Joy Poliquin: We were trying to kind of see how can we develop content that's more evergreen, that folks can access from wherever they are when they're looking at, um, you know, what can I do with my degree and hoping to hear from other grads.
Neil McPhedran: Welcome to Continuing Studies, a podcast for higher education podcasters to learn and get inspired.
I'm Neil McPhedran, founder of Podium Podcast Company, an agency for higher education podcasts.
Jennifer-Lee: And I'm Jennifer Lee, founder of J Pod Creations, podcasting is broadcasting.
We want you to know you're not alone.
In fact, there are many of you higher ed podcasters out there, and we can all learn from each other.
Neil McPhedran: That's right, Jen.
Before we jump into this episode, we want to encourage you to join the higher education podcaster community at higheredpods.com.
Jennifer-Lee: So Neil, as we know, I talk a lot about UVic in this podcast.
But we actually have somebody on from UVic today and they have a podcast, so I'm excited to explore that.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah, this is great.
So today we're chatting with Joy Poliquin from UVic, as you mentioned, your alma mater.
And we're talking to her about the podcast called Work It.
Which is for their co op program.
And there's a bunch of learnings here, I think, for all of us, higher education podcasters about reaching a wider audience, as well as just using podcast content and evolving some of the existing, maybe more entrenched strategies that they would have been using previously.
And how podcasting is replacing some of those strategies and really sort of how they're getting a lot out of their podcast.
Jennifer-Lee: I think answering the ultimate question, can I get a job once I graduate?
Neil McPhedran: That's a good question.
Okay, let's get into it.
Before we jump into our interview, a quick reminder to please keep listening once we wrap the conversation to catch my top line on chapters in our second segment of Podcasting 2.0.
Welcome, Joy.
It's great to have you here today on our Continuing Studies podcast.
Could you just maybe start with just a quick little introduction and what your role is on Work It?
Joy Poliquin: For sure.
Yeah, my name is Joy Poliquin and I'm the Senior Communications person with the University of Victoria's Cooperative Education Program and Career Services Office, which is quite a mouthful, but basically I do their marketing and outreach and promotion for that unit.
Neil McPhedran: And so today we're talking about Work It, a UVic career exploration podcast.
So maybe just sort of tell us a little bit about the Work It podcast.
Joy Poliquin: For sure.
Yeah.
So Work It, um, is in its second year now.
Um, and as the name sort of suggests, it's about digging into, uh, the careers of some of our alumni and sort of figuring out what it takes and what path, different pathways might look like for, um, alumni from different program areas.
So, um, it was started sort of after the pandemic and I produced the podcast and the two hosts are former co op students.
So very sort of, uh, in keeping with the UVic sort of co op push, uh, former co op students are our hosts now work at the university in different capacities.
So they bring that sort of element of being new grads, um, freshly out into the workforce, full of curiosity and are able to really engage with the new grads that we have on our, on our podcast.
Jennifer-Lee: I love this because I am a UVic grad and I hold a degree there, and so it's interesting because, I don't want to date myself, but when I went there long time ago, I did a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and which is great.
It has served me to this day.
A lot of people would say, oh, why did you take that?
But I said, honestly, I wouldn't have been able to go on to my broadcasting career, or be able to own a podcasting company without it.
Do you find that a lot of the careers that were maybe traditional for when you and I went to school, Joy, are changing, and you guys are kind of shining the light on some newer areas through the podcast?
Joy Poliquin: Absolutely.
I'm actually also a Fine Arts grad from UVic, as they say.
Neil McPhedran: Oh wow.
Look at you two.
Jennifer-Lee: There we go.
Sorry Neil.
This is why I like her.
Neil McPhedran: You just take over the rest of this interview then Jen.
Jennifer-Lee: It's okay.
Sorry.
You're important too Neil.
Joy Poliquin: But I think it really, um, it sort of laid the groundwork for a lot of the skills that you can carry over into a whole bunch of different areas.
