Richard Vobes

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Richard Vobes
Richard Vobes

Richard Vobes, also known as Vobes, is an entertainer, actor, film maker and professional podcaster who has produced over 1000 shows since January 2005. He does two podcasts, one simply called VOBES (previously the Richard Vobes Radio Show) which is typically about 30 to 40 minutes in length and is broadcast from the 'beach hut' near his house in Worthing, West Sussex, England, while the other is a behind-the-scenes personal audio journal entitled The Naked Englishman. His VOBES show ranges from commentary on recent news events to Friday night beer reviews, as well as a wide variety of audio tours from all over the UK. The show is periodically co-presented either by listeners via Google Talk or Skype or by his teen daughter Georgie or close friend Jimmy, or Paul Stoneman and with occasional appearances by his 12 and 16-year-old sons, Billy and Stanley.

[edit] Biography

Born in Liss in Hampshire, 1963, Richard is separated, a single parent bringing up three children.

Prior to finding his love of Podcasting, Richard had some success pitching TV ideas to UK television companies. As a result of this, Richard starred in, co-authored and co-produced two series of the children's TV show 'Snug and Cozi'

Vobes regards himself as being something of a pioneer in the field of podcasting, originally 'broadcasting' a 30 minute show 7 days a week. He takes the view that a daily format is needed in the 'podasphere', just as radio produces similar regular formats. Unfortunately various attempts to make this venture self-financing as yet have proved unsuccessful and the Vobes has now reduced his output to fit in around other commitments that allow him to meet life's responsibilities. Nonetheless, Richard has developed a loyal audience, demonstrated by their willingness to assist his forthcoming trip to America (May 2007) where he will meet with existing listeners and podcast his views and experiences of a foreign country.

Gregory Giordano from flameape.com said of the show in March 2005: "It's a real treat. It's like the old radio shows I've heard about from the golden age of radio - a bit of chat, anecdotal humour, family (Vobes' smart, irreverent kids are an ever-present part of the show) and shtick - wrapped in a devil-may-care/seat of the pants style that is disarmingly charming. He also includes whatever pop 80's and mod-era 60's music strikes his fancy to include. By the way, his reviews of the current state of movie remakes, and book/TV to movie adaptations (War of the Worlds, Thunderbirds, etc.) are spot-on & brilliant."

In their July 2005 online profiles of "Digital Citizens", the BBC interviewed Richard Vobes as the requisite podcaster. The interview was not only broadcast online, but Vobes and daughter Georgie were interviewed on BBC Radio Five Live and episode 180 of Vobes' show was made available on the BBC website.

In August 2005 the Richard Vobes Radio Show was voted the 2005 People's Choice Podcast Awards Winner for its soundseeing tourssoundseeing tours.

In September 2005 Richard Vobes began an experiment in Vobecasting, using a new streaming service provided by Camstreams. This involved him webcasting the production of his daily show to a chat room of viewers who could then interact with him as he produced the show. Using this technique he was able to develop a phone in debate ("the Thursday debate"), combining the webcasting with live calls from his viewers, pushing the boundaries of podcasting even further and enabling him to podcast in real time. This has sadly died, alongside the chatroom and forum which was very popular, until negative feedback led to Richard shutting them both down. Plans to return to these additional methods of communication are very much in Richard's mind once he can determine a way to find a realistic and stable way to develop an income stream.

The show format has been developed recently and his daughter Georgie and her siblings very rarely feature on the show these days.

In May 2006 Richard and his Friday night co-host Jimmy Hastell went to the USA on a trip paid for completely by the kind donations from the avid listeners. They travelled to Chicago, IL, and to San Antonio, TX, over a two week period podcasting every day, uploading photos and audio clips for the listeners to follow their travels. The trip was designed to meet and stay over with as many of the listeners in America as possible, the like of which had not been done before in Podcasting or Radio broadcasting. Being completely at the mercy and hospitality of their dedicated fans and listeners, Richard and Jimmy recorded some quite unique podcasts, including audio tours of many breweries, including Goose Island and Miller, as well as The National Railroad Museum, Fermy Lab, Chicago Gangland, the Alamo and the Colando Theatre.

Another trip to the USA is scheduled for May 2007. This time Richard is taking with him long time listener and contributor Paul Stoneman from Bognor Regis, England and together they aim to explore the East Coast of the States including the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virgina.

[edit] Involvement in Podcast User Magazine

Richard is also an active contributor to Podcast User Magazine, a free monthly online newsletter covering many different aspects of podcasting with articles for podcasters, listeners, musicians and even business people. He has an article in all but one issue, covering many aspects of podcasting.

[edit] External links

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