Lessons Taught And Learned

On Friday morning, I was on a panel at Conclave 43 in Minneapolis, or maybe St. Louis Park. I'm never quite sure where the border is. It might be Golden Valley or Edina for all I know. Anyway, they had a podcast panel and it was a good one with Dave Beasing moderating and Sheryl Worsley in from Salt Lake to talk about Bonneville's digital initiatives and Michael Brandvold talking about music and podcasting and Seth Resler with insight about opportunities for broadcasters in podcasting and me, talking about....

Oh, hell, I don't remember. I don't remember even being coherent. From what I can recall, I said some stuff and people didn't storm the stage trying to subdue me, so I count that as a win. According to tweets from other people, I talked about the passion that goes into doing either radio or podcasting, because we all certainly can find more lucrative jobs in industries that are actually profitable and growing, or jobs doing things that are way more beneficial to society. You gotta WANT to do this.

That's a pretty simple lesson for everyone. Do what you want to do. Do what makes you happy. Do what you'll look back at with pride. If I could go back and tell my younger self what to do with my life, I'd have skipped some of the unnecessary education part and just gone into what I really wanted to do: waste management. Wait, no, that wasn't it, even though I was raised in New Jersey. It was to create, to write and talk on the radio and do video and make people laugh and think. I was given bad information by people who knew better. I let them affect what I thought of my own creative abilities. I should not have listened. It delayed what became my ultimate career for several years, because I obediently listened and stayed out of the way and let others take the credit for things I was doing.

No more, and for you, the good news is that it's never been easier to get out there and let people know what you can do. You can do a podcast for practically no investment. You can write. You can make videos. You can sing and dance and do whatever you want with no "people who know better" telling you that you can't or shouldn't. Can you make money doing that? Maybe. Maybe not. But that's where the passion comes in. If you aren't passionate enough to do what you want to do, you aren't going to be great at it. As I've told you here before, don't do radio or podcasting or blogging or social media because you have to or because someone told you that you should. Do it because you love it and it's your passion.

And do not let anyone tell you that you can't. I did, and I wish I hadn't. You can. It may not be as lucrative as waste management, but it's what you love.

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If what you love involves talking on the radio, check out Talk Topics, the show prep column at All Access News-Talk-Sports, where you'll find a lot to talk about. Find it by clicking here and/or by following the Talk Topics Twitter feed at @talktopics with every story individually linked to the appropriate item. And there's the Podcasting section at AllAccess.com/podcasts, too. And while you're at it, don't miss "10 Questions With..." Marty Lenz, back home in Colorado to co-host the morning news on heritage station KOA/Denver. Marty's done practically everything in radio; his story's inspiring.

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Good to see everyone at The Conclave, and thanks to Valerie Geller for the inspiration (buy her book!); if you're going to Podcast Movement in Philadelphia next week, I won't be on a panel or session because (long story redacted here), and you will probably find me at Jim's Steaks or Citizens Bank Park or definitely Reading Terminal Market or maybe in the back of the room in some sessions, I don't know. And after that, I'll be off for a few days, so no column next week. Talk to you the week after next.

Perry Michael Simon
Vice President/Editor, News-Talk-Sports and Podcast
AllAccess.com
psimon@allaccess.com
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