Episode 54
This is the final Bluegrass Region Voices and Views podcast for 2024. I’m Tom Hailey.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my brief, under five minutes, podcasts this year where I’ve shined a spotlight on local people, places, activities, and resources that I feel someone new around here would enjoy knowing about and experiencing. Or that maybe you forgot about.
My podcast is an ongoing experiment for me to stay active and engaged with our community since I retired.
In this new year of 2025, I intend to continue with these brief episodes and work in some interviews like I was doing when I began podcasting in 2007. I’ve discovered that I enjoy both formats. I’m also getting more interested in producing videos for my YouTube channel. As my mom often said, “we’ll see.” You can find it on YouTube at, of course, Bluegrass Region Voices and Views.
I’ve gotten used to hearing my voice, but I have a way to go to become comfortable with being on video. Again, we’ll see. Or not.
I enjoy having coffee breaks with other podcasters and I’m often asked who I think of as my audience. I used to say it’s just me. That if the topic is something I’m interested in, that’s all I need to consider. It’s my hobby. You don’t have to fish or golf or do many hobbies for someone else to enjoy. And that’s still true for me with podcasting.
However, I have added another layer to that. When selecting a topic I think “what would someone who just moved to this area benefit from knowing about.”
Sometimes I focus on the hidden gems, the off the beaten path, places and activities that are not top of mind and in the headlines. Sometimes it’s the well know things, but with my own twist to it.
You and I have lots of material to read, listen to, and watch. Or what the in-crowd calls “content to consume.” So much that it can give us content indigestion.
So, in 2024 I’ve kept my material brief and posted only once a month, so that you, and I, can work it into our diets, and schedules.
The interviews I did before 2024 are considered long form. Typically, about 70 minutes long. That’s time to take a deep enough dive into a person’s story and walk away with some lessons learned and inspiration.
In 2025 I’ll experiment with keeping those interview segments to right under an hour. Years ago, I did a radio show for a year named “Conversations” and I was required to keep it under sixty minutes. So, I know I can do it.
I’d love to hear your ideas about a topic you’d like me to focus on or a person you’d like to hear me interview.
You can email me at thailey@tomhailey.com
Visit my website at www.bluegrassregionvoicesandviews.com and search for my YouTube channel at Bluegrass Region Voices and Views. I’ll put something up there that’s worth your time.
I hope you enjoy getting Out Around the Bluegrass Region in 2025!
Thanks for listening.
