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Gem City Podcast

Gem City Podcast R.I.P.

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When I started podcasting in 2012, I couldn’t find any podcasts about Dayton. Today if you search “Dayton” or “Dayton, Ohio”, a lot of podcasts are available. That makes me happy.

I started podcasting in 2012 with “Tales From The Hardside”, about my life growing up in East Dayton. That quickly became something more than I could have expected. I ended the podcast at episode 313 in 2018.

In 2013 I became a contributor to Gem City Podcast. Eric Ruiz started the podcast and contacted me before he released any podcasts. I advised him, but he had someone set it up.

In 2015, Eric told the group of people working on the podcast he was leaving town. He turned the podcast over to us. At that time it was myself, Libby Ballengee, Mark DaGrossa, and Scott Epic. We had help behind the scenes with Josh Gwin and David Sparks. 

Scott Epic & Izzy Rock are in the Oregon District doing “gonzo” style podcasting while they pub craw

My thought was the podcast should be a local audio magazine, similar to a ‘zine. I wanted three episodes a week that covered various topics.

Monday would be “Community Conversations” with Libby and Mark having long form conversations with personalities, politicians, police, professors, businesses, authors, filmmakers, comics, and also release some important discussions of redlining, disinvestment of West Dayton, and so many more historical conversations. I welcomed Libby to have full creative control of her episodes and would never censor her. It was an honor to edit her podcasts.

On Wednesday’s, I wanted to do Storyteller episodes and cover the local music and podcast community. Offering a voice and support to any and all, uncensored. We featured artists releasing new albums, we did live shows from Sideshow and Miami Valley Music Fest, and during that time I invested researching the various musical communities. I was proud that we gave a voice to hundreds of different musical artists in this historic area for music. 

When it came to podcasting, I didn’t believe in competition. I wanted community. I welcomed local podcasters, wanted to showcase them to the community. I hosted two Dayton Podfests, and a podcast workshop. I began listening in 2006 and they changed my life.

Mark DaGrossa, Libby Ballengee and “Izzy Rock”

I found a local podcast called, You Can’t Make This Up with DJ Killa Kev and Kev Nash of HOT 102.9 and invited them to release their show on our feed for our Friday episode. I believed if we were going to be about Dayton, we needed diversity in our audio magazine. Those guys would release their podcast on Sunday and then it would drop in our feed on Friday. They covered sports, pop culture, and we’re a welcome voice to the community. I love those dudes and thank them for the years of partnership. 

We won Best Local Podcast, I was named Daytonian of the Week, I was respected by my peers, and even Joe Rogan followed me on Twitter. I have influenced many people to podcast and if you’re reading this and want to do it, do it.

We made no money from the podcast because of how it was set up. We did have a GoFund me that raised a little bit of money, but we spent way more of our time and money putting content out because we love this community and believe in the people of Dayton and Southwest Ohio. We inherited the podcast, but did not have the email and phone number associated with the website host GoDaddy.

On the morning of August 10, 2020 I tried uploading Episode 900 and the website was down.

After reaching out to the person who set up the podcast, I was told that they no longer work in IT and could contact GoDaddy, but without the email and phone number of the website or at least someone willing to be on the other end of those, I could not get the website up and running.

I contacted the creator of the podcast for the info and was told, “no idea. social media is social conditioning and virtue signaling thru attention seeking. with countless studies of how it’s actually hurting people i can no longer allow myself to aid in the corruption of other humans, even when the majority of those humans are hypocritical hive minded sheep. good luck. I’m not sure who this is, and I’m not giving another second of my energy to anything on a screen. I got out for a reason. If you need a hug let me know. Sorry for being rude, but I’ve seen enough truths to know which side I wanna be on when this game comes to an end. peace.”

So that’s it. We can’t release a podcast right now and to be honest, we had flirted with stopping at Episode 937 since that’s the area code for the area.

I’m a bit burned out after releasing nearly 1400 podcasts since 2013. I’m not done podcasting by any means and I bought the LLC for Gem City Podcast a year or so ago. And you can still stream those podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or Overcast. I could never get on Spotify because of the email situation.

So here we are, the end of an era of Dayton Podcasting. We’re not sure if we’ll return, Libby and myself are effectively ending the current version of Gem City Podcast. We love all of you. We loved having conversations with you. We loved sharing your music and projects and giving a community a voice.

I still love the local music scene. Like a lot. I’ve made some wonderful friends and some legendary memories. I hope 2020 and what we’re all going through makes us all stronger and better off. Please be kind to each other and especially yourself.

Thank you to all the people who made this kid from East Dayton who was inspired by the local scene in the 80’s and 90’s that was being covered by Spin magazine and producing artists like Guided By Voices and Braniac, feel part of the scene.

Terry @TheIzzyRock Martin

Learn about the Dayton Podcasting community at Podfest!

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Photo from the first Dayton Podfest in 2017. CONTRIBUTED.

Are you curious about podcasts or a current podcast listener? Interested in creating your own podcast? Already podcasting and want to connect with other area podcasters? If you are anywhere on that spectrum, you are welcome to join The Gem City Podcast for their upcoming event Dayton Podfest at the Brightside Music & Event Center on Saturday March 30, 2019. This is a celebration of local podcasts and the ever growing world of podcasting.

