I’ve produced 7 episodes of the Minicast so far, but I’ve slacked in one important area, the gathering of feedback. I’ll be upfront with you, I see the subscriber numbers for the feed over on Podbean, but I’m not sure how reliable they are.
Either way, stats don’t really matter. What I really care about is that if you are a listener of the podcast, you are getting what you want out of it. Or, if you sampled it and hated it, I’d like to know the reasons why.
I’m going to put up polls here. I also welcome you to leave me comments below about the show. I want to fine tune it to the best it can be, but I can’t do it if I don’t get any sort of feedback.
Thanks.
Here’s another one on listening options.
Thanks for taking the time to read through this. I struggled with how to go about doing this without sounding too self serving, but it’s really the only way to gather any feedback. Any comments are welcome below. Thanks again.
www. Newbie DM .com 
Daniel M. Perez
May 13, 2010
First of all, nice new look!
Second, the mini-cast format is a good one. It works for most people cause it doesn’t take long to keep up. That said, you could do occasional longer ones, like sprinkle a couple 15-min shows here and there, and every so often, have a long 1-hour show. Mixing it up keeps it fresh for you, and it allows you to experiment with longer formats without changing the basic one.
Mad Brew
May 13, 2010
The listening options didn’t have my method:
I download the mp3 and listen to it from any networked device I want to.
Christian K. Martinez
May 13, 2010
I like that the mini-casts are shorter than any other podcasts…but it would be nice if they were slightly longer with either multiple questions answered or a little bit of musing at the end…I do like them being very focused however. So I’m really a bit mixed.
I like that each podcast is focused, and if they are longer some of that might be lost…if each mini-cast was kept on a narrower “theme” or a few questions linked together perhaps. Sorry if I’m being a bit wishy, washy with this…In the end I think either keeping it as it is or making it just a little longer would be fine as long as they don’t get any longer than ten or fifteen minutes.
Great job! I love the minicasts!
Milambus
May 13, 2010
5 mins is a little bit short to me, but I like the focus that the show has. I think you guys could spend a little more time on each question. Sometimes it feels like you are keeping answers short to stay within the 5 mins frame when you may have more to add on the subject. Two questions per episode might work well also.
To sum up, do 2 questions per episode spending 5-8 mins on each would be my advice =)
Christopher
May 13, 2010
Great mini-cast. I’ve really been enjoying it but always find myself wanting more. Maybe do a couple questions and then talk to your guest about their current game or some story that they have.
Keep up the good work
kelsey
May 13, 2010
I download via iTunes but listen to them in my car on my MP3 player. I like the narrow focus but found I end up waiting until I have a few of them to listen to back to back. That way I don’t have to take my eyes off the road to find something else to listen to.
JoeGun
May 13, 2010
Personally I love the mini podcasts. They are the perfect length to just consume really quick. Once they get longer the become something I need to schedule in to I can consume it all at once. With the minicast I can just grab it and listen when I have a few moments. I’ll be the first to say that I really enjoy the single voicemail and answer format. I don’t play 4e, but I understand the rule set and really dig the advice. I’ve applied quite a few tricks to my own games.
Thanks for all the work on these and the bigger podcast, I enjoy them both!
dr. dave
May 13, 2010
I agree with a couple of the posters above – LOVE the bite-sized nature of the podcast, but I think 7-8 minutes might be better than 4-5.
SkaSaxGuy
May 13, 2010
I love the podcast and although I know you’re busy, I just wish there were more of them.
Keep up the great work!
Michael
May 14, 2010
I have to drive often for my job so I enjoy longer podcasts, and I appreciate any advice I can get on DM’ing so I voted for longer shows. However, the choices presented are not mutually exclusive.
For example, I would like longer podcasts but there is no reason you cannot do a longer podcast that is greater than 15 minutes without the voicemails. You are probably getting a split in your votes because of how the poll is worded. (My apologies, I used to teach Research Methods in college!).
Thanks for the great site!
Question to everyone – how do you decide on how many consecutive combat encounters to have before the party is allowed an extended rest?
Overally, the results point to a longer podcast
Hopeslinger
May 14, 2010
First, thanks for your hard work. It seems like you’re a busy man with work, the blog, your game, and most important family. Second, I like the mini-bites of crunch but just wish I had a chaser. I think by adding three or four minutes you and your guest can expound on your thoughts more. Thanks again.
Thunderforge
May 15, 2010
I really like the short podcasts. It’s about the same length as the President’s Weekly Address (about five minutes) and so I can listen to either that podcast or yours when I’ve got a few minutes to burn before getting some work started.
beatniche
May 23, 2010
i enjoy the short format, but i’d also like to hear more occassionally. perhaps a longer monthly show that looks at larger topics not taken from specifically from the voicemails.