Tech Talk Radio

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Tech Talk Radio is a 2-hour technology talk show produced in Melbourne, Australia. It is hosted by Andrew McColm, with regular appearances by panelists Dr Ron, Graeme Callaghan and Mark Diggins.

The Tech Talk Radio team discusses topical issues from mobile phones, computers and IT developments to whacky gadgets and off-beat technology humour.

The show is produced weekly at the Whitehorse/Boroondara Community Radio Station, 3WBC, in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. Tech Talk Radio goes "live-to-air" on Monday nights at 8pm local time. The show is then distributed to other radio stations around Australia and a podcast is also made available.

1 The Panel
2 Show History
3 Regular Guests
4 Audience Participation
5 Ways to Listen to Tech Talk Radio
6 External Links

[edit] The Panel

The regular host of Tech Talk Radio is Andrew McColm. Andrew is also the Executive Producer and has been involved in television and radio broadcasting for all his professional life. Andrew also has regular appearances on ABC Local Radio in Adelaide, talking technology with Carol Whitelock[1].

The enigmatic Dr Ron is a long-time friend and colleague of Andrew's. Dr Ron has worked in the IT and telecommunications industries for many years, and is presently employed by the Victorian Government.

Graeme Callaghan joined The Panel in 2006 with Mark Diggins, and both make regular appearances on the programme. Graeme is a bona-fide "PC expert" and specialises in networking and Linux systems. Mark works for Telstra as a network engineer, and is currently involved in the rollout of the new high-speed "Next G" network[2].

Tech Talk Radio has two overseas contributors, who are friends and colleagues of The Panel. Lidija Davis is an Australian who moved to Silicon Valley in December 2005, and has worked in the media industry for 19 years. Matthew Robinson is an Australian who moved to Denmark in 2000, and works in the finance sector conducting software and licensing audits for the Danish government.

[edit] Show History

The first episode went to air on 29th November 2004. Since then, a number of guests and panelists have come and gone, but Andrew has remained the programme's host since day one.

The first podcast was made available on 27th June 2005.

On 23rd October 2006, the 100th episode was produced.

A new show has been produced live and released every week since November 2004, except for a Summer Series for the Christmas period in 2005; and another for the Christmas period in 2006. These Summer Series programmes showcased highlights of the previous 12 months, while Andrew and The Panel took Christmas holidays and time away from production.

[edit] Regular Guests

Tech Talk Radio has all-manner of guests from week to week, usually experts who enlighten and entertain in their field of expertise.

Business associates, personal friends of The Panel and Industry Experts have all featured as guests. In recent times, Bruce Matthews from the Australian Communications and Media Authority[3] spoke about the Australian Government's anti-spam initiative[4]; Peter Watson, chief of security for Microsoft Australia[5], spoke about issues with on-line security and software development; and Thomas Robinson from WebCentral[6] spoke about professional internet hosting and website development.

The most popular guest on Tech Talk Radio is regarded as Mark Mayer, retired QANTAS pilot who talks with The Panel about technology in aviation. Mark is invited in to Tech Talk Radio once every few months and always attracts a large audience and high number of feedback questions.

[edit] Audience Participation

Listeners are encouraged to telephone or email The Panel, and can also contribute to the programme by accessing the Tech Talk Radio Web Forum. Listeners' dilemmas and feedback are often read out at the start of each show, providing positive feedback and technical assistance as well as entertaining discussion of issues reported by listeners.

Current on-air and feedback addresses are available on the Tech Talk Radio website.

Two telephone numbers are available to Tech Talk Radio listeners: 1300 664 882 can be called from any Australian landline for the cost of a local call; while +61 (0) 3 9012 5362 can be called from anywhere. Both numbers are routed to a Tech Talk radio voicemail box, and recorded messages are sometimes played on-air and discussed by The Panel.

There is also a map on the popular Frappr site which allows listeners to "pin" their location for everyone to see.

[edit] Ways to Listen to Tech Talk Radio

• Live-to-air, Monday nights at 8 P.M. (UTC+10) on 3WBC, 94.1 MHz in Melbourne, Australia; also heard on 3XX 1611 AM Melbourne at 9PM Sunday Nights, and 4KZ Northern Queensland Sunday Afternoons at 3pm.

• Streaming, via Windows[7] or ShoutCast[8] at 8 P.M. (UTC+11)

• Podcast[9]

• Direct Download[10] from the Tech Talk Radio website

Other radio stations which carry the syndication version are listed on the official Tech Talk Radio website.