Rockin’ Libsyn Podcasts: The Sports Trivia Face-Off
This series is all about Libsyn’s podcasters. Its sole purpose is to introduce these awesome podcasts to the world as well as share their podcasting insight to empower the community!
Q & A with Brent and Erin from The Sports Trivia Face-Off
When did you start podcasting?
Brent: I started recording episodes in January of 2018, and published my first three episodes on March 27, 2018
Erin: Brent invited me to guest host an episode in the summer….and we never looked back!
Why did you start podcasting?
Brent: I’ve been running a benefit trivia night company for the better part of ten years. Once I started listening to podcasts and heard a few trivia game casts, I realized that nobody was doing a podcast game that was strictly aimed at sports buffs.
So I woke up one morning and decided “Hey, I can do that”, bought a microphone and started the planning process.
Erin: Brent asked nicely. That and through guest appearances on other shows, I knew I enjoy creating through this medium. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be a part of this show!
What’s the name of your show about and what is it about?
Our show is called The Sports Trivia Face-Off, where each week we pit two sports fans against each other in a mano-a-mano (or lady-a-lady) battle for sports trivia bragging rights!
Over the course of three periods and two intermissions, players are pummeled with questions from across the world of professional competitions – from American football to Australian Rules Football to Association Football (that game us Americans call “soccer”) – and everything in between. The finale is the Shootout, where players have to answer three closest-to-the-pin numerical questions.
What’s your podcasting set-up? Hardware, software, CMS, etc
Brent: I record with Zencastr as much as possible, or via Skype (using Evaer recorder) when necessary.
Zencastr still has some idiosyncrasies, so I may be trying some of the web-based remote recording tools that are out there.
My studio consists of more than thirty NHL sweaters, one television, and a stack of Sports Trivia Face-Off branded pucks, a Blue Yeti condenser microphone connected to my desktop PC.
I also have a laptop that can be used for remote recording if we ever decide to record at other locations. I use Adobe Audition to do all editing and post-production work because I genuinely enjoy the challenge of it, and host my website on GoDaddy for ease of maintenance.
I don’t use a CMS at this time because I’m a web programmer by trade and I actually prefer making the edits manually using Adobe DreamWeaver.
How Have you Promoted Your Podcast
To date the bulk of our promotion has been cross-promotion with the online Trivia community and other trivia related podcasts, and via Facebook.
Erin likes to talk about the project with people at her office, who don’t seem to care but are very polite about it.
What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started?
Brent: The challenge of writing thirty sports trivia questions of good quality each week has been greater than I expected.
It’s easy to write questions, but it’s so difficult to write them in an interesting and engaging manner that gives listeners different paths to the answer. Luckily, we have some really smart and creative listeners who like to provide questions from time to time!
I do wish I’d known how much I enjoy the technical work of editing and post-production. It’s very stimulating to put the episode together and make it sound its absolute best.
I wish I’d have put together a proper promotional plan before creating the show, rather than the other way around. But we’re slowly building an audience, so I’m satisfied.
Mostly I wish I’d have known how valuable it is to not only have a good co-host, but one who also is there to get really involved in the production of the show from writing questions to providing feedback, as well as just being a good friend to share the fun with!
Erin: My creative background is in theatrical lighting design, so I’ve never really been a front-and-center creator.
My work tends to go unremarked upon, and that’s part of the allure – that I can hang back at an opening night party and nobody knows who I am.
The social aspect of podcasting is wild to me – I met Brent through a Facebook group dedicated to a different podcast, and now here we are.
The feedback we get is immediate and measurable, which is both convenient and sometimes a little scary (nobody likes to be told someone doesn’t like something they’ve created).
It’s easy to forget that what feels like an afternoon chatting with Brent and some other folks on a Sunday afternoon is going to be made available to anyone with an internet connection, so it’s equally easy to forget that my name and voice is in who know how many ears week after week.
It’s not exactly high-stakes podcasting, but it is more far-reaching than anything I’ve done so far.
Anyway, the thing I wish I’d known was how strange and exciting it is to be a part of something so much bigger than myself or my pub quizzes or my city, and how incredibly positive such a small-seeming thing can be.
I never would have guessed that my life would take a series of turns that would put me in this position, but it’s pretty amazing.
All you trivia sports lovers this is the podcast for you! Don’t wait and subscribe
As a note in case you want an STFO Stress Puck all you have to do is become a Patreon subscriber of $10 or more.
If you happen to have met in a podcasting group and want to start a podcast, do it! We’d love to host your new endeavor!
Need help getting started podcasting? Great! We have a free monthly Podcasting Quickstart every first Wednesday of the month.
