Communication is the lifeblood of an association and getting out information to its membership is one of the major tasks entrusted to association staff. From seminars, keynotes, training classes, certifications and numerous other educational opportunities, an association provides its members a lot of valuable information.

In addition to the usual communications found at an association, knowing the pulse of the industry in which the association is involved is also why an association exists and can be a great source of news for both members and the public. An often overlooked source of expertise is both internal staff and the association’s membership base. Those folks can contribute great insight and valuable opinions to an audience.

Historically, print has been the communication medium of choice. Today, an association has a lot more ways to get its message out than just a printed magazine or newsletter. Websites, videos, e-mails and podcasts are newer ways that can supplement, extend or enhance communication efforts. In this posting I want to talk about podcasting.

What’s a podcast? Think digital radio without a station. It is a broadcast that is available on the internet and can be used to communicate news, interviews and insights to a highly targeted and interested audience. A podcast is very economical to produce and an organization’s internal staff probably has the skills to produce them on a regular basis.

How do I do one? If you are considering doing a podcast you can invest as little as $100 and get started. A quality setup might run you $2000. In either case, it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to get into podcasting. All that is needed is a computer, a simple microphone and an open-source piece of editing software called Audacity.

Why should I do one? A podcast can be produced almost as fast as you can record your voice. If you publish a monthly magazine or newsletter, you can get out breaking news between issues. Your editors can talk about subjects without the restraint of the printed page. Board members can comment on current events or respond to happenings that immediately need to be addressed by your organization. Even press releases can also be sent out as an audio release.

Are they easy to listen to? With today’s technology, you will be surprised at how easy it is to listen to a podcast. Within seconds, just by clicking on a link, you’ll be listening to a podcast. If you have a recent copy of Internet Explorer (Windows Media Player) or Quicktime (for the MAC) on your computer, you will be able to hear them at your desk. If you own a MP3 player and want to take them with you to listen to later, then you’ve got portable media that you can listen to anywhere.

Isn’t it going to be expensive? A podcast is probably the cheapest form of media that you will ever create. The software is free, the microphone will cost you less than $50 and the storage on your server is almost zero. The only substantial cost is bandwidth (downloads), but then only if your podcast becomes popular (if you are getting less than 10,000 downloads/month then you probably won’t have to worry about it yet).

If your association is considering new ways to reach out to its membership, its constituents or the public, a audio podcast is a form of media that should be part of your communications plan and is well within the budget of even the most fiscally conservative association.