ago | Croncast - Life is Show Prep

padded wagon

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 07:10:25 -0500

Bear Dog, Doorman Gossip, SoHo Uniform

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:06:47 -0500

Episode: #715 | Length:33:18 | Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes Get Cool!

The thing on the block
Doormen are the true housewives of new york
Dreaming of found things in the East River
SoHo man uniform . . .
Dress like a fat farmer?
Cuffed as well
Throwback Banana Republic shirt
It's not about keeping it real
Chinatown outfit?
Hip Hop apparel from three years ago
Anything you want to wear . . . as long as it's black

Tags: newfoundland lots water cuffed skinny jeans soho uniform

tootsie pop snow drift - snowpocalypse nyc 2010

Mon, 27 Dec 2010 14:22:55 -0600

Tags: snowpocalypse nyc drift snow pop

Wanna party, Giant?

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 22:47:44 -0600

Rambling introspection and poor writing to follow.

The headline? We'll get to that.

A little over a year ago my wife and I moved to New York City with our two children. We left a house and life in suburban Chicago, as evidenced in all these Flickr photos that serve as a reminder of our histroy.

We sold the house, packed up tight and left town in a stretch limo with six suitcases and a hermit crab in my wife's front pocket.

We arrived with no apartment to rent, jobs or money. The money was tied up in the sale of our house that was occurring in a couple days, I had interviews lined up but nothing solid and for lodging a friend named Tom hooked up a tiny studio for the four of us.

I'm going to take the liberty of speeding up this story. I'll share more of it another time.

Needless to say, things didn't work out quite like we have hoped or planned.

I didn't get the jobs that I had interviewed for. The money from the sale of our house didn't clear our bank for 3 weeks. Once it cleared we got on with things.

Which brings me to the short version of things:

New York has been many things to our family. I fell it love with every part of it and convinced my family to come with. They've stood by me as opportunities have come and gone. They've believed in me in what my own personal history will recount as one of the most challenging years of my life.

Things are on the up and I feel a little more comfortable taking the time to look at this last year as a series of challenges.

My children may never forgive me. Hopefully, later in life, they'll appreciate that mom and dad took risks in order to provide them a more interesting life. Who else gets to watch a midget hooker try to work their father at a subway stop with a sweet line like, "Wanna party, Giant?"

Nothing in suburbia packs that much excitement except a play-date at the local children's museum.

Tags: house life children money left

chicago chain

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 20:24:43 -0500

Tags: chain chicago

chicago horticulture

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 19:32:52 -0500

Tags: horticulture chicago

Pressed Jacket, BBQ Dip, The Other Foot

Fri, 21 May 2010 14:33:18 -0500

Episode: #630
Length: 30:15
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes Get Cool!

We tell stories
Touch on my Twitter interview from two years ago
I made a claim last week
This story defines our relationship
Also our karma
There was no ending
That's so 2007, Betsy Food photos
Caesar salad in Seattle
No nerdy smarminess
Lack thereof?
Aww, baby
A guy goes to a job interview and . . .
Oh! And if you use the Twitters, check out Ville - http://ville.ag

Tags: gaucho pants coordinating hair piece team smith captain chair

bronx zoo primate needs some love

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:05:35 -0500

caught this evolutionary wonder at the bronx zoo a couple weeks ago.

Tags: bronx zoo couple ago wonder

electrical fire and explosion 510 east 86th street

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:56:15 -0600

holy crap. felt it and heard it in my office in the basement. smelled burning stuff hours ago.

Tags: basement office heard smelled burning

Chicago Romp, Rams Head, Open Mic

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:56:11 -0600

Show: #554
Length: 33:48
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes Get Cool!

Betsy to Chicago
Betsy back from Chicago
She lost her organizer
Not his birthday
Lost their puffy dog
New York is in you
Oh! And if you use the Twitters, check out Ville - http://ville.ag

Tags: airport scam chicago vacation open mic standup

Season 23 Ep 19: Croncast Sampler

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:52:54 -0600

Show: #554-Sampler
Length: 4:64
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes in full Get Cool!

Betsy to Chicago
Betsy back from Chicago
She lost her organizer
Not his birthday
Lost their puffy dog
New York is in you
Oh! And if you use the Twitters, check out Ville - http://ville.ag

Tags: airport scam chicago vacation open mic standup

Green Pants, Entering the Scene, Chicagowaukee accent

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:40:15 -0600

Show: #542
Length: 30:33
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes Get Cool!

