The Purple COG Monster (PCM) Podcast

I wasn't sure if I was going to do this one until next week, but it is flying around in my head. And it seems to be the thing that my brain wants to talk about. It's been a couple of weeks since I've been able to be on the park bench to record a podcast and I'm not quite in a position where I can do un-benched podcasts spontaneously. Its a little bit of everything this week. Update, Whats Next and some meta-philosophical reflection.

Today's episode is Legacy and legacy was the first word of the year that I really meditated on. And it came about in 2015 when audiences Europe was not progressing in the way that I really wanted it to. And I needed to find a trajectory to change the way I addressed the following year. The whole point of these podcasts is being able to set my own parameters, setting goals and ideals and challenges, to provide metrics in which I can recognise success without having to have an external world intervention for that notion of personal achievement. Especially when it's not monetary.

My horizon is the screen of trees that I can see between me and my horizon. And I think everybody's horizon is so very different, and the things that can obscure your horizon. You don't have any control over the space. You have control over is what is between you and the horizon. So in this case, I've just got to get over the field! I need to start talking to key investors. And then I also need to start talking to the venue's for projects that may take place I need to find some rehearsal spaces I need to find a space that I can get my projector and laptop and do some map projection tests. So now the question is, what's on the horizon? Where is the horizon? And what date is that horizon? Now, I'm not going to speculate and commit anything to podcast right now because there's a few things I really want to do. 

Greetings, Social Media and Metaverse Wombles! This is episode 27 of the West Park Park Bench Podcast and yes, I am back sitting on the bench. 

"...balance has to be ongoing, and there's also an equilibrium but there's also keeping something in balance. So the balance has weighed, if that makes sense if you're in equilibrium and it's exactly the same either side, you can just touch one side and you can lose equilibrium very fast. And I think finding the stability and that weight of your balance, which means you have to put more on the other side to achieve equilibrium."

This episode is an ongoing conversation with myself about my word for the year BALANCE.

Welcome to Episode 26. Yes, this time it is Chat GPT. I wasn't even sure if this was going to be today's podcast because quite a lot happened. But quite a lot has happened that has been indirectly connected to the collaborative work, and I do use the word collaborative, with chat GPT. You'd hear about how I used it to generate text for a fundraising pitch, how I researched regional high net-worth routes of enquiry to fund my stage show and my surprise when composing a motion for the 2023 annual conference of EquityUK.

Welcome to Episode 25. I am back on the park bench. I spend the whole of the swim, contemplating, what this episode would be, and there's a lot of talk at the moment about ChatGTP and artificial intelligence. And I really wanted to talk about that, however, terribly sorry if you were thinking, Oh, the title hasn't given that bit away. That will be next week or I might make another one but on my way out of the pool, I received a phone call from the East Midlands regional organiser in base of equity. 

Equity is going through a period of change right now. And one of that structures that is changing is the branch structure. Buckle UP!

Welcome to Episode 24 of the West Park Park Bench Podcast. Today is unbenched. But I am in West Park. It's 2023, The world has resumed. It's very wet and rainy. But I'm sat in my car, I've been for a swim. 

Lets get the year started!

Welcome to Episode 23 of the West Park park bench podcast. I am actually back in the park it's been two weeks. I had a week, all coordinated down in London getting everything done, so that I can come back and continue a few weeks before Christmas and then head into the new year. This episode titled Workflow. 

Welcome to Episode 22, However, this Park Bench Podcast is not coming from a park bench. It's taking us back to the Audio Blog strolls that I did many many years ago when I would walk from the top of St. Stephen's Church in Sneinton through to Lace Market House to give me a five minute window in which to record a podcast. That Audio Blog gave me a sense of time that I could do that in between. And I'm kind of reviving that I'm down in London for a week. 

This is episode 21 - The autumn crows. I've had a break for a couple of weeks because of Seasonal Affective Disorder. This time of year confuses me and considering I'm 50 this should not be a thing. I should, kind of understand the world in which I was born into I would have thought, but it isn't the case. Now, I think I'm starting to understand my confusion. 

