Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 20, 2021 20:43:06 GMT 12
On Saturday I recorded the 250th episode of the Wings Over New Zealand Show, live on Zoom, with some great friends speaking and others listening and asking questions.
As I prepared a little for that show I did a count up and realised that some 357 people had been heard in the previous 249 episodes. That really staggered me, I must say. I really had no idea. Perhaps around ten of them were very small contributors, maybe introducing a main speaker at an event I was recording for the show. But most in some way have spoken about their contribution to aviation, or about the contributions of other people. Many of those 357 people have actually appeared many times, not just on one show.
I also realised that at least 58 of those people are now no longer with us. Some were veterans I only met once and interviewed, some were friends for years. A few who have been on the show that have died in 2021, leaving quite a gap, include veteran, well known instructor and historian/author Bryan Cox, historian/author Richard Stowers, historian/author Brian Lockstone, and just last week, veteran WWII pilot W/O Tom Horton DSO, DFC* pff. It makes me realise how enormously grateful I am to have met all these people, and in many cases called them friends, and I am so privileged to be able to record shows with them, and delve into their history, their work and life, and their memories.
People have said to me many times over the past ten years how I am doing very important work in recording these stories. I have always quietly felt that was the case, I do not want to be boastful about the achievements I have made with the show. But when I realised one in every seven of the people who have appeared on the show are now dead, it really brings it home just how important these recordings are.
I do this show because I love it. I love to meet people in aviation and to hear their stories, and I love to share those recordings with others out there all around the world because I think they make a difference. They might be entertainment to most, something to listen to while driving to work or mowing the lawn, but I am sure some listeners find them inspiring, and they may help them decide on a career in aviation. And some will learn some history about WWII or the RNZAF or about other aspects of the industry that has never been written up in a book.
I must admit that over the ten years that I have been producing the show, while I have always enjoyed making the shows, it has had some low points where I have hit the doldrums, wondering if it is all worth my effort and the money and time I put into it, because shows will go out and I never hear anything more about them. The one thing that spurs me on more than anything else to keep on going has been feedback. When I get an email or a message on Facebook, or I bump into someone at an airport or airshow, or someone says in a conversation about how much they liked such and such a show, that means so much! It really does. It feels like their comment may well represent a thousand voices who all thought the same but did not say so. And I am geed up again, with a rush of endorphins or pride or something, and I start ticking over the next plan in my head.
Just lately it has been really pleasing for me. I have been 'hitting it out of the park' with great guests like Nev Hay and Peter Allen, John Lamont, the ejection seat survivors Geoff Hubbard, Pete Lindsay and Phil Barnes, and some of my older recordings like aces Jim Sheddan and Geoff Fisken have all generated loads of wonderful feedback. This has given me huge confidence that even after 250 episodes, it does not seem that people are sick of the show yet. In fact if anything it feels like it is perhaps growing in popularity and it has perhaps become as much a part of our Kiwi aviation scene as the WONZ Forum has. That is such a nice feeling.
I have heaps of ideas on the go, some old that are partially completed projects that I hope will see the light of day soon, and some new. But I love it when the listeners send in ideas and leads for interviews too. Sometimes they do not always work out but sometimes they do, and we end up with some great shows that way. So keep your ideas coming please.
When I started the WONZ Show ten years ago, a loyal forum member met me at an event and handed me $50 to help with costs. I was taken aback but very grateful, and I have never forgotten that. There are costs involved in making the series, from the annual fee for the server that hosts the massive archive of shows, to the travel expenses to get to places to make some of the recordings, and then there is things like electricity and time, etc. For the most part I have footed the bills. Sometimes people have helped, for which I am eternally grateful. Sometimes raffles at Forum Meets have helped too. Lots of other podcasts nowadays have memberships where they pay to support the show and they get extra shows that the non-members cannot hear. I once mulled this idea over but I don't really want to restrict anyone from hearing shows if they cannot afford it - I have been in that position myself not being able to afford member shows of podcasts I love. So I have not gone down that route. I have wondered if I should maybe introduce some merchandise though, WONZ Show and WONZ Forum merchandise. Would it be worthwhile? I really do not know. I do know it can be a lot of work sometimes.
Anyway, I just felt like jotting down these thoughts. I had hoped to talk about some of these things on Saturday when we were recording the 250th episode but I was so nervous with the live event I forgot to mention half of it.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for supporting the show.