I walk out on the stoop every morning to pick up the Times
I have on my robe, bunny slippers
You wish you could afford the Times
That's true
Or had a stoop of my own
Trampled by clicking heels heading out of the building
What I like about New York is you can count on people
You can trust them
However, you can't trust the New Yorkers that wear green pants
They will slam doors on you
Push you off the curb in front of a bus
The have an alliance with leprechauns
It's true
Trying to transcribe your kids homework from accented folks
We couldn't understand each other
You're accented now too, baby
You've toured the midwest
They can't understand you
Your Chicagowaukee accent
It's all about dominance in NY
Passive dominance is the flavor of the relationship
It's like entering an improv scene
Costco in the city experience
99/100 emails are for you
We did get noticed on the street
We handled it horribly
The kids were like what?
Really you know who I am?
The walking class is stuck during the NYC marathon
Only people left were us and the runners

Tags: Chicagowaukee leprechaun bunny slippers NYC marathon

Packed for Inflating

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:56:47 -0600

Tags: inflating packed

Make better RSS feeds by not making them

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:00:20 -0500

Did you pick the content of the RSS feeds that you are syndicating from your site right now? Or did you let your readers pick?

Within reason my guess would be that most of you answered, yes then no. I know on my sites, even this site, I would have answered the same.

The solution isn't to create more feeds. The best solution is for publishers to create no feeds at all. Let your readers make their own.

Here are a couple examples why this is a better method for content syndication than relying on your own editorial skills.

Example 1: How not to do it.

Don't get me wrong on this, CNET is offering nearly all of its content up for syndication. This is an excellent strategy to create value from older content. However, do readers really need the option of subscribing to 100 plus predefined RSS feeds? Simply, no.

Finding feeds for the topics you are interested in is difficult. The worst of it is that you can only access them individually, i.e.; you want 10 of feeds, copy and paste them one by one into your feed reader. Sounds like a party to me. If you have more skills you might use a service that rolls all of them up into one feed for you. I would guess that about three people have done this.

Why overwhelm your readers like this? And besides, it is pretty intimidating for someone new to the RSS game. Shouldn't they be able to access your content in a way that makes it relevant to them?

Example 2: How to do RSS right.

What you see above is one of two flavors of how to let your readers pick what they receive in RSS feeds. It's a simple and easy to use text input that allows readers to enter keywords and phrases that they want in their feed. There's nothing fancy, easy access to old content in the straight-forward way that RSS is delivered; updates of the newest items first and set number items in the feed, usually twenty-five.

What the second screen shot shows is the magic of thinking differently about RSS feeds. This image demonstrates what happens when someone clicks on the 'advanced' link. The reader is then given control over every aspect of the RSS feed. They choose the content, when it is delivered, how much content, in what order (none of this newest stuff first mumbo jumbo - great use for episodic content) and how many updates to get at a time.

Who is better to choose than the person doing the consuming? RSS needs to be like Burger King where a customer can have it their way.

When this concept is applied to large volumes of content the value of it increases with each new article or podcast. Imagine if you could have this type of access at the NY Times or with your local paper. Even the obits from 30 years ago are now of value again. Value to the reader and value to the publisher with ad inventory.

The future of content syndication isn't in prescriptive channels created by publishers. The future is in the subjective choices of the consumer. They neither need or want every product that you have to offer.

We need to be smarter about our syndicated content via RSS and take into consideration how to make that user experience more satisfying. Whether it is by allowing users to pick topics or order of updates, something needs to change. Why? Because it is all about attention; the premium of which is measured in subscribers, influence and the influence of those subscribers.

