Why We Blogcast
A post by Indiana . . .
Here's how the conversation went when I approached Chris with my idea for a co-hosted podcast and blog:
INDIANA: I have an idea.
CHRIS: Uh-oh.
To be fair, I'm an idea machine. I'm always scheming up new projects. See also: Clownfrontation (a clown for hire, but for scares), Cutetarian (a tumblr of cute food), Only Underpants (a travel blog where the traveler only packs underpants and buys clothes locally at their destination), Hey Cool Dog (street style photography but of dogs), and I Eat Burgers (my personal burger log).
I: We are hilarious. And our kids are hilarious, and we're really good at making mundane things seem hilarious.
C: Yes, and?
I: And for years I've spent a lot of my creative energy pursuing projects that didn't involve you. An acting blog, a fashion blog, a lady bloggers' conference...
C: Yes, and?
I: So... for my next project, I'd like us to do something together. I want us to do a weekly podcast.
C: Aren't podcasts played out?
I: No. NO! And that's not all. I'm not ready to let the written component of a blog go, so it's going to be a blogcast.
C: [dubious] A blogcast?
I: Yes! A blog AND a podcast! We'll have conversations and we'll turn those into blog posts, but once a week, we'll have a longer conversation that we record and edit and that will be the podcast. And on podcast recording day, we'll Periscope the unedited behind the scenes stuff.
C: What about Meerkat?
I: Ugh. Or Meerkat. But probably Periscope. I like the little hearts on there. [pause] THIS IS A GREAT IDEA!
C: [warily] You do have good ideas.
I: What are you talking about? I have great ideas.
Pretty much non-stop for the next couple days, I ruminated over a name, but reluctantly decided that I should just put it under the Indiana Elsewhere umbrella so I'm not wasting that great branding. But then as I was cleaning out my closet, the name hit me! MOM JEANS & DAD JOKES.
I: I HAVE THE PERFECT NAME FOR OUR BLOGCAST.
C: I'm not set on calling it a blogcast.
I: No, no. We're not going to call it blogcast. It is a blogcast. The name of our blogcast is going to be Mom Jeans & Dad Jokes.
C: I don't get it.
I: MOM JEANS. It's a nod to the fact that I used to have a successful fashion blog but it sort of puttered out once I became a mom. And plus I own an actual pair of mom jeans that you hate and want me to give to Goodwill. Which I probably won't. But maybe I will?
C: Yes, and?
I: And DAD JOKES. Because your sense of humor is rather dry, and you do appreciate a "good" dad joke, if there is such a thing, but it also tells our readers and listeners that this is supposed to be funny. And that we're parents! And that the blogcast is tangentially about parenting. Sometimes.
C: I don't know.
I: It's great. I'm texting Nicole. If she doesn't hate the name, we're going with it. [chanting] Mom jeans! Dad Jokes! Mom jeans! Dad jokes! Chris, this is a great idea!
Later the next night, I knew Chris was all in when he showed me some microphones for recording that he had looked up earlier that day. Squee! SQUEE! And before I knew it, in our conversations he'd say something funny or smart and then say, "Put THAT in the podcast! Write that down!".
We ultimately decided to move forward with Mom Jeans & Dad Jokes because:
- It causes us to be a little more intentional with the time we spend together. Instead of simply consuming content online by binge watching stuff on Hulu, we can take time to create content together.
- Chris and I love storytelling and we want to get better at it. Blogging and podcasting seems like the easiest and best way to do this.
- The community I've become a part of over the last few years through my personal blog has been one of my biggest blessings, and although I'm not really feeling fashion blogging anymore, I still want to dabble in this creative space somehow.
- When I started Adored Austin (RIP, sweet blog), I did it because at the time, there weren't any funny and lighthearted personal style blogs (everyone was so serious!). Likewise, we think we can make something that's not really being done yet. There are funny mom blogs and informative parenting podcasts, but there aren't really funny parenting blogs and podcasts offering the perspective of two very different parents.
- We think we're hilarious. This is maybe the only quantifiable way to find out if we're actually funny or not.
REFERENCES & NOTES:
- Meerkat vs. Periscope. It's not even a worthy argument at this point.
- Up for sale: Clownfrontation.com, Cutetarian.com, OnlyUnderpants.com, HeyCoolDog.com, and IEatBurgers.com. I've seriously got to stop squatting on domain names.
- Nicole's series on podcasting combined with my little cameo on The Lively Show is what really pushed me to take a flying leap onto the podcast bandwagon.
