I guess it’s fair to say that I’ve had my fair share of pet projects. Some I’ve seen through to the end, some I stick with and some lay in the category of half baked ideas.

Towards the end of April myself and two friends got together and had a friendly discussion. This talk would change all of our plans for the following year, completely. We’d finished our last exam and were talking about what each of us would like to do for the next year. I attend Staffordshire University and after your second year of studies you’re given several options as to what to do for your third year. Everyone is given the option to continue straight away with their degree, or they could take a year off to go on a work placement. There is a third option, however. Students are given the opportunity to pitch viable business ideas to a University board. Those who are successful are given a £3,000 grant and an office on the University’s Business Village. These scheme is called Speed. After many drinks and endless hours of talking myself and my two friends had decided to apply for the Speed scheme together. We just needed an idea.

Ever since my time working for Mevio, as their intern, I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of creating my own online video network. I suggested the idea of creating an online video network to my two partners (Hannah and Gemma), who after a few hours seem to love the idea. We’re all creative film makers at heart so the dream of owning our own channel, where our own content was published, sounded like a dream come true. We pitched the concept to the Speed panel and we were awarded a place on the scheme.

Vueo is the name of the forthcoming online video entertainment channel, aimed at UK students, which is owned and operated by Vueo Ltd. The idea behind Vueo is to have 5 stable shows. All of these shows shall be internally produced and constantly in production. Vueo aims to be pretty much like a standard television channel, but with a twist. New content shall appear every day of the week and we have a schedule. Every Monday there’ll be a new episode of the Travel show, Tuesday the Challenge show, Wednesday the music show etc… However you can decided which order you watch these shows in. You can watch them in the set schedule, or pick and mix your favourite bits. We’re also allowing access to the full archive of shows. Once a show has been aired it will always be around and available for viewing / download. Essentially Vueo is the independent UK student equivalent to the BBC’s iPlayer. This is the video on demand dream that I’ve been preaching for the past year and thinking about for even longer.

Due to various non-dsiclosure agreements that’s all I can say about Vueo for now. Launching in February 2010, Vueo is set to become a prime place to get your fresh creative video content.

Chris Leydon.

The modern podcasting climate has changed considerably since its mainstream launch in 2005. Many podcasting giants have risen and fallen within the period but still the technology trundles on. The issue that many people have now is not maintaining a podcast, but actually creating one and successfully launching it.

When the iTunes Podcast store opened its gates in June 2005 the online world exploded with podcasting fever. It wasn’t too long before the technology caught the eyes of the big players within the old radio and television industry, from that point on independent podcasts were doomed.

The independent podcast circle used to be a buzzing pace full of enthusiasm and community. Perhaps I’m painting an idyllic image of the past, as one often tends to do with hindsight, but my point is valid nonetheless. There was talk of commercialising podcasts, in order to maintain them and break even, but making millions wasn’t on the agenda. There was a time when I was a big advocate against the commercialisation of podcasts, but that time has passed and I’ve joined the dark side. Commercialisation of podcasting has, if anything, improved the overall quality of content available.

Something changed after the Summer of 2005. Suddenly it became very hard to launch a podcast and gain the amount of an audience as one would have achieved in June. There wasn’t an issue of over-saturation of the market at all, the issue was that big corporate companies started to move in.

The BBC effectively killed independent podcasts when it started to regurgitate its own radio content. The BBC didn’t come up with new content for podcasts, they recycled the shit that came out of the mouth of Chris Moyles in the morning to turn it into what they called a podcast. “The Best of the Chris Moyles show” quickly became one of the biggest podcasts on the web, the BBC saw the success of this and soon began to recycle the rest of their shit from across their radio network. Soon the market was flooded by other broadcasters doing the same.

Take a look at the front page of the iTunes Podcast store today and you will not see a single independently produced podcast. It’s either crap recycled from the BBC, or other network providers, along with one or two “celebrities”. If fun, independent content is becoming hard to source from the world’s number one podcast store the industry is doomed.

