first, we get a snow report from the slopes of Mt. Wachusett from Scott Jangro. Scott has adjusted his work schedule according to the sleeping patterns of his 6 month old son Jason, who has been struggling to slumber during the overnight hours.  The benefit that Scott has witnessed via this schedule adjustment is twofold, it allows him to communicate easily with overseas developers and gets him some time on the slopes away from the usual crowds.

Scott’s theory as to why Jason is not sleeping is a simple one … Testosterone coursing through his little body! He is breaking out of the swaddles we discussed in Episode Three.

Sam provides an update on his re-direction away from day-to-day marketing towards his academic pursuits and the development of the podcasting network at Thinking.fm.

The challenge that faces anyone interested in podcasting as a business model is to figure out how to balance developing GREAT content while ensuring the viability of the network via sponsorship or other monetization strategies.

As a model of a successful business in podcasting, Adam Curry at Mevio gets great endorsement from Sam and Joe for the podcast programming that he produces, as well as the impact that he has had on the development of the medium in general.

There are many that equate his work with just the big hair days of  MTV and overlook the considerable impact he has had from the technical aspects of podcasting as well as demonstrating to a wider audience how it can actually work.

A specific point of reference is Curry’s input during a roundtable conversation conducted by Joseph Jaffe about the future of podcasting. A key take away is his observation that the affiliate marketing model is the best approach for podcasters rather than chasing the elusive ad buy, which typically equates reach with value.

Check out the Star Wars Action News .. it’s a memorabilia podcast that is able to use affiliate marketing directed specifically to their niche.

The question is raised .. What will be the “tipping point” to make wide spread adoption of podcasts happen? Is it a device that makes it easier to enjoy in the living room or will it be content developed for the medium?

Is podcasting similar to the great days of pirate radio when an idea and a microphone was all it took to speak to a widespread audience about whatever was on your mind?

We say yes.