If you are struggling right now, I just say take it easy on yourself and just sit back and... 

I wanted to share with you on this podcast, excitement and terror. They might seem like odd play fellows. I've reached a point in my producing, coming out of COVID completing my developing creative practice year. And now I've I've got to do something part of it is reporting on what happened last year. And that's the reflection. Being able to reflect!

This is episode 20 of the West Park Park Bench Podcast. Greetings, Social Media and Metaverse Wombles. Today I hadn't decided as I started recording whether this episode would be Change or Death. Contemplating the two throughout the 29 mins and my situation right now Death or Change as the title won out. Do you all hear the same 'All Change' bell? Democracy in terms of death and change is particularly poignant. 

There's only two things certain in life, death and taxes. I will save Taxes as a title for a future episode! You lucky listeners!

Welcome Social Media and Metaverse Wombles. This is episode 19. 

Growing up I was told, as we all are, to live your dreams. What do you want to do? What do you want to be and coming from a working class background from a market town? Were actually on the edge of the council estate so you were, I was always made aware that I, was lucky not to live on the council estate. My parents had moved out of there and into their own home. But I was also aware that I needed to better myself. So in some ways and this is something that going through this in my head as made me realised and I would be interested to have this conversation and perhaps with equities class network because there is a class network with equity and I will put the link to that in this podcast. 

It a bit of a ramble this week. Thought taking shape in to spoken words so I can formulate the words to write down as text.

The topic of today. Summit. I'm going to tell you a little bit about the upcoming Equity Online Branch Summit, what it is, why we're holding it, and why it's part of this podcast. It's the top of the mountain it is there is nowhere else to go after the summit. If you're really courageous and you do multiple runs, you can do the three peaks challenge you know get into the summit have all three within a certain amount of time. So the summit is that point where there is no higher to go there is only down the other side.

Welcome to episode 17... Again, the topic the title today is All or Nothing... the focus is 'compromise' and the interesting balance between the two. All or Nothing? It's sometimes necessary to have everything right. And if you don't have everything right, then the entire thing falls or the entire thing fails. Sometimes that ALL that extra bit is the thing that makes the rest of it possible or probable or its purpose for existing. 

This podcast series is a reflection of my personal philosophies and by sharing this internal dialogue it opens conversations with you, my audience should we cross paths.

In one of the earlier episodes, I did talk about the polarity of digital and in this modern age of digital, we have zeros and ones on and off left and right, positive and negative out or in a poor down yes or no. And if you're going to make those polarised decisions there has to be... Compromise.

Welcome to Episode 16 of the West Park Park Bench Podcast. 

Following on from last week, which was 'All or Nothing, connectivity' this week is 'All or Nothing, Audio'. 

No matter how good your visuals are, if you are doing an event that has poor audio, it can spoil the entire thing. Now, when you're in a physical space, that's amplification, you might have a balance of your microphone on stage that's just lifting the audio of the room and public address PA systems. Going into COVID and pre COVID When I was doing live streams, the audio that you would pick up to amplify into the room actually doesn't get amplified into the room.

We managed to get audio from the audience, amplified a little bit in the room through the speakers. And we also got the audio from the room into a zoom call, which was then running on another machine which was connecting into alt space, the VR platform, which was then taking audio into there. We didn't actually have audio from alt space. So that's going to be the next challenge. Can we complete the loop?

Welcome to Episode 15 of the West Park Park Bench Podcast. And it's getting decidedly autumnal when I started this series 15 episodes ago, the fact that the seasonal changes would bring a season to a close or a series to a close hadn't dawned on me.

Episode 15 All or Nothing there's gonna be a few of these all on the things. This all or nothing is internet connectivity. This week I have started to shift into doing some live streaming from the venue. 