And I think that's something that we're seeing, um, it right now as students are graduating and coming out to a very different workforce than what it looked like when we graduated.
Things are much more fluid.
People are moving around from sort of, career to career from organization to organization a lot more.
And, um, so a lot of the folks that we're interviewing, they are coming maybe from studying something really specific, but they've actually taken that and taken it in a very different direction.
Or, uh, they met someone during a co op work term and then that sort of inspired them to, to try something very different.
So, um, a lot of flexibility we're seeing in our, our grads and, um, people really like, carving out really interesting little niches.
So, um, yeah, absolutely.
It's a, it's an interesting time to be graduating and, uh, coming out into the workforce.
Jennifer-Lee: And remote work must be a big part of that too, because I remember when I left UVic, it was like, that's it.
You usually left Victoria because there wasn't that much opportunity back then.
And then you moved away and you went where you could get a job.
But I just had a cousin, and he just actually graduated from UVic from the business department.
And it was so different talking to him because he also did a co op.
I don't know which one, but he did that.
And he decided to stay in Victoria because he got a remote job in Alberta.
So that must be crazy too, to see that a lot of people are staying and doing remote jobs which weren't available when you and I went to school.
Joy Poliquin: Oh yeah, that's a whole, it opens up a whole new sort of world of opportunity, right?
You're not restricted to being physically located where you might be working.
And yeah, that makes it a lot more exciting and possible for people to stay in Victoria.
I know a lot of our grads want to stay in Victoria and it hasn't always been possible.
So yeah, that's certainly a trend that we're seeing for sure.
Neil McPhedran: Bringing it back to the podcast then.
Who, who is the audience?
It's not just prospective students, right?
It's, there's, there's a wider audience there for the podcast.
Joy Poliquin: Absolutely.
So we sort of have three main audiences that we're trying to gear it towards.
One is prospective students.
So these are students who may be considering coming to the university.
I think this is common across most universities.
When people are looking at where they might want to go, big thing that they're looking at is what I'm gonna, what am I going to be able to do when I graduate?
Where will I be able to work?
Will I be employable?
Will I be able to make a living, especially in today's economy?
So showcasing some of the ways that our grads have been really creative in carving out these interesting sort of career journeys, or even just listening to someone who's maybe started on one route and then pivoted and gone in a different direction.
It gives sort of prospective students a bit of a sense of, oh, you know what, UVic could be a place where we could, I could kind of learn what I need to do and also find my way and there'll be room for growth and maybe adjustment.
That's one big audience.
A second one is prospective students parents.
Also very, very keen to know what their, their kids are going to be, how they're going to be employable.
Is everything going to be okay?
That's a big audience for us as well.
And then the third is alumni.
So, um, it's a great way for us to showcase um, some alumni journeys and allow our alumni community to stay connected in a different way.
And also really to showcase some of those new grads who maybe otherwise wouldn't have that connection back to UVic.
So yeah, those, those are sort of the three pronged approach that we've, we've taken with Work It.
Jennifer-Lee: I think this is great because usually the podcasts that Neil and I interview have been alumni focused.
They've been on a mission.
This one's different because we're actually talking about the work you do when you leave the institution.
Which is great because we haven't really hit on a podcast about like helping you prepare yourself for actually getting a job.
Because we go to university and college and obviously that's the fun and exciting part, but no one thinks that you graduate and you're like, oh no, I've got to get a job after this.
So,
Joy Poliquin: Now I've gotta figure out what I want to do.
Oh my goodness.
Yeah, for sure.
And that's a second piece of our, so we sort of have two areas of focus in who we speak to on our podcast.
So one is alumni.
We have about eight episodes a season.
So we usually interview four or five alumni.
But then the other episodes, um, we connect with our career educator team who are the folks who are actually supporting current students as well as alum to develop their careers.
So there we're, we're tackling sort of very topical issues like how do I avoid burnout?
That's a, that's a sort of a common thing that people are encountering these days.
How do I recognize those signs?
