IU Foundation launches weekly podcast

IU students can now learn what’s going on around campus from their iPods.\nThe IU Foundation and the IU Student Foundation recently teamed up to create the Hoosiercast, a weekly podcast hosted by seniors and IUSF steering committee members Lauren Bailey and Doug Davis. The podcast, typically 10 minutes in length, is free and available on iTunes and the IUSF Web site. \n“It reminds me of when, in high school, you would hear announcements about current events or happenings,” Bailey said. “We basically talk about events going on around campus, ways to get involved, different seminars you can attend, fundraisers and anything else going on.”\nMore than campus announcements, Hoosiercast is also somewhat of a commentary show. The IU Foundation first tested the podcast this summer, with one person reading off a list of campus events. Gabie Benson, associate director of annual giving for the IU foundation, said they realized they needed two students rather than one to have some banter and interaction so it didn’t sound like a scripted reading.\n“The two anchors have a lot of personality and put their own comments and discussion in the podcast,” Benson said. “We let them put their own personality in it and we want to emphasize school spirit.”\nThe podcast is the first of its kind at IU. Benson said the podcast was created both to market the IU Foundation to students and inform them of what is going on at IU.\n“We have a lot of lectures and activities on campus that are made possible by donor support,” she said. “We want to let students know about the opportunities that IU donors are providing to students here.”\nBailey said the podcast is an excellent tool for students to learn what’s going on around them.\n“IU is really good at getting its students involved, but there’s so much going on that you might not know about,” she said. “It’s definitely to students’ benefit to listen so they can find out about maybe an organization they’ve never heard of or an event they’d like to attend.”\nCurrently, the IU Foundation is trying to find a way to track participation so they find out if students are actually listening to the podcast. Besides experiencing a few technical problems, Benson said the podcast has gone well so far this semester. \n“It took the shape that it really needs to be,” she said. “We’ve had a really solid four podcasts so far and we’re getting better and better every week.”\nThe podcast can be downloaded at iufoundation.iu.edu.