... there's a definition of vocabulary going on around the experience industry, the event industry, theatrical experiences, immersive experiences, and there's this word that comes up quite a lot and that's 'in-person'. And then we come on to the next vocabulary word that I think we need to talk about and that's hybrid.

I hope you enjoy this weeks episode.

Come on BeReal. Come on, be real! Welcome to Episode 14 of the West Park Park Bench Podcast. 

Now that I'm talking to the correct end of my phone! the one with the mic spoffle, wind shield on it. I shall begin. 

BeReal was an app that I found at the end of last year. And it did feature in my 12 apps of Christmas for 2021. I'm really pleased that the notion of being real authentically knowing who you are, protecting your mental health, looking after your social and mental and physical well being are conversations that are being had and do get had. That's gonna look interesting on the transcript!

This week I talk about the reality of event fatigue and zoom fatigue its very intimate sibling. I mini rant about platform no long with us and get a mix mixed up!

Those who know will know! Grrrr. Thats the joy of live spontaneous monologues. 

Welcome to Episode 13 of the West Park park bench podcast. Last week's episode was titled Everything's Changed or everything changes within a week the psyche of the British public has shifted in a way that is curious, fascinating. And in equal parts unknown and scary.

Queen Elizabeth the Second the Queen of England passed away last Friday. And that short nursery rhyme at the opening of this podcast was the line that immediately came to my mind going to visit the Queen and I wasn't sure whether it was a nursery rhyme or a children's story.

Pussycat Pussycat, Where have you been? I've been to London to visit the Queen. Pussycat Pussycat, What did you there? I frightened a little mouse under the chair. 

Everything's change. Railway set sessions change timetables change at this time of year. The bus times change the clocks go back. We've got a new prime minister we were in when a moment when nothing, nothing is stable. And those routines that people have in their life are part of the routine that keeps them stable. And today my dismay and my disappointment and my fears for the world. I feel like I'm living in a melodrama script.

Welcome to Episode 12 of the West Park Park Bench Podcast. I'm contemplating change. One function of these podcasts is to be my audio blog. As a dyslexic, I find it very hard to turn the thoughts in my head into words that go onto paper. The more frustrated or the more impassioned that I get about what I want to say the harder it is for me to actually put it down on a piece of paper in a timely fashion. So if you've listened to my other episodes, I'm wanting to get that rhythm of making media and creating something that has a workflow. The result being that I can share my thoughts with other people and that if people want to make podcasts I'm in a flow so that I can bring people into my flow and help them voice their concerns or promote their work or share their thoughts. 

And then there comes the point where things are happening in my world, that I really want to shout about. But I don't want to be a ranter. And I don't want to put myself in a position where I will get trolled. There are things that put me into despair. 

Beyond the Fringe

So the Edinburgh Fringe is over for another year. We've got another... 11 months. I had think about it then! until the Edinburgh Fringe comes back round again. And things do come round cyclically in any industry in any business and the Edinburgh Fringe is no different. There are lots of marker points that you can pick to give you targets in your year that aren't necessarily your deliverables. You can choose to put a deliverable in it but I really like having those markers in. Edinburgh this year has been one of those for me.

Sit down sit down. Make yourself comfortable. This is episode 10 of the West Park. Park Bench podcast. Just been for a swim. What about you?

But today's podcast, reflection it's easy to fall into that routine of just recounting what the previous week has been about. And yes, Edinburgh Fringe is very much in my mind at the moment. So this will be labelled an EdFringe podcast.

Greetings, social media and metaverse, Wombles - It's Park Bench Tuesdays.

People have been saying to me, so who's your audience? So if you're listening to this, (reading this!) you my friend, are my audience. I explain to people that you've got to make media and have a regular output to be able to target an audience. And to say that your audience is just anybody isn't helpful. You've got to make some media and if there's an ambient audience there, then cool but if you're doing stuff, which means that you're not tagging and you're not using keywords, which I rarely do, because the stuff that I'm doing is not necessarily specific to a topic, it's about me is about practice rather than presence. That is why I'm doing these in a regular slot.