Small little networks and communities used to exist that would serve as directories for independent shows, but they’ve long since died out. The Britcaster forums closed their doors way before I even found a slight moderate success with The Podzone. Mevio are no longer promoting the independent content that’s hosted on their network. They’re plugging the shows that they produce, they’re not even supporting the independent producers with promotion on their front page or channels.

If the big old media networks are tainting what was once hailed as he saviour of high quality entertaining content, what’s the next step? Podcasting was created by pioneers who were frustrated with the blatant commercialisation and dumbing down of mainstream content, it’s sad to see it go the same way as radio.

The only way that we shall see the continuation of podcasting and the saving of independent content within that is for a new network to be built. A united front against all of the shit and trollop that is being pushed out and into our ears by old media companies. If there is one thing that could possibly save podcasting, it’s Twitter. Someone just needs to come up with a way to make the two work together.

We need a community, a new directory, a fantastic piece of software and integration that will save the independent podcast industry before it really is too late.

Chris Leydon.

Most people who listen to The Podzone know that the show is sponsored by GoDaddy.com, through a Mevio Producer Campaign, this explains why I’m dedicating an entire post to them. Another reason why GoDaddy.co.uk deserves its own post is because I truly believe in the product; I personally believe that GoDaddy are by far the best internet solutions company worldwide. I believe this to such an extent that this website and the Keyone Productions network is powered off of GoDaddy’s servers.

I would never endorse a product if I didn’t believe in it myself. I may have sold out to “the man” a long time ago, but I still have some morals. Personally I use GoDaddy for domain registration and website hosting, however they have a full suite of internet solutions available; anything from Podcast hosting to dedicated email servers.

GoDaddy is making a move on the UK market after taking the US by storm. The differences between GoDaddy.co.uk over GoDaddy.com is that prices are now listed in pounds sterling and there is also a dedicated UK helpline number. GoDaddy is truly positioning itself in the UK and is dedicating an entire team to help fit in over here.

As a result of GoDaddy’s launch in the UK, as GoDaddy.co.uk, some exclusive promo codes have been created to give customers a discount at the checkout. These promo codes are exclusive to BTPodShow partnered podcasts, and only 4 shows have been given the special codes; The Podzone is one of these shows. So as either a reader of this blog, or a listener to The Podzone, or even some Googler looking for a fantastic deal on GoDaddy products, here are your exclusive GoDaddy.com & GoDaddy.co.uk discount codes.

• PODZONE – 10% off of ANY order at GoDaddy.co.uk or GoDaddy.com
• PODZONE2 – 20% off of ANY ORDER OVER £24.99 at GoDaddy.co.uk or GoDaddy.com
• PODZONE4 – A .co.uk domain name for £2.70 for the first year at GoDaddy.co.uk or GoDaddy.com
• PODZONE25 – 25% off of ANY ORDER over £49.99 at GoDaddy.co.uk or GoDaddy.com
• PODZONE30 – 30% off of a .com domain name at GoDaddy.co.uk or GoDaddy.com
• PODZONE35 – A .com domain name for £3.50 at GoDaddy.co.uk or GoDaddy.com
• PODZONE50 – 50% off of a .co.uk domain name, for the first year, at GoDaddy.co.uk or GoDaddy.com

I trust and use GoDaddy.co.uk myself. My personal internet solutions are handled by them and so are my business internet solutions. I wouldn’t risk either of them, or promote this company, if I didn’t believe in GoDaddy and think that it’s a worthwhile company.

Take a gander around GoDaddy.co.uk, have a look at their services, their prices and try to find a better deal out there; I personally can’t. GoDaddy.co.uk, the world is your domain.

Chris Leydon.

I personally define a successful Podcast by the amount of listeners that it has. The next question, of course,  is how many listeners defines a successful podcast? I can answer that question incredibly easily. It only takes one listener to have a successful show. Not one hundred, not one thousand, just one; one listener who enjoys the show and keeps coming back for more.

A few of you may now think that I’m clinically insane and need to be sectioned under the Mental Health act, but let’s think about this. Why do we create content in the first place? Some do it for money, but the majority of us create content to be creative. We like to express ourselves and if other people enjoy it then that’s a bonus. This is why it only takes one listener or viewer to have a successful podcast. One person who enjoys your creativity is all we need to feel fantastic about what we do.

