Sherie Griffiths

In the June episode of ‘Get PodSavvy’, I interviewed David Hardstaff of Expedio, who was due to start presenting a regular feature in the programme this month. Unfortunately (for us), his debut has had to be postponed til next month due to client commitments.

I ran across him earlier this year, , completely by accident. I didn’t go looking for a co-presenter. I actually went looking for someone who could abridge books for recording. I put the word out in a number of places, including the 4Networking website – and within the day, I had a response – from David.

He said he thought it was something his wife might be interested in taking on and suggested we have a chat on the phone.
It took a few days to make that happen – but when it did, the conversation took off in all sorts of unexpected directions.

These days, Expedio’s clients know David as the man who shows them how to grow their business without taking on staff – by making technology work efficiently for them and making sure it gives them the right information to enable them to work efficiently; but there’s more to him than meets the eye – or should that be ‘the ear’?

I think it was when I explained how my life as a media junky led me into making audio that he confessed his ‘secret past’ – as a radio presenter. He hadn’t done anything in that line for about a decade, he admitted, but before that he’d spent years on hospital radio, community stations and later even satellite stations, alongside his day job.

From that point, there was no stopping us! Off we went into teenage listening habits, how radio has changed between then and now, studio experiences – etc etc.

We talked for well over an hour. I think we could have gone on if the batteries on both my phones hadn’t died!; and in that time, an idea started forming in my mind.

The next day, I emailed him with a suggestion: how would he like to dust off his headphones, get back behind the mic and present a feature as part of the new monthly podcast I was putting together? He jumped at the idea. In his response, he referred to us as ‘a pair of old anoraks’. How dare he?! As I said in my reply, ‘I’ll wear my anorak with pride – but less of the ‘old’!’.

I was planning a series within the show, on making compelling audio (which starts this month). That focuses on how sound works, how people listen and so, how to make something people will want to listen to. After that epic phone-call, though, I could see scope for a regular piece dealing with the role of IT in business communication. That wasn’t something I felt qualified to talk about in any depth, but David, with his combination of commercial, technical and radio experience, was the ideal candidate for the job. So the ‘Technically Speaking’ slot was born.

I thought it was important to introduce him in last month’s show, so we decided to do a phone interview. For the first attempt, I had to approximate studio conditions at home. The room I work in has very little in the way of soft furnishings to deaden the sound. So I set up the kit in the bedroom; but still, the acoustic wasn’t quite right.

I finished up throwing a freshly laundered mattress cover over me and the mic, which must have looked completely bizarre but worked a treat as sound-proofing. One of the joys of audio production is the ability to ‘improvise’! Unfortunately, the phone I’d connected into didn’t work so well and the result really wasn’t up to scratch. We ended up doing the interview on the phone from the studio, when I went into edit the programme. I might play you a clip of the original in a future episode, when I talk about the importance of sound quality.

Next week, I’ll tell you a bit about another series which begins in the next show – ‘Talking To Your Market – Living Inside The Brand’.