I recently conducted a test recording using Riverside.FM, and it exceeded my expectations. The platform asked dynamic, open-ended questions that really got me talking. Although it was just a demo, I had a blast creating it, and the end result provided a great description of my upcoming radio show, #GAMELAYER.
Riverside.fm Test Recording
Why Publish Unrehearsed Content?
Initially, I had no plans to publish my first experience with Riverside.FM. However, I was pleasantly surprised by its capabilities. It offered high-definition recordings for multiple participants and provided a range of video editing tools and open-source music. While I couldn’t add transitions to images or videos, I could fade music in and out. Overall, it was impressive for a free platform. As someone who loves using free software (much to the dismay of my computer engineer friends), I was thrilled.
What’s Next?
I’ve been working hard on editing the first episode of #GAMELAYER, which features a series of phone tag audio messages sent via text. I’m torn between using the original low-fi recordings to emphasize the casual nature of phone chats or enhancing the audio for a more professional sound. I think I’ll publish the high-quality version as a podcast and host the low-resolution version on the transcript page of my Substack newsletter.
Gamelayer.fm
I recently purchased the domain Gamelayer.fm but haven’t successfully linked it to my Substack account. Instead, it redirects to Substack’s main page, which isn’t very useful. I’m considering building a landing page with Parallax animations on Amazon AWS, but I’ve read that the process might be similar to linking to a Substack account, which could be just as challenging. For now, I have some ideas, but they’re still in development.
Build It
Currently, my focus is on recording the show. However, I might need to reach out to experts to help launch the webpage. Alternatively, I can let the podcast distribute across platforms via Red Circle for now and work on the webpage after the show’s official launch.
“All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now.”
When I started the blog I was getting my Master’s Degree in Instructional Design. It was from a smaller local liberal arts college. The college had a strong online program with a foundation in technology. Fontbonne is not the greatest college in the world. In a few years, it will sadly close its doors. I believe that is a sign of our Post-Covid 19 world. It is not an indicator of the quality of education the University provided. Still, it gave me a great education and I am forever grateful. Thank you Fontbonne U. for showing me how magical online learning can be when done correctly, and getting me started on this beautiful journey.
The 100th Post
The thought came on a whim. It was a boring day at work that was infinitely brightened by a call from a friend. A conference call with people who did what I did but on the next level. They had been trainers, they had been designers but now they had died and moved on to bigger things. Traveling the world to speak at conferences, starting their own business, becoming keynote speakers.
The keynote speaker bit really caught my attention. So when Kassy said you need a strong speaker reel to be a real speaker, I had an idea. A potion of an idea. A crazy Dave of the theater idea. The sort of idea you get from listening to WEEN rock out your whole life.
Influence of Ween on Dave
If you don’t know WEEN they are the strangest band you never heard of. Unbridled creativity and a sense of power that no other band seems to wield… and some drugs. Lots and lots of drugs. They have said themselves in interviews that most of their best songs were conceived just before recording. These songs were written and recorded in under an hour’s time. I believe that. It is easy to believe. It has always inspired me. The speed of production and creative freedom, not the drugs.
The thing about WEEN, is you were never sure what you were gonna get. Each album was its in a genre, not to mention a new universe.
Then in 2016, they got the band back together. In 2023 came to St. Louis while my brother was visiting from Japan… So we went. They were better than ever, it was amazing. What had changed was they had a new crowd in the audience. Before it was the art crowd. The weirdos from every town. Now it was remnants of the stinky neo-hippy crowd. It didn’t matter. I didn’t care They still sang out harder than anyone I have seen rock out.
So What?
OK, Yes. That was way too much back story on Ween. I hope you check them out if you don’t know about them. Fast forward, to the 100th post of Improvement Dave, in 2024! It somehow channeled some of that energy that WEEN brings to the table without even trying. There was some coffee involved, but not very much. When people read the post and watch the video, the next comment tends to be around partying or drugs. (Why I thought of WEEN! 😂) I should just take in stride.
It was a very liberating post to create. People have said they review the video to reduce stress. Besides who am I trying to impress at this point? I have a successful and fulfilling career. I have a loving wife and two beautiful children who completely love me. (Well, they are still young) I am building my real estate empire!… and Yet, I was stone-cold-sober when I recorded iSPEAK. The excitement of making the post revved me up. I got Punch-drunk on the muse.
Here is the point, the video landed me a speaking gig at a local conference!
iSPEAK
The post was written much later than the video. The video carries the post, and somehow people have already calling me the iSPEAK guy. It is OK, I like it. The whole project is true to my brand. Do something bold, do it for free, do not over-rehearsed, be brutally honest, and don’t take yourself too seriously.
