FIRSTcast is here

[Adam Richards]

Ladies and Gentlemen, without further adieu, here is Episode 1 of FIRSTcast, the original podcast of FIRST!

The main page has been updated, and you can find the link to download the mp3 files here: http://podcast.openfirst.org/. Alternatively, go straight here for the links. Enjoy, and keep on podding.

[Greg Marra]

Yay. FIRSTcast!

I'm listening to it now.

[Joe Matt]

Yay, I'm keeping up the torrent all night to help with seeding!

[Matt Krass]

Glad to hear it, keep seeding guys we appreciate it, and we can't wait for your feedback!

[Andy A.]

It's very refreshing.

Reminds me a lot of listing to radio chatter at the airport. Not a bad thing, it made me smile quite a bit.

Good job.

-Andy A.

[sanddrag]

It is good to see young people taking initiative and having fun with a project of their own during the summer.

[Conor Ryan]

Thank you guys for seeding! Takes a load off our backs.

Hope you guys enjoy the show, we tried to make it the best possible. And as the Audio Producer, the clarity probably should improve in the coming podcast's.

Enjoy the show, and watch out for more!

ps-iTunes decided not to list it yet, the RSS feed is submitted but they don't want to show it. Just use the torrents or http downloads and you'll get it for now.

[Joe Matt]

Might I recomend cutting out the white noise?

[Barry Bonzack]

Just finished listening. Pretty cool thing you got there. Looking forward to future episodes. Also looking forward to debating some opinions. (disagree with the "outgrew Disney" comment, but everyone is entitled to an opinion.) Keep up the work!

[tiffany34990]

great first show..

everyone has their opinion on where the championship is lol... but it's all good.

i can't wait to hear future episoides.. it was my break between studying lol..

thanks for doing it and keep up the great work!

[sanddrag]

I'd just like to remind everyone to send in your questions for the mailbag to firstpodcastatgmaildotcom Many more questions are needed. Let's help the creators make this a kicking show!

[mechanicalbrain]

This isn't a question more advice really. If you want good robotics material on current research go to www.robots.net its trully aa amazing site! I highly recomend this to all FIRSTers.

[jdiwnab]

Is there a way to elimnate the dead air that sometimes comes up? I know things like that happen in conversation, but can it be fixed in post-production without making it sound weird? Overall, sounds good!

[Pat Fairbank]

OK, I'll post my review:

I liked it. Like Andy A, I found the show very refreshing - it's nice to hear voices discussing FIRST after all these years of just reading these kinds of discussions on CD. You guys had a good idea with a lot of potential, and kudos for making something of it.
All that being said, there's always room for improvement, so I'm gonna offer you my suggestions.

A few tips on what I think would make the show sound more professional:

• In general, I'd like to hear more evidence of scripting and organization - presenting a scripted and detailed outline at the beginning of the show would be great, as well announcing it when you get to the beginning of each part.
• It would be a good idea to have and use a set script for the things that won't change between shows - the host introductions, the explanation of what FIRSTcast is about, the thank-yous and goodbyes, etc.
• I'd personally appreciate it if you guys would always reference each other by name when passing off the discussion to each other - that way I won't forget which voice belongs to who.
• Having a longer lead in/out song(s) would be cool.
• Lastly, I know you can't do much about it since you're not all speaking from the same location, but an increase in sound quality would be nice - I noticed a bit of a lag between one person and another (maybe this could be edited out?).

Now a couple of content suggestions:
I liked your idea of having a tip of the week, and I think it would be cool to expand this concept to having a team of the week, and a mentor of the week - so that FIRSTcast isn't just limited to discussion. These would probably work best in interview format - someone would volunteer and answer general-type questions about their team and how it works. As for the mentor, you could probably get anyone who's well-known around these parts and ask them UFH-interview-type questions.

Nice job on the first episode, and good luck in the future!

[koala79]

Playing now! Can't wait to hear it!