Local podcast meets the community, one member at a time

David Hornak and John Hayhoe interview someone in the community each week

As the two speakers wrap up the podcast, they turn on the music, turn the microphone down, and then click off.

Superintendent David Hornak and community leader John Hayhoe prepare to record their podcast. Some days, they record by themselves, and other days, they have a guest joining them to talk to the community. | Photo Credit: Jami Sailer

“Talk with Us Tuesdays” is a podcast created by community leader John Hayhoe and Superintendent David Hornak to get to know and update the community members in the Holt and Dimondale area.

In 2016, Hornak and Hayhoe came up with the idea to interview leaders in the community, and to give updates about what is going on so that other community members could keep up with timely information.

While Hornak and Hayhoe do the podcast, they have a routine that they always follow to keep consistency between the castings, and on Oct. 29, the hundredth podcast was recorded and with that, more podcasts are still to come. For two years, the podcast has been going, even though there have been some off weeks when there have been no castings.

“[The podcast] is tiring, but I am already looking toward two-three hundred castings. Also, we were not sure what we were really getting into when we started,” said Hayhoe.

Even though they have to balance work and other issues, Hornak and Hayhoe try to record almost every Monday, so they can post the podcast on Tuesday.

However, it does not always work out, since setting up and launching the podcast takes time and a variety of computer programs.

“The infrastructure behind the podcast is that we use open source music to enter into the program, we record in a piece of software called Audacity, then we drop it in a publishing software called Podbean, and finally, I shorten the link using Bitly. That way [the podcast] is branded the right way, which is gohpspodcast,” said Hornak.

Hornak works with the technical infrastructure for the podcast and Hayhoe works to bring in the guests that are going to be on the podcast. Together, they make sure to share information people want to hear, and while doing so, they have created a great friendship and the partnership they wanted.

Truly, what makes this community special is that we have a wonderful relationship with the school and the community and we have lived by the motto ‘together is better.’ We cannot do it alone.

“We are constantly sharing important dates with the community. I don’t think we will ever stop. It is a wonderful partnership, but we cannot do it alone. It takes all of us,” said Hornak.

The partnership for the podcast has allowed Hornak and Hayhoe to have many opportunities to grow their podcast.

“We were on the Tim Barrons radio station, and about a year ago, we were invited onto WKAR In the Morning. Also, Fox Morning Blend hosted us,” said Hayhoe

While they have gotten many different opportunities to be as broad as they can be, there are still many angles Hornak and Hayhoe plan to take to capture all the different pieces and parts of the local community.

Hayhoe said, “If we can bring in, not only the leaders in the community, but everybody, then people will listen to the next podcast, and then they become our partners, because together is better.”

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