Tags: RSS CNET readers consumers interaction

Season 21 Ep 02: Africa for the Weekend, Oprah taping, Cardigans and Plaid

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:30:41 -0600

Croncast - 2009-01-14.mp3
Show: #502
Length: 35:56
Size: 33.0mb
Format: mp3

Show us some love and leave us a review at iTunes

This show brought to you by Podiobooks.com
Is that why you are wearing what you are wearing?
You got me this
Right, from the Greek Orthodox garage sale
From hefty to hot
Not hot in my heft?
These are some things we need to discuss
I checked out this cardigan
Then I brought it home to you
Then you put it on
That was four months ago
You haven't taken it off since
It's my man cardigan
I always wear my gear
My wardrobe is devolving
You are not hairy enough to pull off the look
I know that i don't have enough hair
This shirt comes in with built in boobies
A flannel bra in my case might work
Jammy bras
The people want to hear about Oprah
Sure they do
You never know who could pop by Oprah's studio
I could get a Kindle
We drive to Harpo Studios
Based on Grammy's address advice
It's gonna cost to park here
Too much snow this year
Everyone's gone back to the old country
It's 4:30 a.m.
Where's Harpo Studios?
Huh?
Turns out we were 10 blocks off
Just look for the 50-foot tall flashing Oprah statue
I thought it was on south Michigan
It's far away from where you are
They don't put up with anything
The Oprah rules
Handheld facial scanners
They make sure you can't get in again
Drama just getting there
The warm up chick shows up
She's lame
I could have killed it
So I got the opporutnity to speak
It was my shot to get my mom on the show
I love this
I made them go wild in warm up
They brought me a boom mic
Held by a girl named Boom Mic
4 minutes to show
This woman in the front row starts puking
Oprah went all diva after her first segment
Oprah, are you going to let your hormones be the excuse not to lose weight this year?
Damn!
That reminds of me of my trip last month
The one to Drew Peterson's cul de sac
Stuck in a snow drift
Feeling dirty
Why would you stalk a serial killer?
You are so stupid sometimes, Kris
What?
You would have went with me if you knew
No
Well, I wouldn't have gotten stuck

Tags: Kindle Oprah show Harpo Studios Drew Peterson flannel bra Handheld facial scanner

Look out South, here we come (Atlanta or bust)

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:56:06 -0500

Me, Betsy and the Goodwill Wagon are headed to Atalanta on a road trip next weekend. We're having a meetup on Saturday June 28, from 12 pm - 2 pm at Manuel's Tavern - http://www.manuelstavern.com/.

This joint was picked by friend and local Atlantan, @timshifted.

We're looking forward to a couple of days in A-town and would like to meet you if you have the time. Come on out and get a drink and some bbq with us!

Tags: Manuel's Tavern Atlanta timshifted Croncast road trip

faster than 140

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:44:17 -0500

47 years ago they built shit to go fast.

Tags: shit fast built ago than

i'm sooo chicago

Mon, 26 May 2008 16:21:51 -0500

the only thing missing is a chicago style dog and this dude could be the mascot for the city.

you gots a tuba, you gots a party. memba that.

Tags: gots chicago tuba memba city

Season 20 Ep 12: New Hag, Betsy in Boystown, Cut to the Chase

Mon, 05 May 2008 13:05:52 -0500

Croncast - 2008-05-05.mp3
Show: #487
Length: 29:40
Size: 20.4 mb
Format: mp3

Show us some love and leave us a review at iTunes

Special note: Betsy and Jeanie are having a meetup in San Francisco May 21, 2008 at House of Shields 39 New Montgomery St., Time: 6:30 p.m., stop and have a drink or two!

Cinco de Mayo
The drink comments spilled over
Work with me
Comment on the proper post and subject
You should be embarrassed to drink that in front of other people
It's a weird girly drink
If it's the only drink you are going to drink for the night
One tumbler
You just took the story to a whole new level
Oh, bears
I feel really good about closing out Croncast and moving on
There are legal concerns with letting listeners choose
Everything is an impeding legal issue
I can't even say v$deo pr0fe$$or anymore
My sister wanted to come to Karl's with me
Your sister needs to cut to the chase
You can thank me later when you wake up in your own vomit
Sometimes threesomes are weird
Half the audience just said, "Why, yes they are"
Not that kind!
My friend is super
Maybe they were looking for a new hag
Did you wear open toe shoes?
That might have confused him
Becoming a stripper at 33
That is wrong
It is time to retire at 33 for most strippers
You have a glamorous view of strippers
You are nuts
There is nothing glamorous about stripping as a career
I don't dread these things
What you can and can't comment on

Tags: Chicago girly drink new hag boystown careers

Croncast Listener Survey Results

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:28:13 -0500

Well, we've shared with you, and now you've shared with us. Below is the survey data that over 200 of you filled out during the past year. I thought you guys might like to see what other listeners think of the show (good and bad), spend online, how much loot they make, if they have or don't have kids and a ton of other stuff.

Thanks for sharing!

Update: Likes and Dislikes have been moved to their own post.