What is a podcast? A podcast is essentially talk radio, but on demand. You can listen for free on websites and podcast platforms like iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, among others. Gem City Podcast is the first podcast dedicated to Dayton Ohio specifically. The GCP crew has been highlighting area stories since 2013 and over 700 episodes, and was recently voted “Best Dayton Podcast.”

Beyond creating 3 podcasts weekly, the GCP crew is also enthusiastic about creating a sense of community among area podcasters. They’ve started a monthly meet up on the second Tuesday of the month, and organized Dayton Podfests, where they host a workshop for newbies, a networking hour, and a host of live Dayton podcasts.

Even if you can’t attend the event, purchasing a pre-sale ticket for $10 or $20 is a great way to make a donation to the Gem City Podcast crew and the great work they’ve been doing for the Dayton community! To do so, click here.

How to Go:

Dayton Podfest

Saturday March 30, 2019

Brightside Music & Event Venue

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dayton-podfest-tickets-58450995501

$10 for Podfest / $20 Podfest + Workshop

Schedule

2:00-4:00pm: Podcasting Workshop hosted by The Izzy Rock. This workshop is $20 (This also pays for your entry into Dayton Podfest) During the workshop, Izzy will be joined by fellow Dayton podcasters to walk you through the various stages of creating and maintaining a podcast, share tips & tricks to grow your audience, along with a Q&A session.

4:00 -10:30 pm: Dayton Podfest $10

Podcasting in the City

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420772_355376381230788_1322605069_nPodcasts are undeniably popular, and they are also astoundingly diverse.  Take a quick peek through the iTunes store, and you’ll find podcasts about any topic that you imagine including news, comedy, art, food, natural living, and science, among other categories.

Thankfully, there is now a podcast exclusively about Dayton—its culture, people, businesses, politics, and lifestyles–to add to that burgeoning roster.

Launched just a few months ago, the Gem City Podcast is the brainchild of Eric Ruiz, a native of Tampa and Austin.  While Dayton is his adopted city, he feels a strong impetus to connect and grow with it.  “Dayton is my home; therefore, I feel obligated to make it an oasis of great people,” he stated.

Inspired by the popular comedy podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, Eric set out to create a show that was equally expressive and candid, all with the aim of boosting Dayton’s morale and promoting peace and good vibes. He attributes this to a radical inner transformation that he had a few years ago, which changed his perception of this world in and his place in it.  “My motivation is to take whatever place I’m at and set up a beacon of positivity,” he offered.  “From there, I want to help promote that and push away all the negativity I see in this world.”

To help him with the show’s production, he teamed up with Chris Jones, Russ Cope, and Chad Wells.  Ruiz notes that they all bring different strengths and perspectives to the table.  “I believe that with the four of us contributing and putting love into the show, we can only get better,” he offered.

Their teamwork is evident.  Even though the weekly podcast began in early May, they have landed some impressive guests, including business owners and Tommy Jones of The Dayton Scene.  They plan to add even more notable Dayton denizens to their line-up as they continue to reach out to Dayton’s multi-faceted community.

“I’m really excited about the amount of people we will be meeting and interviewing,” commented Chris Jones, the podcast’s tech guru.  “I love meeting and conversing with people who may have a different perspective than me. I feel that when you see the world through someone else’s eyes, it makes you a more diverse person. Even better, we get to share those stories and emotions with our listeners.”

Added Russ Cope, their producer, “Gem City Podcast’s goal is to connect our audience with the individuals who are making Dayton this unique blend of creativity, ingenuity, moxie, and tenacity.  We want to support and promote Dayton’s journey from a grassroots perspective, one interview at a time.”

The Gem City Podcast crew leisurely conducts each interview, often spending up to an hour with each guest, all with the intent to give him or her the opportunity to open up and share their thoughts.  While the program has an explicit rating on iTunes (where you can download episodes for free), the content is mostly tame, although the team doesn’t shy away from discussing mature topics or employing adult, albeit good-natured, humor.

Because it is a weekly production, there is an incredible amount of behind-the-scenes work that goes into designing the show.  This includes researching potential guests, securing interviews, and uploading episodes to various sites. The team also maintains Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube pages with the latest podcast updates and city news.

Considering the impressive amount of work that is involved in making the program a quality product, Ruiz noted that he is always looking for people to help share the load with their talents.  “We are a family, so anyone who has something to offer is welcome to do so, and together, we can accomplish more.”

Even though the Gem City Podcast is still in its infancy, it has cultivated quite an active following with both social media followers and downloads.  In fact, their first episode was so popular that they encountered some interesting complications as a result.

“The response has been more then we had expected,” said Ruiz.  “We overloaded our server, which was bad, but really great, too, in the sense that we found out people really are listening.  This makes me feel obligated to give them the best show I can.”

Given the outpouring of support, the Gem City Podcast is on the path to making an indelible mark in the Dayton community.  When asked about his plans for the show, Russ Cope, the producer, is adamant about the podcast’s role in promoting Dayton’s significance to a larger audience, especially its scientific and artistic impact.

Ruiz shares Cope’s admiration for Dayton, as well, and aims to change people’s perception of his chosen city, “I hope the podcast makes people more aware,” he said.  “Getting more positive thinking is my goal.”