How do I advocate for myself at work?
Maybe, um, I have an accessibility need and I'm not sure, you know is, is my workplace a safe place to do that?
To bring that forward?
How can I ask the help I need?
So things that, um, that's, that's in addition to like how to, you know, look for work and sort of the more basic stuff.
But we're trying to provide, um, support that anyone at any stage in their career might be interested in and can listen kind of safely through a podcast if they're a little bit unsure about where to go for that, that support.
Jennifer-Lee: I love that because I created my own map for my career and I would have loved to know more support.
Joy Poliquin: Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah it's a, it's a scary time when you're sort of emerging into the workforce.
So it's nice to have different places that you can go that, you know, you can get information about those, those interesting questions.
Neil McPhedran: I like that.
So from a content perspective for the podcast, it's very two pronged then.
So in some episodes, you're featuring alumni who have gone through the program and how they've benefited from it and where they've gone on to.
And then you have other episodes where it's more practical, you're digging into a topic.
Um, was that your strategy in the beginning?
'Cause that's great.
I like having that, that, that combo of, of content type for episodes.
Was that part of your initial strategy?
Joy Poliquin: It was, it was sort of two areas where we were trying to innovate, I guess, or come up with new ways to share that kind of information.
So pre COVID, we used to have a lot of in person sort of panel sessions where we would invite alumni back and they could talk about working in specific industries.
So like working in like, green technology, or working in the biomedical field and we would bring back alumni specifically to speak to that.
But you know, that was an hour and a half session.
Maybe we would, we would see it like a limited number of people could attend.
And then, um, if you didn't have the time to go, you wouldn't be able to sort of learn from those alums.
So that was one area we were trying to see how can we develop content that's more evergreen that folks can access wherever they are when they're looking at, um, you know, what can I do with my degree and, and hoping to hear from other grads.
Um, and then the other one was those sort of more career development focused questions where, again, we'd be offering in person workshops or maybe virtual workshops.
But students these days are super overwhelmed with everything that's going on in their lives.
Super, super busy, you know, often working outside of school as well and, um, maybe can't come to a workshop.
So how can we offer that content in a way that they can digest it at their own pace?
At home maybe, or on a commute, and we can reach more people and support them in a different way.
So that's sort of the, that's where the, the two-pronged approach kind of came from is, these are two areas that we're seeing that there's interest, but maybe we can't deliver it as, as well as we'd like.
So how can we, how can we sort of pivot to be able to deliver it in a way that's more accessible.
Jennifer-Lee: And the fact that you've opened up a wider pool of alums.
Because we're all around the world, so we might not be able to come back to UVic.
So now you're able to talk to many different people in many different sectors.
Joy Poliquin: Absolutely.
That's definitely something that we were finding when we were bringing people back to campus.
It's only people who are working locally, maybe in Vancouver if they want to make the journey, but this way we can reach people from, yeah, who are working and UVic grads are working all over the world.
So definitely broadens that perspective and that, um, the different types of experiences.
Neil McPhedran: Are you still doing the events then too, or have you kind of pivoted away from doing some of those events?
Are you doing, are you doing less or?
Joy Poliquin: Yeah.
We are doing less of those sort of panel type events.
We had some changes to our personnel or our team, so we don't have a dedicated events person anymore.
But this allows us to still offer the same content, but without all of the sort of the work that goes into planning an in person event.
There's a lot of logistical pieces.
Neil McPhedran: So, Joy, I imagine, uh, events are a heavy lift.
There's a lot of, um, personal, you know, like, team effort that goes into it.
Probably cost, and then you're trying to get people to campus, and then, then what do you do with the content?
What do you do, videotape it?
Like, where does it, where does it live?
Versus a podcast.
Not that a podcast is easy, we all know that.
But feels like there's an advantage to replacing some of that content and some of that effort with podcasts that are more evergreen.
Joy Poliquin: A hundred percent.
I think especially if you have a small team, the amount of work that goes into running an event.