Demographics
What is your age?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	<12	1	1%
	18-24	8	4%
	25-34	90	42%
	35-44	83	39%
	45-54	22	10%
	55-64	9	4%
Totals		213	100%

What is your gender?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	Male	118	55%
	Female	95	45%
Totals		213	100%

What is the highest level of education you have achieved?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	Less than high school graduate	3	1%
	Graduated high school or received equivalent degree (e.g., GED)	9	4%
	Attended college but did not graduate	40	19%
	Graduated from 2-year college	23	11%
	Graduated from 4-year college	79	37%
	Masters Degree	44	21%
	Doctoral Degree	10	5%
	Other Professional Degree (MD, LLB, etc)	5	2%
Totals		213	100%

Please indicate which best describes the total combined income before taxes of all members of your household.
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	Under $5,000	5	3%
	$10,000 - $19,999	5	3%
	$20,000 - $29,999	12	6%
	$30,000 - $39,999	15	7%
	$40,000 - $49,999	12	6%
	$50,000 - $59,999	25	12%
	$60,000 - $74,999	20	10%
	$75,000 - $99,999	32	16%
	$100,000 - $149,999	53	26%
	$150,000 - $199,999	16	8%
	$200,000 or over	9	4%
Totals		204	100%

What is your employment status?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	Full-time (35 hours or more)	156	73%
	Part-time (less than 35 hours)	16	8%
	Student	12	6%
	Retired	5	2%
	Temporarily unemployed	1	1%
	Homemaker	19	9%
	Other	4	2%
Totals		213	100%

What is your current marital status?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	Married	146	70%
	Single, never married	45	21%
	Divorced or Separated	18	9%
	Widowed	1	1%
Totals		210	100%

Counting yourself, how many people are currently living in your household?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	1	24	11%
	2	67	32%
	3	39	19%
	4	54	26%
	5	20	10%
	6	3	1%
	7	1	1%
	8	2	1%
Totals		210	100%

How many children under the age of 18 are currently living in your household?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	None	103	49%
	One	38	18%
	Two	48	23%
	Three	15	7%
	Four	3	1%
	Five	1	1%
	More than Five	1	1%
Totals		209	100%

Which of the following best describes your primary place of residence?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	I rent the apartment/co-op/condo where I live	35	17%
	I rent the house in which I live	21	10%
	I own the co-op/condominium where I live	6	3%
	I own the house in which I live	137	65%
	Other	11	5%
Totals		210	100%

What language is spoken most often in your household?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	English	203	95%
	Spanish	1	1%
	German	2	1%
	Norwegian	1	1%
	Other, Please Specify	7	3%
Totals		214	100%

Purchasing
Have you shopped online in the past 30 days?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	Yes	194	92%
	No	16	8%
Totals		210	100%

How much did you personally spend on internet order items in the last 12 months?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	Nothing	4	2%
	$1-$49	8	4%
	$50-$99	13	6%
	$100-$199	23	11%
	$200-$499	52	25%
	$500-$799	35	17%
	$800+	76	36%
Totals		211	100%

How often did you attend the movies in the last 90 days (3 months)?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	Once a week or more	3	1%
	2-3 times a month	21	10%
	Once a month	50	24%
	Less than once a month	71	34%
	I did not attend the movies in the last 90 days	66	31%
Totals		211	100%

When did your household last purchase or lease a vehicle?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	In the past 12 months	57	27%
	1-2 years ago	52	25%
	3-4 years ago	54	26%
	5 or more years ago	35	17%
	My household does not own or lease a vehicle	11	5%
Totals		209	100%

How many credit/debit cards do you own?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	None	9	4%
	1	25	12%
	2	62	30%
	3	42	21%
	4	38	19%
	5	11	5%
	6 or more	17	8%
Totals		204	100%

How much did you spend for computer software for home use in the past 12 months?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	Nothing	37	18%
	$1 - $99	49	24%
	$100 - $199	37	18%
	$200 - $299	38	19%
	$300 - $499	18	9%
	$500 or more	25	12%
Totals		204	100%

Careers
How large is the organization in which you work?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	Less than 20 employees	28	18%
	20 to 99 employees	24	16%
	100 to 999 employees	40	26%
	1,000+ employees	60	39%
	I don't know	2	1%
Totals		154	100%

In which industry does your company primarily operate?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	Arts/Entertainment/Recreation	6	4%
	Banking/Finance/Insurance	12	8%
	Business Services	4	3%
	Computer Hardware	4	3%
	Education	18	12%
	Government/Military/Defense	14	9%
	Internet	11	7%
	IT - Systems Integration	13	9%
	Manufacturing	8	5%
	Media	4	3%
	Medical/Healthcare	14	9%
	Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services	7	5%
	Real Estate	4	3%
	Retail/Distribution/Import/Export	3	2%
	Telecommunications	2	1%
	Other, Please Specify	29	19%
Totals		153	100%

