Yesterday I conducted a teleseminar with noted hunter and hunt seat equitation trainer and judge Geoff Teall. For the uninitiated, a teleseminar is a podcast of sorts. It's like an audio clinic or interview that is conducted over the phone and then recorded and made available as an MP3 download or audio CD.
We've been wanting to do a teleseminar for some time. Long-time readers may remember that we actually had one scheduled for January 17, but health issues landed our bridge line operator and Chief Recorder Extraordinaire in the hospital. Once he'd recuperated, however, Geoff's busy life precluded us scheduling another one until yesterday.
The resulting audio file was worth the wait. Geoff talks about "Top 10 Tips for Winning in the Hunter Ring" from a judge's point of view. Throughout the hour-long discussion, he gives clear, concise suggestions for how to practice each element at home, in the comfort of your own ring. He talks about how to identify problems and how to erase them. He expands upon some of the information in his book and offers additional insights that never made it into print. It was an excellent interview.
The audio file is going to be part of a bonus package that correlates to a pre-Christmas Amazon.com campaign. I'll comment more about that as the campaign comes together.
For now, the point of all this is simply to comment on how honored I am to have the privilege of working with experts like Geoff, and Dr. Warson. When I was in Hawaii, Dr. Warson and I took an hour and conducted an interview on "The Harmonics of Horse and Rider" in which he talked about how to match horse and rider for the rider's optimum comfort.
(Sadly, I recorded the Hawaiian audio seminar on my MP3 Recording Flash Drive. Its microphone is just a wee bit too good, and the house was just a wee bit too lively. Ambient noise like doors closing and cats playing is all too audible. That'll teach me to bypass Gary my Bridge Man... I haven't yet determined if I should make the audio file available online as a free download anyway, or if I should type up the transcripts and disseminate the information as an e-booklet .pdf file instead.)
I love it when experts get talking about a subject that is near and dear to them. They're happy to clarify, expand upon, explain, and illustrate. In a very short amount of time, they can disseminate a staggering amount of information. They can shine a light into the darkness of ignorance and frustration. And their passion is contagious.
I also love the idea of the teleseminar. It allows regular people very near access to those on the cutting edge of a given industry -- for a fraction of the cost of traveling across the country or around the world to hear the experts speak in person. After yesterday's experience, I think Geoff is intrigued by the plethora of possibilities that present themselves. We're already discussing the topic for our next audio clinic.
Who knows? Maybe we'll open the lines up on the next one and allow people to listen in live. We'll see where the learning curve takes me.
