Today I am back from Podfest with some insights to share, tips on meeting your audience, and thoughts on the interfaces from Focusrite.  Focusrite: The Vocaster Series Made For Podcasters AutoGain - Easily set your levels with the click of a button, with more than enough gain on tap (70dB) – no booster is needed Enhance - Four podcaster-approved voice presets bring out the best in any voice Mute - Silence the mic with the touch of a button - don’t let unexpected interruptions get in the way of recording Connect your phone - Record phone calls, high-quality music, or other audio from your device, seamlessly  Record to a camera - Plug in your camera and record directly to its memory card  Loopback - Stream calls or any other audio you can think of from your computer with two sets of stereo loopback Included software - Hindenburg Lite to record, three months of SquadCast Pro + Video to bring in your guests, and six months of Acast Influencer to publish, you’re ready to get your show out there Learn more at: Focusrite.com/Vocaster  Why We Often Get Sick at Events Because we get to see people we never get to see, these events take on a "one of a kind" atmosphere, and the feat of missing out (and to a certain level, that is true). When we start to "push through" we start to jeopardize our health (even without a pandemic).  We get up early to catch flights, do all sorts of walking through airports and hotels, consume things that may not be considered, "Healthy" under-hydrate, and repeat many of these steps for the rest of the conference.  Then we go home and blame the plane.  I've been doing almost nothing all week trying to get my health back. While I might've missed a fun story staying up later talking with friends, anything I missed would not equal the moment I lost by putting everything on hold.  We all love to have fun and see friends, but for me, I'm going to be a bit more responsible in the future. Clearing Up Some Confusion That I Heard At Podfest DOWNLOADS UPON FOLLOW When someone follows your show in Apple, and you have three episodes, you will NOT get three downloads if someone follows you (they only automatically download the last episode. If they want the other two episodes, they need to manually download them. LISTEN NOTES STATS While this sounds impressive to say, "I'm in the top 1% of podcasters on Listen notes." Until you read that this is based on people listening on Listen notes and 3rd party data. As every media host I know has asked Apple for listening data (and been turned down), that is not the information that are using. I need to reach out to them to find out exactly what they are using, but to say, "I'm in the top 1% of podcasts (on listen notes) is like me saying, "I'm the #1 podcast (of shows with a host named Dave who live in Akron Ohio).  I'm not trying to be "Dave Jackson - Dream Crusher" but to help people focus on more important things that will result in larger downloads (I call it, "their audience.").  How To Accept Compliments From Your Audience Many podcasters (including myself) are introverts. Consequently, having someone come up and give you compliments may make you feel uneasy. In the past, I would deflect, or make a joke, and my ex-wife said, "Would you just say Thank You!" and she was right.  Here are some tips: Don't correct them Don't downgrade (You're GREAT, and you answer, "It was OK). Don't Brag - Yes, I AM AWESOME Instead, say: Thank You, Thank you very much. That means a lot to me. That's very nice of you to say.  Don't forget you have a listener in front of you, after you accept the compliment ask them for feedback so you can hear what is working, and hopefully get some feedback on how to improve. Lastly, don't forget to ask them if they want to take a selfie as they will be happy to share it on social.  Focusrite Vocaster Two Review If you're looking for an interface to get your microphone into your computer, this device makes it simple (there is a tool to automatically set your gain). There is some subtle built-in processing to tweak your audio. What you heard today is me using the Shure SM7B WITHOUT ANY KIND OF CLOUDLIFTER or FETHEAD. It has plenty of drive. You can plug your phone into it via a TRRS input (with built-in mix-minus).  There is also an output jack to feed the audio into your camera which eliminates the whole, "Delay issue" that comes with some video cameras.