Five or six years ago, the meetings industry struggled with a name. What to call the act of capturing educational content in a digital audio format, and distributing the content on the Internet? Some called it webcasting, others archiving. Then the iPod was released by Apple Computer, and the music industry was transformed almost overnight. Suddenly audio files were as transportable as the old Sony Walkman, but offered far better quality, and the ability to hold more songs than you can name.

Whether there's a link between the iPod and the adoption of the word "podcasting" in the business community doesn't matter. What does matter is that meeting professionals understand what it means to their constituents.

It may come as a surprise to many that this technology has been around for almost a decade. The first organization to capture audio recordings of a large international meeting, link those recordings to the presentation materials, and distribute the content on CD-ROM and the Web is thought to be the National Retail Federation (The Big Show in 1999 in New York City). Back then, Conference Archives recorded directly to $2,500 Apple PowerBooks. Today, most recordings are performed with much smaller MP3 recording devices … smaller, lighter, cheaper, and yes, better!

Podcasting Today

If you've got digital audio recordings, a Web site, and an audience wanting to download those recordings, you've got the key ingredients to develop a successful podcasting resource. What's more, if you have an online store mechanism and an ability to market a desired product to your audience, you're on your way to tapping into a new revenue stream.

Some associations have become determined to capitalize on this craze and have simply begun throwing any and all recordings on their sites hoping that it will add to their Web site's appeal. Others have entered the fray from a more restrictive perspective and have limited access to members only, or on a pay-per-use model. Still more have implemented podcasting as an element of marketing. Regardless of your intentions, there are four key elements you need to keep in mind before you start:

1. Ensure that the recordings are of passable quality. Do a sound check.

2. Make sure the content is relevant and of interest to your stakeholders.

3. Develop an implementation plan that includes both your marketing and IT departments. For marketing: Let's say that you want to drive attendance at your next meeting. You can use content recorded during your last conference, conduct an e-mail campaign to non-attendees telling them about all the great content they missed, imbed a link to a podcast version of one of your most popular sessions, and include a link to your registration site.

Your IT department will need to anticipate an increase in Web site traffic and can help with ensuring the files you make available will work in terms of platform dependencies, media player software supported, and other technical considerations. Some technical requirements come with a price tag. This is especially true if your Web server and access to bandwidth are outsourced. You'll need to be cognizant of extra charges for storing large files on the server, and for driving traffic (bandwidth) beyond certain thresholds - all the more reason for getting your IT department involved early on.

4. Ensure that you have a means for tracking the traffic on your podcasting page. The more details the better, including he number of page views, the domain names hitting the site, and the geographical statistics as well. Many of these metrics are easily obtained with a professional reporting software or service. You'll need these stats to determine the success of your podcast offerings.

David Angeletti, CASE, is chief marketing officer for Conference Archives Inc., and has been active in the meetings industry for more than 10 years. He is the president of the PCMA POWER Chapter, and member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Education for PCMA. He can be reached at dangeletti@conferencearchives.com.