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High School is for Podcasters

Written on
Oct 20, 2006 
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Kenneth Musante  |
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High School is for Podcasters

Wizzard is interested in Switchpod as a gateway. Chris Spencer’s ultimate goal is to use Wizzard’s speech recognition technology to categorize and target advertising within podcasts, similar to what BBN’s PodZinger does, except without the consumer-level search engine, and to license the text-to-speech technology to newspapers, bloggers, and anyone with large amounts of text content who want to turn it into an audio podcast.

Switchpod already has 3,000 podcasters using its service, and has generated considerable buzz at the Podcast and Portable Media Expo in September because of its free hosting plan. Despite Wizzard’s ambitions and Switchpod’s potential, Chris makes it clear that school for Jake and Weina comes first. “That’s one of the reasons that I’m really satisfied with them,” says Weina.

Jake and Weina are bonafide Wizzard employees with $40,000 salaries. According to state laws, though, they can only work 20 hours a week, so they have plenty of time to hang out with friends and just be kids. Weina, who is older, finds it difficult to squeeze in college applications, SAT’s and ACT’s, but she manages to go out with her friends on Friday and Saturday nights.

Chris Spencer has nothing but praise for his two newest charges: “They’re impressive people. They’re a little shy at first, but once you get to know them, they’re really super sharp. They really work hard all the time.” Jake and Weina send business messages back and forth via email on their blackberries during school hours, and Weina spends two or more hours a day on the site as needed, programming and providing tech support via IM. She uses the school library’s computers in case there’s an emergency.

Still, there is some disadvantage to being so young. Weina (right) keeps her age private when talking with business partners. She’s afraid that they might not respect her as much. Most Switchpod business is conducted through the anonymity of the internet. If she’s asked directly, she usually ignores it or defers the question to Wizzard’s PR person.

For Chris Spencer, Switchpod is a smart business investment that gives his company access to the perfect market for Wizzard’s speech technology. For Jake Fischer, Switchpod is his first business step into an industry he expects will be booming in the next few years. And as for Weina, Switchpod embodies what she loves. “I love programming. It’s my passion. Even though I want to be a doctor, it’s cool. You get to do what you love to do, and not a lot of people get to do that.”





Reader Comments.

You know whats funny? That the website wasnt just made by 2 high school students but 3. Thats right folks, I have actual documentation that proves a 3rd student from the small town of Caledonia participated more then the other 2 ever did. Unfornately, they decided to kick him as to take away his share of the glory because they were selfish.

Posted by Shadow | 5:38 pm on October 31, 2006.

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