There's the booking of the space, there's the coordination of all those panelists, there's the last minute switch outs when someone can't come, and then there's the promotional side of trying to get other people to actually come physically to the space.
And we do a really like, the amount of promotion we do is quite extensive, but then there's no guarantee that you're going to have, you know, even if a hundred people register.
You might see twenty people at the event.
Like there's a huge attrition rates.
And then once that event happens, that's it.
So we've tried to record in the past, but it's very static.
You know, imagine a shot of just like six people sitting at the table, not in a very well lit room.
It's not exactly dynamic and people don't really tend to, to go back and watch that.
So what a podcast allows you to do is, you can capture a deeper dive into someone's personal journey where it's not just a panelist sort of interview.
Not that there's anything wrong with panelists interview, they can be really interesting.
But you get deeper into someone's personal journey.
You you get that more personable conversation which is much more engaging.
And then we do an initial promotion when, when those episodes initially launch, which gets usually really good uptake.
But then we can also push the podcast at different times throughout the year to align with different campaigns.
So maybe it's a student recruitment campaign, or maybe it's a now's the time to apply to co op and here's someone who did co op.
You can also take sound bites from those interviews and use them in different ways.
So there's, there's a much more diverse strategy that you can apply.
And then you can see the engagement in those episodes and track that really easily.
It's a little bit harder to track in person events as well.
Maybe you get them just fill out a survey, but it's not the same as seeing like how many people actually listened and then, um, being able to track maybe that, that led to, you know, someone coming in to talk with a career educator or, um, someone signing up for the co op program, for example.
So, yeah, that's been a really neat way.
And the only sort of tool that we've had like that short of videos where you can promote them in different ways.
But, yeah, it's been a really fun process to kind of learn how to, how to use them.
Jennifer-Lee: You are using your podcast to its fullest, which I think it's great.
Because a lot of the times people use podcasts as a side piece when it should be implemented to your full strategy.
Because like you said, you can use it for different parts.
Just because it's a podcast doesn't mean you can't use it.
And it's like you can use it in your e newsletter.
You can use it and everything, and it's like keeping everyone connected.
Let's talk about the host for a second because I'm actually shocked, since you have a Bachelor of Fine Arts, that you're not the host, you actually have two other hosts, Katie and Emma and they're former grads as well and co op grads.
Can you tell us a little bit about them and how did they end up getting the job?
Did you hold like a cutthroat competition?
Joy Poliquin: That's a great question.
Neil McPhedran: No one is cutthroat in Victoria.
Come on.
Jennifer-Lee: It's too nice there.
We're all so relaxed.
Joy Poliquin: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, Katie and Emma actually both worked as co op students to support like our team at different points.
So that's sort of how we, we got to know both of them.
They're both recent grads.
Um, Katie's a humanities grad, uh, so was Emma actually.
And they were both really keen podcast listeners.
So as we were developing this idea, they really knew the vernacular, knew sort of the, the process.
They'd never actually hosted a podcast before, but they had a really good sense of, like, what they sound like.
So, much more than I did.
So I really, like, wanted to rely on folks who brought that experience.
And Emma also comes from a background, um, she's also a musician, so she had experience with, sort of recording software and editing and all that piece.
And then Katie is just like a very proficient podcast listener, um, and brings a really amazing element to, to our hosting.
Um, that's sort of how that, that came about, is we, in our team especially, I work with a lot of former co op students, we always sort of keep in touch.
So, um, we were able to bring both of them back.
Neil McPhedran: That's great.
It just feels like such a great idea to tap into your existing alumni of co op students going through and, and who are eager to as well.
Now, when we chatted, you also mentioned that you initially, when you were planning and sort of working through the logistics of getting up, getting the podcast up and going, you also tapped into another one of your alumni who actually does podcasting as their day job.
Did I remember that correctly?
Joy Poliquin: That's right.
So another one of our former co op students who'd worked in our office support communications and events.
