Moultrie's TGM Podcast Interview

As I mentioned on Monday, I was lucky enough to interview Boyd Barnett about Moultrie's Total Game Management Podcast. This was a great interview that will let you learn more about the podcast and how it has progressed. It really is a must listen podcast if it isn't already on your playlist. They also do a great job interacting via social media and are always looking for a great discussion or to help with your Moultrie products. 

Foggy Mountain Meanderings: When did the Podcast first air?

Boyd of Moultrie's TGM Podcast: Well, that’s a tricky question…see, the very first show I did was a “test” show to make sure everything was working with the recording software, microphones, iTunes, etc. The “test” show went up on May 16, 2011. Our first real show went up on May 26, 2011.

FMM: By my calculation, shouldn’t the show be coming up on milestone?

Boyd: Yes, we’re coming up on our 50^th show, and that is a big milestone for us. Honestly, when we started I didn't know if anyone would listen to it! We’re hoping to have a special surprise for that show.

FMM: What was the original layout for the show and how has it transformed over the last 40 some shows?

Boyd: I originally came up with the idea for the podcast during a big meeting between all of the other marketing folks here at Pradco Outdoors last April. I listen to several podcasts every week myself, mostly about technology, and they were so well done I felt like I had “a friend on the inside” for those companies. That’s what I wanted: a way to be able to speak directly with the people who use and love our products in a more personal way than even the social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) could provide. Don’t get me wrong; I love interacting with everyone using those things as well, and what has happened is that the social media and the podcast have started to converge.

I like to think that we’ve made great strides in both our format and audio quality since that first show. Michael McDaniel was my co-host for most of the shows, but he moved to another location and hasn’t really had time to participate lately. We brought Gene Matchen, our Customer Service Manager, in for an interview for one show, and he was so good I kept him on!

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Dan Amrich from OneofSwords.com and Ryan McCaffrey from OXMonline.com, because they really inspired me to do the podcast and showed me what a powerful medium it can be. Plus, Dan really helped me with all of the tech needed to get a show like this “on the air.”

FMM: After looking at how it started, what is the current rundown of the show?

Boyd: The current run-down of the show goes like this: Host Intro, News, Interview (if we have one that week), Deals of the Week, Question of the Week (or Rut Reports, depending on the time of year), then the Wrap-up.

FMM: In regards to the news, as a frequent listener, I always wonder where do you get your new and stories from and what might lead you to choose them?

Boyd: I pick the stories for the News from all of the stories I receive from our friends at GrandviewOutdoors.com, Twitter, and whatever other news outlets I come across. I try to find the ones that I think are interesting or important, and it helps if I think it’s something I think we can talk a lot about. 

FMM: One of my favorite parts of the show is to see what the special guests have to speak about that week, who are some of the guest you've had on?

Boyd: We’ve been really lucky to have some great people on the show! We’ve had Gerald Swindle and Tony Smotherman from Moultrie’s “The Hit List” on Outdoor Channel; Mike Mattly, our national PR manager, who has become the “Steve Martin” of the show with the most appearances; Bobby Murray, who won the first-ever Bassmaster Classic; Chris Parrish of Knight & Hale Game Calls, who is a world champion turkey caller and a good friend of ours….those are just a few of the many guests we’ve had on. We have even more surprises in store, so stay tuned!

FMM: I’m not thinking about a lot of detail on the Question of the Week , but just say it in the lay out and that you can submit then via the comment section and social media, as I will ask you a question later about the Question of the week.

Boyd: One of our newest segments is Question of the Week. This segment is really epitomizes what we want the show to be – a great source of information about Moultrie, Carry-Lite, Code Blue, Summit and all of the other Pradco brands.

FMM: Personal, I love the show because it seems like I’m sitting at my local bow shop listening to everyone shoot the breeze with one another. Was that the original goal or did that transform over time also?

Boyd: My original vision of the show was for it to feel like you have friends here at Moultrie – my co-host and me – and I hope that’s the way people listening view it, too. We’re just a couple of guys who love the outdoors, our products and this industry. We step away from our “real” jobs for a bit every week to do the show, and we do it because we love interacting with our friends (we refuse to call them customers, because they really are our friends) every week.

FMM: I have to go back to something we talked about earlier to get a better understanding, how does the question of the week work?

Boyd: I usually ask for submissions from our Twitter followers and Facebook friends, and then, like I do with the news stories, pick the one I think is interesting and that we can really do justice to by talking it through.

FMM: What are some of the possible prizes associated with the Question of the Week?

Boyd: We’ve been really lucky to have some neat prizes to give away. We started out by giving away hats and decals (and we still do that), but when I attended the big trade shows this year (ATA and SHOT) I had an idea. I thought, “Why not bring a bit of these cool shows to the folks who don’t get to go?” So I stuffed my suitcases with extra show guides and brought them back home. Next year, I’m going to have to take extra bags to carry all of those in!

FMM: Now for the important stuff, how often and when is the podcast released?

Boyd: I do my very best to have a new podcast every week, preferably on Thursdays. Life and work sometimes override that, and it could fall to a Friday or even a Saturday.

FMM: One final question before you go, are there any plans to expand the show?

Boyd: Wow, I don’t think I could do more than one show a week! Ha! When you’re the producer, host, editor and technical support, it can get a bit overwhelming at times. However, if I ever see an opportunity to do a second show (like I did with Lawrence Taylor of LureNet with his live coverage of the Bassmaster Classic in February of this year) I will do my best to make that happen.

I’d love to hear some feedback on our show from our listeners. We had a few comments early on, but lately we haven’t been getting much in the way of comments to the individual posts. We welcome the input on how to make the show better for our friends who are listening every week and supporting what we do.