I would really like to have guests. So, West Park Park Bench Podcast recorded in West Park on Tuesdays at around about 11.50am.

Want to join me? Comment or email - productionoffice@pcmprojects.co.uk

Welcome to Episode Eight of the West Park Park Bench podcast. Recorded from West Park in Long Eaton and today the park is absolutely buzzing. The waterpark is full of kids and families. The bandstand is surrounded, every piece of shade that has been created by trees has got a family picnic underneath it. It's amazing. And of course it's week one of the Edinburgh Fringe. 

This is Episode Seven. The next three or four maybe even five or six podcasts are going to be Edinburgh Fringe 2022 related. 

This episode I outline how the #EdFringe2022 podcast/livestreams will look like.

Its all focused around the PDF version of the festival's programme. I will share with you how I saw 19 shows in 4 days as well as attend to my expected duties while I was there with EquityUK. I will help show guests plan their itinerary. So little time and so much to see.

So here we are. Episode 6. It's June the 21st which is the longest day of the year. It is audience hybrid versus extended. Before COVID reared its ugly head and made physical event people pivot to digital in what a lot saw as a very scary unknown front. There were some people who had been doing hybrid extended mashup events for some time whether it was the speakers not being able to travel to the venue and being put on Skype calls on the big screen, or whether it was having an extended capacity to your audience to accommodate those who couldn't be there in person. 

So what's the difference between hybrid and extended? And this is something that I need to write about, but in my dyslexic capacity, I don't really have the words to go on paper at the moment for what that article will be. So this is that podcast...

Welcome to episode five of the West Park Park Bench Podcast. I do apologise for the roughly roughly at the beginning of this, but for those that don't know this is an extension of my podcast, Audio Blog, concept of Note to self note standing for No Opportunity To Edit.

That is me putting the 'spoffle' which is a black foam sock on the bottom of my mobile phone so that you don't get the wind noises throughout the podcasts.

Hustings are about audience. Hustings are an opportunity for a group of like minded audience members to come together. And for people who are seeking election to visit them and for the people in the audience to ask questions specifically of those candidates that directly affect them.

Today's episode is fit for purpose. I do like phrases which have multiple interpretations something I can think about something that I can live with it's not too taxing on my brain is not too clever. It's not too esoteric. It's just something to keep nudging my brain when I'm putting the kettle on or when I'm making dinner, or when I'm brushing my teeth.

SHOW NOTES

Whenever I find an opportunity to squeeze in a casual podcast, I just can't resist especially when it's in a routine. Welcome to episode three. The West Park Park Bench Podcast. Greetings, Social Media and Metaverse Wombles. I am back PCM creative Caron Lyon after my swim, sitting on park bench of most convenience, just having a bit of a reflection really since the last podcast and episode one, I'd intended to try and post them on a routine and do day after day, week after week, week after week with a weekly podcast or an episodic podcast, but...

This is episode 3 - Reflection

Greetings, Social Media and Metaverse Wombles. This is episode two of West Park Park bench Podcast. I'm Caron and I am intending to try and make a series that's longer than six. And that actually gets published. Hopefully you listened to episode one because at least that one is done. 

Come out of swimming today, I wasn't entirely sure if I would get to swim so if you heard last week's episode, you'll have heard my story of really intending to go swimming and seeing one ticket... so god dammit I was gonna go this week despite the prospect of now swim!  I'm no  influencer. I'm really I'm quite extraordinarily ordinary which probably is going to be the thread of this podcast.

This is episode 2 - ORDINARY

I record these using Otter which has the added benefit of generating a transcript. 

Pausing for thought - Caron reflects.

A new podcast / audio blog series recored on a park bench in Long Eaton's West Park.

Responses will be incorporated in future episodes.

Guests are welcome at the bench.

Episodes are recorded on Tuesday's between 11.45 and 12.15

If you'd like to join me for an episode do get in touch.