This was pre COVID and had been really keen at that point was suggesting, like maybe we could do a podcast.
But we just were not in the right space then.
We were, it seemed very like much more challenging and it seemed like we had no, um, previous experience, and that was a four month work term, which just didn't really seem like we could lift it off the ground.
But since that person graduated, they actually went on to launch their own podcast where they were interviewing women in business.
And have now created their own consulting business that supports people to create podcasts, and they'll also host if need be.
And so we turned to them to ask about, you know, what technology do we need?
And like, what things should we be considering?
And how do you actually, uh, distribute this and promote this?
And so that was another great sort of UVic connection.
Going through this for the first time, we didn't have that expertise at all.
And so, um, being able to pull from folks who had previously worked with us was really, really awesome and great to reconnect with those students as well.
Jennifer-Lee: And I thought I was the only grad that did that.
It goes to show what comes out of UVic and that there's different careers coming all the time.
And now you have two UVic podcast consultants.
Joy Poliquin: Totally.
Yeah, exactly.
And there, and, and Katie and Emma now have really sunk into those roles and we're doing season two right now.
And it's been really neat to see that evolution of them as hosts as well.
We also really loved the idea of having like newer grads be the hosts of a graduate podcast rather than, I mean, I graduated in the early 2000s.
So, uh, it's, I don't have that same connection to people who are maybe experiencing that student life, you know, now as opposed to decades ago.
So.
Neil McPhedran: That's great.
I think that's a super smart, you know, tactic that you, employed there of, of figuring out who your hosts were and, and how you've brought them in and you've brought in previous alumni and, and whatnot into it.
It feels like you're, you're, walking the walk for your, for your program.
That's excellent.
Joy Poliquin: Definitely trying to.
Yeah.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah.
Just wanna circle back on how you're using the content.
Is it safe to say that the podcast has turned into a key channel for you and your overarching communication strategy?
That sounds like to me, it's, it's turned into a really important sort of part of the mix.
Joy Poliquin: Yeah, I think it's probably our certainly the longest project each year, where we're like dedicating a lot of time and energy into it.
It still is quite young, so we're still sort of in our second year, so we're figuring out all the different ways to use it and trying different things.
But that is definitely the intent is that it, it has that variable applicability so that we can use it in different ways and we can, it sort of becomes a bit of our flagship.
Because it is a different, I mean for years we've told stories on social, we've told stories sort of in long form written content, but we haven't had, we've done videos as well, but this is a way that again, that that deeper dive is just so interesting rather than like a two minute video where you're kind of getting the like really high level.
We're actually sort of learning about the people themselves and what inspires them and who do they work with?
What was that mentorship look like?
Like, it's, um, yeah, it's just a much more interesting way of storytelling, I think.
Jennifer-Lee: Yeah, I agree.
I think you can learn a lot from podcasting.
And like you said, it can be inserted into many things.
And I always kind of say like podcasts are kind of the new press releases because being on the media side, people are able to cut the different pieces that they need.
And it's a whole package opposed to just sending just a regular press release that can be monotonous and maybe not as flashy and, and it gives you a better story of who those people are and what are they going to sound like if I bring them on to radio or?
Joy Poliquin: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
And we often, you know, anytime we're doing any sort of communication with an alum or a current student, we're kind of trying to assess their like, how comfortable they are for maybe if there is sort of follow up interest and stuff like that.
But the podcast really lends that like, we, we do a little pre interview similarly to what we did for for this, just to get a sense and what they'll be like on the podcast.
And yeah, and then we tend to use that content in different ways.
And also, I think you form a stronger relationship with those folks than if you are doing like a short little, you know, here's a questionnaire to fill out, like you're actually having a conversation and that lends to stronger relationships for future collaborations as well.
Jennifer-Lee: Podcasting is great for building relationships, and that's an important thing that you want to do.
You don't want to just have students.
Get rid of them.
They go get jobs.
You want to be tied to the university because the university is not successful unless the students are successful.