As I prepared a little for that show I did a count up and realised that some 357 people had been heard in the previous 249 episodes. That really staggered me, I must say. I really had no idea. Perhaps around ten of them were very small contributors, maybe introducing a main speaker at an event I was recording for the show. But most in some way have spoken about their contribution to aviation, or about the contributions of other people. Many of those 357 people have actually appeared many times, not just on one show.
I also realised that at least 58 of those people are now no longer with us. Some were veterans I only met once and interviewed, some were friends for years. A few who have been on the show that have died in 2021, leaving quite a gap, include veteran, well known instructor and historian/author Bryan Cox, historian/author Richard Stowers, historian/author Brian Lockstone, and just last week, veteran WWII pilot W/O Tom Horton DSO, DFC* pff. It makes me realise how enormously grateful I am to have met all these people, and in many cases called them friends, and I am so privileged to be able to record shows with them, and delve into their history, their work and life, and their memories.
People have said to me many times over the past ten years how I am doing very important work in recording these stories. I have always quietly felt that was the case, I do not want to be boastful about the achievements I have made with the show. But when I realised one in every seven of the people who have appeared on the show are now dead, it really brings it home just how important these recordings are.
I do this show because I love it. I love to meet people in aviation and to hear their stories, and I love to share those recordings with others out there all around the world because I think they make a difference. They might be entertainment to most, something to listen to while driving to work or mowing the lawn, but I am sure some listeners find them inspiring, and they may help them decide on a career in aviation. And some will learn some history about WWII or the RNZAF or about other aspects of the industry that has never been written up in a book.
I must admit that over the ten years that I have been producing the show, while I have always enjoyed making the shows, it has had some low points where I have hit the doldrums, wondering if it is all worth my effort and the money and time I put into it, because shows will go out and I never hear anything more about them. The one thing that spurs me on more than anything else to keep on going has been feedback. When I get an email or a message on Facebook, or I bump into someone at an airport or airshow, or someone says in a conversation about how much they liked such and such a show, that means so much! It really does. It feels like their comment may well represent a thousand voices who all thought the same but did not say so. And I am geed up again, with a rush of endorphins or pride or something, and I start ticking over the next plan in my head.
Just lately it has been really pleasing for me. I have been 'hitting it out of the park' with great guests like Nev Hay and Peter Allen, John Lamont, the ejection seat survivors Geoff Hubbard, Pete Lindsay and Phil Barnes, and some of my older recordings like aces Jim Sheddan and Geoff Fisken have all generated loads of wonderful feedback. This has given me huge confidence that even after 250 episodes, it does not seem that people are sick of the show yet. In fact if anything it feels like it is perhaps growing in popularity and it has perhaps become as much a part of our Kiwi aviation scene as the WONZ Forum has. That is such a nice feeling.
I have heaps of ideas on the go, some old that are partially completed projects that I hope will see the light of day soon, and some new. But I love it when the listeners send in ideas and leads for interviews too. Sometimes they do not always work out but sometimes they do, and we end up with some great shows that way. So keep your ideas coming please.
When I started the WONZ Show ten years ago, a loyal forum member met me at an event and handed me $50 to help with costs. I was taken aback but very grateful, and I have never forgotten that. There are costs involved in making the series, from the annual fee for the server that hosts the massive archive of shows, to the travel expenses to get to places to make some of the recordings, and then there is things like electricity and time, etc. For the most part I have footed the bills. Sometimes people have helped, for which I am eternally grateful. Sometimes raffles at Forum Meets have helped too. Lots of other podcasts nowadays have memberships where they pay to support the show and they get extra shows that the non-members cannot hear. I once mulled this idea over but I don't really want to restrict anyone from hearing shows if they cannot afford it - I have been in that position myself not being able to afford member shows of podcasts I love. So I have not gone down that route. I have wondered if I should maybe introduce some merchandise though, WONZ Show and WONZ Forum merchandise. Would it be worthwhile? I really do not know. I do know it can be a lot of work sometimes.
Anyway, I just felt like jotting down these thoughts. I had hoped to talk about some of these things on Saturday when we were recording the 250th episode but I was so nervous with the live event I forgot to mention half of it.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for supporting the show.