That’s the secret to making a successful podcast; what makes a good podcast is a completely different question altogether and one that will be answered in a future post.

Chris Leydon.

Over the past few months I’ve noticed that there are several breeds of blogger; those who blog about topics, those who blog for a living (and attempt to be journalists), and those who write about themselves. I seem to fall into the latter category, but then again what did you expect from a site called chrisleydon.com?

The last month has been very busy and productive for me. As you should be aware Keyone Productions has produced two videos for Bishops’ College in the past year; I received confirmation a few weeks ago that we’ve been commissioned to produce two/three further videos in the new academic year. This is fantastic news for a business as small as ours!

Whilst still on the topic of Keyone Productions, we’ve been approached by Mevio to continue to produce our video games show The Glitch. This time it would be in association with Mevio as part of their promotions campaign. If this goes ahead it would mean that Keyone Productions has two successful podcasts on the agreement, the other being The Podzone.

Moving onto the subject of Mevio and by UK default, BTPodShow, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve managed to gain an internship with them until September. I’m currently based in the UK, London, office for 30 hours a week. My roles involve, scouring the network for the best content we have, editing shows, monitoring stats, channel organising, spare hand and general bitch boy, or anything else they throw my way. I’m thoroughly enjoying it and will be rather sad when the time comes for me to leave. I’m proud and very glad that I’ve had the chance to be part of such a great team.

Chris Leydon.

The previous statement, I suppose, could be called a lie because I’m also working on several other ideas and projects that I have. I say several, I actually mean three. One I’ve already discussed, but the other two not so much.

Keyone Productions is about to go under a rebrand; not an extreme one, we’re not doing a PodShow, but a reinvention. Before hand we’ve been all about having fun and making short lived projects. Whilst this is all well and good, it doesn’t pay the bills. As a business we’re starting to move towards short serial internet based content, in which advertising can be sold. We’re going to monetize off of the fantastic stuff that we create. I personally don’t believe in charging for internet content; one it’s not a profitable business venture and two, I personally don’t like paying for my entertainment.

With that in mind, myself and various others are finalising the details for two new Keyone ventures. Both of them will be online video shows, that will be offered through a podcasting medium. One will be made solely by Keyone Productions, whilst the other shall be a joint production with another creative digital media organisation. I can’t say more than that at this current moment in time, but all shall be revealed soon.

Chris Leydon.

Well I’m pleased to say that I did indeed sign that new BTPodShow contract, which means that The Podzone is guarenteed for at least another two years. I’ve also been working a bit more on script concepts and I’ve finished University for the year.

Finished, completely finished until September, you have no idea how good it feels to say that. Ahead of me I’ve got one long summer of work, making money and enjoying myself.

In the meantime however, I’ve discovered that my web design skills are so fantastic that the new Keyone Productions site, only works on about 90% of the worlds browsers. Yep, it doesn’t work with IE… oops. My day today will be spent correcting that mistake. I’ve started to learn CSS and I’m hoping to implement what I’ve learnt into the redesign.

Tomorrow, as a favour to my father, myself and Nick shall be headed to Bishops College (Gloucester) to film their Year 11 graduation. It should be fun as we’ll have a multicam set up and various other bits of over kill. We know that a job such as this doesn’t require all of the trims that we’re putting in to it; but I’ve got to do something to keep me amused until September.

Chris Leydon.

Yep, they’ve dropped the “Pod” from their name and the “Show” too, but that’s besides the point. There are rumours that MEVIO will be a video network, this has a slight truth to it. From what I can gather MEVIO will be more video orientated in nature but will still support and have audio shows.

This would be the point where I say that myself and The Podzone will still stick by MEVIO no matter what, and I’m sure I will, however I’ve just realised that my contract with PodShow UK expired 2 weeks ago. That’s a bit of a bummer, still here’s hoping that it gets renewed, I haven’t heard anything to say otherwise.

Chris Leydon.