Joy Poliquin: Exactly.
That's the whole thing is that we're trying to show how you can grow if you come to UVic, how you can, what, what you'll learn, what connections you might make.
And it's a really neat way to, to get into that through someone's own voice as well, right?
It's not a written story where you're sort of listening to them and then maybe adding some quotes.
Again, lots of places where that works really well, but I really love that you can really hear from their own perspective.
Neil McPhedran: You mentioned you're, uh, you're deep into season two, I'm interested, uh, um, what are some of the themes on deck?
Then sort of what, what are any, anything that sort of came out of doing season one that you're learnings wise, you're applying it to season two?
Or like sort of now that you're sort of in the, you know, like you're in the thick of it right now, anything you could share with us?
Joy Poliquin: Uh, yeah, for sure.
I think, um, something on the, like the career development side of things where we're interviewing our career educators.
It's been interesting to see the interest in those topics because something that, you know, we offer a lot of like, you know, here's how to write a strong resume or here's how to prepare for an interview, which students are always really interested in.
But when you go into those topics about sort of areas of vulnerability, I think that's a really interesting area that people are really like glomming on to.
So I think it reveals that there's a need for that kind of support today.
So we've, we've gone into a couple new areas there when we've been interviewing career educators in season two.
And, and also kind of diving into, um, what you can do with different kinds of degrees.
Um, and like the, and reminding people not to freak out if they're approaching graduation and they're not sure what they want to do.
Like there's still time to kind of figure that out and that we're able to support them.
Um, so yeah, being able to touch on those sort of maybe pain points that a lot of people go through.
We've focused a little bit more on that.
And then continuing to speak with really, really cool grads.
I'm really excited about our lineup for season two.
Some really neat entrepreneurs, especially who have taken degrees in really unexpected directions.
Um, yeah.
So I don't wanna, I don't know if I'm allowed to spoil I guess I'm the producer.
I could if I wanted to, but, uh.
Neil McPhedran: No, I think that's great.
Jennifer-Lee: Teasing us.
I love it.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah.
I, I think it's great.
I think those are some really good things for, uh, like our audience as we know is other podcast, higher education podcasters.
So really, I think there's some, it's more about some of the, some of the, the bigger themes that you're, that, that you have an opportunity to, to lean into.
And I think it really speaks to what you've mentioned a couple of times is that, how the podcasting medium affords you the ability to do some of that deeper storytelling and, um, dig into, dig into some, maybe you mentioned vulnerability, dig into some of that more so than you can in a panel or on video or in a blog post.
Joy Poliquin: Definitely.
Yeah.
Jennifer-Lee: Or even learn more about what a co op program is and how it can help you because I know when I went to UVic, dating myself, it was pamphlets.
And couldn't really get an idea of what it is because a lot of people don't know exactly what a co op program is.
Joy Poliquin: Yeah, totally.
And most of our alum that we've interviewed have been co ops grads.
So we asked them to kind of go back to that.
Like, what, what did you do for your co ops?
And like, did you meet, make any connections during that time that led or that you're still in contact with, or like that led to where you are now?
Or, and we hear a lot about that, about how they, they met someone that really inspired them to pursue a specific path.
But equally, we'll hear from someone who did maybe a co op where they're like, it was not the right fit for me.
And that made me maybe adjust what I was studying and kind of figure out, actually, uh, I think I want to go in a different direction.
Like my vision of what this uh, career would look like is, is not, not sort of what I was thinking.
So yeah, it's been neat to kind of hear the co-op experience from that perspective and all the things that it can teach you.
Jennifer-Lee: The pamphlets were great, but this is a better add-on.
You get more from it.
Joy Poliquin: You can actually hear, like hear the excitement in someone's voice and they're like, oh yeah, I did this thing and it was really amazing.
And I, you know, was super surprised by this.
And then I decided to, or I was really scared about trying this, but I did it and then I learned this amazing skill, and I was like yeah, now I'm, that's led me to where I am now.
