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A bright future for CPN


I am proud that for three and a half years, I have been running the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. The site is my public service towards the community. My income comes from my job at Charlottesville Tomorrow as well as my business, Wordcast Productions. I love what I do, though I wish I had more time to run the website.

Right now, CPN is my third priority, work-wise. My day job always come first, and I'm incredibly blessed to have it. I am learning so much about how this community works. I am doing the best journalism of my life, as we continue to learn to craft a new way of reporting. If you want to know what's going on in regional growth and development, then take the time to sign up for Charlottesville Tomorrow or listen to us in iTunes.

However, sometimes I wonder if the folks at Spicy Bear are right. Should I look for a buyer for the Charlottesville Podcasting Network?

The answer, of course, is a no. If I have created any value, it is certainly not commercial. I'm not sure what it is, precisely, but I am proud of the work that I have done. I wish we had a larger audience, and I wish that I could find someone who would be interested in some form of a partnership that sought to boost an audience while boosting a brand. And, of course, any money I could bring in to the site would go to pay people to run the site in a much more timely fashion. I would like to figure out a way to create jobs for people.

Right now, I have five or six podcasts that I need to produce. They are: the NAACP's Freedom Banquet; two lectures from the Jefferson Society; something for one of my clients; another thing from one of my clients; last week's Wake-Up Call; probably more I have forgotten.

And then, there's what I want to do. I have ambitions to create a weekly arts podcast, a three-minute newscast for Charlottesville Tomorrow, maybe even a podcast for the area's gay community. I'd also love to create a podcast to roll out the hours of music I have created as either my band or my solo work.

I am increasingly concerned that I'm not able to take CPN to the next level, but I would never sell it to anyone. I feel like I made a huge risk in 2005 to create something new, and it has paid off immeasurably in terms of how connected I feel to this community. But, I don't think the real value has not even begin to reach fruition. It's a business that is more than a business. It's an attempt to create an important resource for Charlottesville, Albemarle County, the state of Virginia, my clients, and all of it. I want to try to make the world better by helping people learn to communicate with each other.

So, drop me a line if you're interested in participating on some level. I need more producers, sponsors, underwriters, and most importantly - listeners.
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