A few months ago, I was one of the speakers at a PRSA dinner entitled "Blogs, Podcasts, Wikis – Oh My!" – and as I sat through dinner waiting until it was my time to speak, all I could think was "oh my is right!"
Here I was being positioned as an "expert" and yet I had no flippin clue as to what a wiki or a podcast even was. Sure, the "blogs" part was my part, but I still felt like a bit of a poser.
Fast forward five months and not only am I the proud owner of a 30G video iPod, and not only am I a big fan of podcasts, but I'm actually going to be a guest on a podcast.
This week I met with Carolyn Alfvin, a fellow Shorewoodian and writer who is the creator of Single, Married, Widowed, Divorced – a play/podcast/website/blog that deals with life and relationships and is geared toward women from all walks of life, of any marital status.
When Carolyn emailed me and suggested we meet, I knew that her site sounded familiar. And no wonder – I'd listened to one of her podcasts just weeks earlier after searching wedding-related podcasts (yes, my obsession knows no bounds!), and I'd remembered reading about her in the Journal Sentinel.
She lives just blocks away from me, and after introductions were made within her home Tuesday night, we made ourselves comfortable on her couch, eating chocolate mousse and discussing our respective projects.
Her blog is the newest SMWD undertaking, and so she had questions for me about launching a blog. I, too, had questions, about her and about how she came up with the idea for SMWD.
Carolyn – a divorced single mom of an 8th grader – first wrote Single, Married, Widowed, Divorced, the play, about five women who were all going through different turning points in their relationships. Realizing that this was material that most women could relate to in one way or another, she, with the help of two friends, launched a weekly podcast that covers a different topic each week.
SMWD podcasts cover a variety of issues, from weddings and life after divorce, to parenting and women's friendships. The podcasts are about 20 minutes each so they don't require a huge time commitment, and yet listeners can walk away from the chats feeling as though they've just had a conversation with a close group of friends.
The podcasts can be accessed on iTunes or downloaded straight from their website. You can even sign up on the website to be notified when a new podcast is posted.
The new SMWD blog covers various issues and stories, along with "marital status in the news" which links to several relevant stories each week. I'll be putting the blog's link in my permanent blogroll, so be sure to pay a visit.
On Monday I'll be joining Carolyn and her two SMWD partners along with another young woman to participate in a podcast that deals with how the internet has changed planning a wedding, planning a trip and planning for a baby. The podcast will be posted the last weekend in October (what a great weekend!) and I'll be sure to post about it again closer to that date so you can all have a listen. J
I'm glad to have met Carolyn - as an aspiring writer, it's always great to meet the people who have made it as freelancers and who are doing such unique and fun things with their creative energy. SMWD is a rather new enterprise and just from what I've seen and heard so far, I have a feeling that its popularity is just going to grow and grow.
I urge the ladies (and the guys, too!) to give the site, the blog and the podcast a try. And hey, if you have a good idea for a topic of discussion for a future podcast, I'm sure Carolyn would love to hear from you! There's certainly no limit to what we ladies can discuss and learn from one another.
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