Scottsville Mayor’s Podcast
A quick Google search will yield a podcast over any topic you could imagine. Podcasting is everywhere, including the City Council Chambers in Scottsville, Kentucky. David Burch, the current mayor of Scottsville loves to listen to podcasts as much as he loves making them. He compares podcasts to baseball games, saying, “ I would actually rather listen to a baseball game than watch it. I feel like I get more out of it.” You can listen to a podcast anywhere, which is one reason Burch thinks they are so popular. Because of this, Mayor David Burch decided that a podcast would be the perfect platform to share news and information with the community of Scottsville.
Creating the scottsville mayor podcast
According to Mayor Burch, creating the podcast was surprisingly user friendly. Earlier in his career, the Mayor was a DJ for the radio. He got his start over in Franklin at 1220 WFKN, an AM station that jumpstarted his love for the audio storytelling format. Once he considered the idea of a city podcast, Mayor Burch began researching various aspects of the format.
“There is so much equipment and it has really become user friendly to start a podcast, there are all kinds of podcasts on every possible subject and I thought it would be kinda cool, so I just went through the process to get what I needed. As you can see the setup is very simple: it has a keyboard, a couple microphones, and a couple headsets and you know you are in business.”
The Mayor says his soundboard and microphone setup cost the City of Scottsville about $800, but it could be done for less if you bought a less expensive microphone. While Burch uses the equipment, the entire setup belongs to the City of Scottsville. The Mayor uses the city’s Outreach dollars to fund the podcast, so any Mayor that comes after him can use the same equipment to accomplish the same goal.
Before he records the podcast, Burch creates an outline with a few questions he’d like to ask the guest, but the outline is not set in stone. The beauty of a podcast is that it is a conversation and conversations can just “flow,” says Burch. He is willing to talk about anything within reason.
the podcasting process
After the podcast is recorded Burch uses BuzzSprout to upload the podcast to countless platforms. At time of writing, BuzzSprout costs $24.99 a month and allows users to upload twelve hours of content per month with the basic plan. If you wanted to upload your podcasts to each of the major platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Stitcher individually, you would need to convert the podcast to three different audio formats in order to upload to each of those platforms.
The past guest-list on the Scottsville Mayor Podcast has centered on community leaders and city staff who perform essential services in the City of Scottsville. Guests have included public safety officials, members of news media, industry executives, city employees, state and federal elected officials who represent the City of Scottsville, and local and regional partners coordinating special projects. One challenge the Mayor is working on is expanding the audience of the podcast. By its nature, the podcast is regional in focus, but the Mayor is open to any guests.
Implementing a Similar Idea in your Own Community
The Scottsville Mayor Podcast gives members of the community the opportunity to learn about the happenings of government in a unique and easy-digestible format. You can listen to a podcast just about anywhere. Burch says about the podcast, “you get substance. It’s different than the nightly news. You don’t get a soundbite.” Because of the on-demand nature of podcasts, listeners can simply rewind to hear important information as many times as needed. Because of this, and its general success to date, the podcast serves as effective “education and outreach” for the Mayor’s office and the community.
Mayor David Burch says that if you want to start your own podcast you should “go for it.” The process is user friendly and you can record whatever and whenever you want.“There is no reason in the world you can’t start a podcast with a little equipment and time, you should just go for it,” encourages Burch.
Related Resources
Looking for more information on how you can duplicate this success in your own community? Check out the resources below!