December 2023, and Andrew and I find ourselves in front of the microphone for the final time until 2024. It is the annual state of the state address where we look back at all the interesting bits and pieces covered over the last 12 months while providing a sneak peak at the adventures to come in 2024. . … Welcome to EP 141: 2023 Yearapalooza!!
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Today we are wrapping up the 2023 podcast season. I don’t know about you but I am ready for a break. Any part of wrapping up should include some sort of reflection but we will also be spending a portion of the show – presumably towards the end – of looking forward, what do we think we are doing and what might we be talking about.
By the Numbers – Fan Favorite Episodes jump to 6:48
When Andrew and I sit down and discuss what would loosely be called our “editorial calendar” about 905 of that time is spent discussing show topics, potential guests, and how we will manage the tasks required to basically prepare, record, edit, and write a podcast/blog post. There are topics that are more Bob-centric as well as Andrew-centric and the person who typically ends up writing the blog post, has ownership of the topic. For example, Andrew takes the lead on school and studio related topics, and I tend to focus on anything firm related and residential. Anything outside of those main subject matters is typically shared.
One of the things that I like the most about how we go about the process of choosing a topic, is that we talk about things that matter to us, acting on the idea that it will matter to other people who do what we do. What we have learned, from years of blog posts and now5+ years of doing the podcast, is that we generally have a good idea of what people want from us … but we don’t always give the people what they want. If we did, it would be mostly sketching, construction drawings, and architectural graphics. As part of our yearly review, we look back to see what were the posts that resonated the most with the readers and listeners.
The #3 most listened to podcast episode was [drumroll} ………..
Not particularly surprising since this was a graphic intensive post. We had Kory Bieg on this episode as a subject matter expert and it was one of my favorites to record.
The #2 most listened to podcast episode was [drumroll} ………..
Not surprising AT ALL. I’d like to think that my clever title played a role but even before I hit “publish” on this one, I knew it would be a popular topic.
and the #1 most listened to podcast episode was [drumroll} ………..
What was a little surprising was the “Workaholic” episode taking the top spot. I know that anytime the topic has something to do with how hard and terrible it is being an architect and how we are underappreciated, architects come out in droves because misery loves company. Even if you are a happy person and typically love what you do for a living, this is a hard profession and sometimes there is a disconnect between your passion and the effort required to execute that passion.
Probably true for every job out there …
The Blog jump to 19:26
When I decided to do a podcast, I received what could generally be described as hate mail. The number of people who expressed concerns if I stopped writing the blog were basically something like this:
Architecture is a visual medium, your podcast will fail! … and I now hate you.
They might not have said that last bit but that’s what it felt like. The truth is that I was tired of writing blog posts because they take a lot of time and I already work a lot. I want to take it a little easier, maybe work on my health and spend less time in front of a computer. Enter the podcast … they are super easy, just hit record, talk for an hour, and hit publish.
Right?
I got that all wrong. The recording part is pretty easy, the prep beforehand takes some time, but I am still writing blog posts (like this one) so that a) people who still want to participate and aren’t listening to podcasts have that ability, and b) this blog posts provides a place for conversations to continue in the comment section. This is the 25th blog post written this year and for fun, I went back through and checked the word count on every post. Total word count (not including tags and labels – anything back of house that you the reader doesn’t see) came in at 57,977 words. So for fun, I went and looked for NY Times Best Sellers that had similar word counts. They are:
Lord of the Flies – 59,000
The Great Gatsby – 47,000
Fahrenheit 451 – 46,000
Slaughter House-Five – 49,000
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – 46,000
After looking that information up, I thought “I could have written Lord of the Flies this year instead of all these blog posts.”
The Graphics jump to 27:19
In addition to writing 57,977 words this year, there is the matter of 177 custom graphics created to support those words. Some of these were simply formatting and sizing some existing images (like photographs) but I would put that count at less than 15 images. Even if I round down to 150, that’s an average of 6 graphics made for every post and I would conservatively put 30-45 minutes worth of time on each graphic (good thing I like making them!)
It is easy to see how I went from writing a blog post every week to doing 1 podcast/blog post every two weeks.
What the Rank jump to 49:38
The last question we are going to answer is a “What’s the Rank” question. The purpose of this question really came out of a conversation Andrew and I were having when we are chatting with one of our Construction Specialties peeps and we were talking about television programs we thought were worth watching. I said one program in particular was thought of as one of the best series ever made and Andrew made a face.
What are the Three Best Television Series ever made?
| #3 | #2 | #1 | |
| Bob’s Favorite TV Shows | Arrested Development | The Office | Breaking Bad |
| Andrew’s Favorite TV Shows | Sherlock (2010 Series) | X-Files | How I Met Your Mother |
The only rules that were accepted were that the series had to be completed and it has to be more than one season.
This question was only difficult because you had to restrict your answers to only three shows. Andrew agonized over his selections and I don’t think an hour had passed after we recorded this episode before I received a text message from Andrew saying that he already regretted his choice and wanted to re-record (which did not happen – these are his original selections). I will concede that if I was to answer this same question a week from now, at least one would be different (The Office most likely) but for Andrew? It’s possible that all three would be different.
Episode 141: 2023 Yearapalooza
This was an interesting year, full of really fun and interesting things, with a decent chunk of pretty bad – but that’s life. One thing that I am proud of – still – is this website and the podcast. I still enjoy doing it and the opportunities it brings me. Andrew and I went to a few events, met some interesting people, and we expect to do more of that this year. In fact, I am thinking that we will make it a goal to have more fun and create more adventures for Andrew and myself, and the podcast, and I hope you stick around to come along with us.
Warmest appreciation and gratitude, until next time –
Construction Specialties is so focused on the importance of mastering movement, that they have created a CEU specifically on mastering the physical movement of a building. Each course is worth 1 AIA LU/HSW and is part of the Mastering Movement Academy provided by CS. Visit masteringmovement.net to take this and other courses.