So it's much more impactful than like, here's like a two line, little description about someone, where they worked and who they are, and that's it.
Neil McPhedran: I think the hearing the real stories would be super powerful.
I like your example of students that are kind of coming to the end of their time and they still don't really know what they want to be when they grow up, kind of a, kind of a thing.
And to hear real stories from grads that were, you know, a few years ahead of them and have gone on to do pivots or gone on to do entrepreneurial things, what a great opportunity that the podcast medium, uh, affords to be able to tell those stories that those students can listen to.
Jennifer-Lee: And Neil, you have kids that are looking into college and university.
You should give this podcast a little listen or get them to listen.
There you go.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah.
I mean, they don't know what they want to do, but they're not there, yeah, either.
So who knows?
Right.
I didn't know what I wanted to do.
I've got a poli sci degree.
I'm not applying any of that at all.
Jennifer-Lee: I feel like you are in this podcast.
Neil McPhedran: I don't know, a little bit, I guess, but, uh, I definitely did a giant pivot coming out of university, going into the world of my career was in most, up until I've been doing this podcasting thing, advertising and digital marketing.
So that wasn't what my degree was.
So.
Joy Poliquin: I think that's really common.
Like people don't necessarily, it's not as cut and dry these days where you study something and then you become an X, Y, or Z.
It's very, like, it can be super, um, unlinear.
And, uh, yeah, that's, that's something that a lot of people have talked about and, uh, yeah, when they've been interviewed as, yeah, going in weird directions, but kind of cool directions.
So.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah, like start with a fine arts degree and come out as a TikTok influencer.
Joy Poliquin: Yeah, yeah, totally.
Jennifer-Lee: Fine arts degree, own a podcast company.
But, uh, every degree, I always talk about this.
Every degree is useful.
It just depends on how you figure out how to use it.
And that's why I'm so thankful for your podcast because you guys really touch upon that.
And there's many opportunities and it's hopeful because no one ever talks about what do you do after university.
And I feel like this is great that you guys are doing that because I don't want students to feel like they have to give up.
There are useful things in their degree.
It's how they can shift it so thank you so much for coming on our podcast today to show us this other side to university podcasting.
Because like I said you're unique we haven't had anyone on talking about co ops and things like that, or what to do once you leave university, which we're all scared of.
Joy Poliquin: Yeah.
It's a scary thing, but yeah, hopefully it makes it a little bit easier.
Yeah.
My pleasure.
It's been so fun to talk to you.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah.
Thank you so much, Joy.
That was excellent.
Great conversation.
Jennifer-Lee: Thank you so much.
Joy Poliquin: Thank you.
Neil McPhedran: As we promised a couple of episodes ago when we introduced Podcasting 2.0, we're going to take you along for our journey.
So this is segment two of our Podcasting 2.0 deep dive as we infuse all of this great functionality into Continuing Studies and take you along for the ride.
So today we're going to talk about chapters specifically.
And there's a link to podcasting2.org where it goes deep on chapters.
And explains a little bit more in a geeky manner, as well as all the apps and, that you can use hosts, you can use to upload it and the apps you can listen on.
So chapters, imagine you're listening to a podcast and there's a ton of great stuff in there, but sometimes you just want to jump right to what's awesome.
Or you want to skip the intro that you've heard a million times.
Well, that's where chapters come in, the chapters tag.
So this chapters tag in Podcasting 2.0 is like a table of contents for your podcast episode.
It breaks down the episode into different sections or chapters, each with its own title.
So instead of fast forwarding and rewinding, trying to find that one part, you can click on the chapter you want to go and it takes you straight there.
So for listeners, that means, this means a lot more control that they have over the experience of your podcast and your episodes.
There's a bunch of more benefits for both the podcaster and the listener.
First and probably foremost, it's, as I mentioned, it's this enhanced listener experience.
So listeners can easily navigate to specific sections of the podcast.
Makes it easy for them to find and more importantly, revisit their favorite parts to improve accessibility.