This was a fun post, but the post is just the beginning. I am developing learning sessions about how to be a better designer. To be a champion for the learner. I have a working title of “Get Out of The Way!” a command to educators to make room for the learner in the learning event. To make it about the learner and their experience. If we do not make room for their journey, deep learning does not happen. The whole damn thing is in vain.
My first speak will be in St. Louis at the ATD St. Louis LEARN Conference:
I tell myself I am excited about it. If I am being honest, I am terrified. I have anxiety from not building out the presentation completely. I also haven’t rehearsed as much as I should by now. The problem is, I will do just fine.
What’s Next?
I started writing this post less than thirty minutes ago and now I am going to publish it. I still need to find a cover image. This was a simple message to recognize that my promise to myself in 2023 was to be consistent. I have been consistent. Now I am working on being more integrated, to tie all of my selves together. I aim to be a more whole person. In many ways I see that working.
Moving forward, I hope to keep the creative spark alive. I want to do what WEEN did later in their career. Don’t record a song 20 minutes after you thought about. Get the idea and then build on it, develop it, cite sources, generate illustrative examples, and tell relevant examples. In the next post, which I have been working several weeks on, I hope to do just that. To have fun with it, but do better at delivering a message the reader can walk away with. To give the reader something they can use… Like a gift. A gift for Improvement.
It has been months since I posted on this VLOG, and there were points last year when I posted daily. I had multiple ideas for April of 2024, and they are just sitting in their folders waiting to be developed. So, Now that it is near the end of June I am going to put together a post. It might not be my best post, but it will be honest. I believe I have started to struggle with why I created this Vlog. I have identified here that I have not focused on self-care and analysis paralysis has set in.
Strange man in black hood and gas mask on the background of mountains, around smoke, fog and radioactive fallout. Concept of environmental pollution, chemical disaster. Ecological catastrophe. AdobeStock_499292144
In April, a theme that played out almost across the board was Nuclear Radiation, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I am glad I paused to think about it and I really talk about it in the videobelow. So, the purpose of this post is around self-care. Identify what is holding you back or causing you analysis paralysis and call it out. Name it and talk about it.
ATD ICE 2024
Last month, I visited New Orleans, Louisiana for the first time. I attended the largest annual conference held by the Association for Talent Development. Luckily it jogged me out of the funk I was feeling about the “month of nuclear radiation”.
I do not know if there was a theme of self-care at the conference but I feel like there was. Maybe I think that because I noticed those messages because I needed them, but It seems like self-care is becoming more talked about as behavioral health becomes less stigmatized. I think this is great, and I keep telling myself I should meditate more or go to therapy, but instead I create videos at work, take care of my kids, rebuild bathrooms, and write on this blog… you know, live my life.
DEAR WORLD was at the event and “X” himself led multiple openings to keynote speakers, and short of Daniel Pink I think “X” did the best Keynote talks. He was honest, he was fresh and he had a clear purpose at the event. I ended up getting a “brain tattoo” and I am glad I did. You can read about it on my LinkedIn post here:
In this video, I speak to the fact that I have not posted in a while and I reflect on my apprehension to do so. I suffer from analysis paralysis and I bring up the irony that I have attended a few training sessions and listened to numerous podcasts on Imposter Syndrom created by my mentor/friend Betty Dannewitz. (She called me on a cell phone, and she said we are friends… it’s a thing.)
Supporting Video
In this vlog post, I talk about how April had a theme of radioactivity, and how nearly everything I did that month was related to nuclear radiation. I had the footage up front of the field trip and I put that video together separately because one of the students on the field trip is actually an Improvement Dave fan. I know it’s crazy, I have fans. I didn’t even know that.
This year I am focused on integration, and so far I am not sure I am doing a great job at it. I feel like the blog posts I have managed to create are long-winded, winding, tangled and disconnected. I feel like last year when my word for the year was Consistency I posted frequently and the posts were short, straight to the point, and therefore had a clear message. Or maybe I posted more so I was less focused on each specific post.
I recently shared this post (Close the Loop) with a new colleague and friend, ✨Kassy LaBorie. Her feedback was very telling. “David you are obviously intelligent, maybe a genius, but you need to make the message clear.” Well, I am paraphrasing, but that is the gist of what she said. (Thank you Kassy, you are a good friend.) She is right, I need to get back to why I started the blog, to talk about Instructional Design. ID work is about learning and the message needs to be clear. So, here it is.
The Point
I need to focus on simple outcomes. I need to get to the learning moment upfront of each post. So, if people only read the first paragraph they get the point. In this post, I did that. I went on and on supporting the “BIG IDEA” but I think I did less of that and all of what I said is pointing back to the idea that I need to focus on self-care because posting this was hard. I have suffered from analysis paralysis AGAIN. I fell back into my old rhythm. I can be integrated but I can not let go of consistency. It’s not one or the other it is both, and that’s the point.
I need to keep on stepping. I need to think less. I need to get out there.
Improvement Dave 