3W Design Group - Media

Have you ever been at an event and thought how great it would be to be able to share it with a friend or group of people who were not able to attend? I have. So in 2006 we created several event podcasts that we made available to the public at DoorPodshow.com. Our event podcasts include documentation of the Steel Bridge Songfest in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin featuring Pat McDonald and Jackson Browne; PBS’ Antiques Roadshow from Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and the Door County Century Bike Ride. All of these events were entertainment related events that I wanted to share with others. I knew this technology could also be applied successfully to businesses, small, medium, and large. So later in 2006 3W Design created two corporate event podcasts

The first, in October of 2006, was the grand opening celebration of the Sister Bay Trading Company, a furniture and interior design firm in Sister Bay, Wisconsin. The Sister Bay Trading Company held a daylong event to open their new 13,000 square foot furniture gallery and expanded interior design services. The audio podcast captured the voices of owner Marilyn Jensen, her staff, select venders who gave in-store demonstrations as well the “oohs” and “aaahs” of the crowd of visitors that came and went throughout the day.

Our second corporate event podcast was created for MarketPlace Magazine and consisted of the sounds of the daylong New North Summit held in December at the Capital Civic Center in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The New North is comprised of 18 counties in Northeast Wisconsin that banded together for the purpose of combined economic development and marketing efforts. Hundreds of people attended the event that featured business leaders as well as politicians including Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle. We captured speakers during their presentations and attendees as they gathered in the hospitality room before the conference. Through the podcast, the listener can feel the anticipation, the hum of the crowd, and share the audio highlights of the many presenters.

I created all of these podcasts to record an historical moment. I’ve also referred to these event podcasts as “audio collages.” The snippets of sound edited together become a collage that tells the listener what it was like to be in the crowd of a business conference; be on a bike ride with thousands of other people; or to hear singer Jackson Browne tell the listeners why he came to the small town of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin to raise money to restore a steel bridge.

The human voice is the star of audio podcasting and listening in creates a connection. Whether that connection is pure entertainment or corporate in nature, it doesn’t matter. It’s real and it’s here to stay.

Click to listen to the following event podcasts: SteelBridge Songfest; PBS’ Antiques Roadshow; Door County Century Bike Ride; Sister Bay Trading Company Grand Opening; The New North 2006 Business Summit.