So chapters provide a clear outline of the podcast content.
This helps listeners with hearing impairments and those who prefer reading to understand the episode structure.
Super important for many higher ed podcasts that have their, uh, universities have a mandate for accessibility.
So chapters is key with that.
Enhanced searchability.
Another key feature.
So chapters can be indexed by search engines, makes it easier for new listeners to discover specific topics within an episode.
So it's like a great way for search engines to break down your episode content into specific topics and for other ways for you to be found.
But wait, there's more.
Chapters isn't just timestamps and audio, there's a visual component as well.
So you can include visual content such as images, reference images, uh, links, uh, for this richer multimedia experience and enhancing the overall content.
You could actually have a section where you're with your guest, you're talking about a certain graph.
Well, you can put that right into that chapter.
And so your listener can, at that moment in time when you're talking about it, can look at their phone and see that graph you're talking about.
Super cool.
So I think chapters is ripe for opportunity for higher education.
You know, honestly, in academia, we're accustomed to tables of contents and chapters, uh, and sectioning out our content in this way.
Uh, furthermore, reference imagery, graphs, et cetera.
It's, it's really, I think a perfect, um, fit for higher education.
Okay, Spotify.
Let's just talk about Spotify for a second.
Usual as usual, Spotify goes on their own and does their own thing.
So they do have chapters.
You might have seen that in your, in your Spotify app and you kind of wondered, well, how do, how does some podcasts do that?
I'll include a link in the show notes to some specifics from Spotify, but essentially Spotify, the player, is looking for, in your show description, so in your show notes, in your description, when you're dropping that into your hosting software, in the description, you put the chapters in there, and what they're looking for is bracket zero zero colon zero zero bracket.
Look at the link that I've included in there to see exactly what I'm getting at, because there's other options for it.
But once the Spotify bot or whatever it is recognizes that, then it'll serve up those chapters and those will be clickable as well too.
So, have a look at that.
It makes sense to use for Spotify as well.
Unfortunately, they're not using the chapters tag, but at least you can retrofit for Spotify.
So as a reminder, we use transistor.fm for our host.
Transistor is one of the fantastic hosts that, uh, support a myriad of these tags.
There's a link, um, in our, in our show notes.
And also in there is a link to, uh, a bunch of the apps, uh, a link to a list of a bunch of the apps that, um, support the functionality.
So you can check it out in, in, you know, in, in real life on Pocketcast, Podcast Addict, True Fans, Podcast Republic to name a few.
Okay.
So that's chapters.
Fire me a note if you've got any questions, love to chat about it more.
Otherwise our next episode, we're going to be talking about analytics, specifically the OP3 tag.
Okay, Jen, that was great.
That was a fantastic conversation we just had with Joy.
I got to tell you, I learned a lot.
I really like how they're using their podcast to reach a wider audience, not just for those prospective students thinking about getting into the co op program, but they're creating more engaging, deeper connections with their alumni, you know, or, or they're chatting to the parents as well, too.
So it's great how they're using this podcast and the podcast content to reach a wider audience.
Jennifer-Lee: I also like the fact that after COVID, they're using it kind of as a replacement for some of their larger panels that were good, but like she said in the podcast, it was just a fact that, it wasn't necessarily evergreen content and easy for everybody to access after the fact, or even when they're putting them on.
So it's a way to get the podcast to more people, more students.
And not only that, feature a lot of alumni that now work and live around the world.
Neil McPhedran: I think there's a lot of applicable learning here for us, higher education podcasters.
About how they're also utilizing the content in so many different ways and how they're taking this podcast content and, and applying it in a lot of different other places.
Jennifer-Lee: Yeah.
I am proud to be a UVic grad.
They're doing it right with their podcasts.
They're working it.
Neil McPhedran: Love it.
Good job.
Okay.
Well, on that note, let's call this another episode.
Thank you for tuning into the Continuing Studies Podcast, a podcast for higher education podcasters.
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