What is your job title?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	Chairman/CEO/COO/Partner/President/Owner/Principal	11	7%
	EVP/General Manager	1	1%
	Vice President	5	3%
	Director	8	5%
	Manager	38	25%
	Staff - non management employee	90	59%
Totals		153	100%

With which of the following job functions are you primarily involved?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	Arts/Creative/Design	6	3%
	Business Development/Strategic Planning	7	4%
	Consulting	11	6%
	Customer Service	8	4%
	Education/Teaching	11	6%
	Engineering	1	1%
	Executive	4	2%
	Finance	7	4%
	Healthcare Provider	4	2%
	Human Resources	4	2%
	IT Services	27	15%
	Legal Services	2	1%
	Production/Operations	19	11%
	Research	5	3%
	Sales/Marketing	6	3%
	Software Development	2	1%
	Technology Support/Help Desk	6	3%
	Other, Please Specify	51	28%
Totals		181	100%

Listening Habits
Do you subscribe to the RSS feed for this show?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	Yes	188	83%
	No, I listen to or watch this show without subscribing	39	17%
Totals		227	100%

How many episodes of this online show have you listened to or watched?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	None (I just saw this link to the survey on the site)	1	0%
	2-3	1	0%
	4-5	3	1%
	6 or more	223	98%
Totals		228	100%

How often do you listen to or watch this show?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	I always listen to/watch each new episode	211	94%
	I sometimes listen to/watch each new episode	11	5%
	I rarely listen to/watch each new episode	2	1%
Totals		224	100%

About how much of each show episode do you generally listen to or watch?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	I always listen to/watch the entire episode	215	96%
	Usually at least 75%	10	4%
Totals		225	100%

On average, how many times do you listen to or watch each episode?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	One time	210	93%
	Two times	13	6%
	Three times	2	1%
Totals		225	100%

How do you most often listen to this podcast?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	On my computer	60	29%
	On my MP3, iPod or other portable player	141	68%
	On my cell phone	2	1%
	Other, Please Specify	3	2%
Totals		206	100%

How do you most often listen to or watch this podcast?
	Answer	Responses	Ratio
	On an iPod, MP3 player or other portable device with NO Internet capabilites	17	90%
	On an iPhone, PSP, cell phone, or other portable device with Internet capabilities while NOT connected to the Internet	1	5%
	Other, Please Specify	1	5%
Totals		19	100%

Satisfaction
Subject	Importance	Satisfaction	Gap
Audio Quality	8.22	9.53	-1.31
Video Quality	3.29	5.43	-2.14
Overall Quality	8.66	9.38	-0.72
Content	9.05	9.10	-0.05
Host(s)	9.32	9.52	-0.20
Reliability (new episodes available when promised)	7.77	9.04	-1.27
Length of episodes	7.07	8.82	-1.75
Frequency of new episodes	7.78	9.02	-1.24
Placement of ads or sponsorships in podcast	4.44	8.25	-3.81
Website design	5.40	7.86	-2.46
Website content	5.77	8.00	-2.23
Overall Satisfaction		9.31

Tags: Croncast Survey Kris Smith Betsy Smith Advertise Cronast Demographics

Croncastic Car

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:34:38 -0500

The wagon is always ready to go and Croncast down to its all weather radials.

Maybe we should call it the show prep mobile.

Tags: volvo radial tires prep mobile weather croncast

Kris, what the hell do you do?

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:24:25 -0500

Many of you guys have asked this question over the last few years and I finally found the perfect answer today when I was looking for a phone number.

This is what the hell I do, besides the show. I forgot that I had put this together a few months ago.

I do those things for my employers and I do them for fun. My current role encompasses everything that I have skills in . . . and then some. So that is what I do.

Tags: Nokia N95 Croncast Betsy Smith RSS expert podcast production

Visit Sudan with Daniel Patterson

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 09:28:58 -0500

I met Daniel a few months ago and thought I would share video and links to some others from his globe trotting UN Tour. This is a great set of videos.

A little background, Daniel is the Chief New York and United Nations Correspondent / Social Media Evangelist for Talk Radio News Service and a skilled podcaster.

Tags: United Nations Talk Radio News Service Daniel Patterson Sudan truck

Chicago Hot Dog (I did eat this one)

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 16:52:59 -0500

Mark I put this one down for you. It was lagging behind the heard due to sheer girth.

I added it to my girth.

Tags: girth heard due sheer behing

Chicago Dogs (I ate fish)

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 16:50:23 -0500

These hot dogs were waiting for tourists or an ardent Bears fan to consume at Portillo's on W. Ontario St.

Tags: dogs consume fan portillo ontario