Lightspeed Turtle

Scott Ebner was featured in an article in this week's Sunday edition of the Times Record News newspaper, published in Wichita Falls, Texas (reprinted below). Scott discusses the past, present and future of podcasting.

From Sunday, March 18, 2007:

Podcasts becomes part of English vernacular
by Richard Carter

A year and a half ago, Web developer Scott Ebner saw the writing on the wall about his job at IBM.

"For me, that writing was in Portuguese," the former Wichitan said.

When Big Blue began outsourcing Web work to Brazil, and his work team of 16 declined to four, Ebner began looking at other Web-world opportunities. Eventually, he found a job with BMC Software, a Houston-based company with a division that specialized in podcasting and blogs.

After doing research, he realized that social media was the wave of the future — and it would also be a lot of fun working with podcasts.

Ebner said that he got into the field at the perfect time. When BMC began Talkbmc.com, shortly before he started with the company, they were at the forefront of podcasting. "They were really on the cutting edge," he said.

His Austin friends were befuddled when he told them about his new job. "When I told people I was going to do podcasts and blogs, they would look at me like I was from Mars," he said.

" ‘Podcasts?’ they would say, ‘What the heck is a podcast?’ Now I tell them I produce podcasts and they say, ‘Oh wow, podcasts, that’s cool!’ "

If podcasts were more of an underground thing 18 months ago, podcasting has grown more mainstream. "Now we’re at a point where the match had been lit, the fuse is going and it’s just getting ready to take off," he said.

Ebner works from his home studio and sometimes at an Austin recording studio, editing and producing several 20-minute or shorter podcasts each week for BMC. His main sites to work on are Talkbmc.com, Enterpriseleadership.org and Dbazine.com.

Working with podcasts allows him to unite his two-decade hobby of recording music and producing demos for Austin-based bands with his computer-based Web development skills.

Producing podcasting is similar to the music business, he said, because it is all audio. "But it’s different because you’re dealing with telephone recording. You’re not doing multiple takes or working with egos. It really comes down to capturing a conversation and optimizing it for the Web format."

Generally, he explained, with a podcast there are two tracks to mix and bring together while editing pauses or stumbles from the recorded conversation. Ebner said he’s been able to apply much of his music recording studio skills to podcasting.
"My greatest skill is to edit podcasts and have them sound like a normal conversation," he said.

So far most of his experience with podcasting is on the production side. He controls the audio production and also coaches people to sound natural. "Our most popular podcasts are the ones with people who have real personalities and are funny and can interject themselves and give a personal side to a business concept."

Along with doing podcasts for BMC, and creating several of podcasts of his own, he has more ideas for personal podcasts, time permitting. Ebner’s personal Web site for his podcasts is Lightspeedturtle.com.

"I would like to do podcasts on underground music or music that’s not readily available in Austin." He is also working on a "poempod" site where people could recite their poems.

On a more humorous note, he is considering creating a "rantpod" where participants can verbally share their frustrations.

Another podcast recorded and produced by Lightspeed Turtle, published today for SailPoint, entitled Larry Ponemon Reveals Findings of Identity Compliance Study, featuring Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of The Ponemon Institute.

Another podcast mixed by Lightspeed Turtle, published today for BMC Software, Inc., entitled The Evolution of Analytics and Dashboards: Podcast interview with Brian Emerson, senior solutions marketing manager with BMC Software, Inc..

Another podcast mixed by Lightspeed Turtle, published today for BMC Software, Inc., entitled Self-Help for the Service Desk - Password Automation: Podcast interview with Chip Gliedman, analyst at Forrester Research, and Bob Worner, director of product management at BMC Software, Inc..

Another podcast recorded and mixed by Lightspeed Turtle, published today for BMC Software, Inc., entitled Unwiring Service Management: Podcast interview with Dan Turchin, CEO of Aeroprise.

Another podcast recorded and mixed by Lightspeed Turtle, published today for BMC Software, Inc., entitled The Inside Scoop on the ITIL Refresh: Podcast Interview with Ken Turbitt, global best practices director, BMC Software, Inc..

Another podcast recorded and produced by Lightspeed Turtle, published today for SailPoint, entitled The Identity Intelligence Advantage, featuring Mark McClain, CEO and Founder of SailPoint.

Another podcast recorded and mixed by Lightspeed Turtle, published today for BMC Software, Inc., entitled How the CMDB Activates BSM: Podcast Interview with Kia Behnia, Chief Corporate Architect at BMC Software, Inc..

Lightspeed Turtle has been helping companies with their podcast solutions since the summer of 2005. Some of Lightspeed Turtle's previous podcasts include:

• Closed Loop Client Management with Kia Behnia, Chief Corporate Architect at BMC Software, and Andi Mann, Senior Analyst at Enterprise Management Associates
• Proactive Incident and Problem Management with Tony Sanders, Senior Business Solutions Manager at BMC Software, Inc. and Dennis Drogseth, Vice President of Enterprise Management Associates
• In the Mind of the CTO Podcast Series - Take Command: Podcast with Tom Bishop, CTO at BMC Software, Inc.

Lightspeed Turtle was formed in 2005 by Scott Ebner and Brenda Lightfoot in beautiful Austin, Texas. Lightspeed Turtle offers professional, customizable podcasting solutions for both businesses and individuals.

Scott Ebner has an extensive audio background and once owned a successful recording studio in Austin called Revolution. He has also worked as a Web developer for companies such as IBM, Cirrus Logic, Texas Parks & Wildlife and BMC Software, so podcasting came naturally for him. Scott handles all of the podcast recording, editing, posting and Web development for Lightspeed Turtle, and also composes the music beds.

Dr. Brenda Lightfoot has a degree in journalism, so she is in charge of show notes and editorial styles for Lightspeed Turtle. She is also responsible for all of the accounting.

Lightspeed Turtle
1779 Wells Branch Pkwy #110 B
PMB 111
Austin, TX 78728