The history of podcasting is well documented on Wikipedia. I first discovered the concept in late February of 2005 while staying at the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront hotel. I was in the lounge having my morning coffee and reading the USA Today when I can across an article about podcasting (this is indeed documented in Wikipedia). I read the article twice and suddenly realized that a podcast is an mp3 file supported by an RSS feed (simply a formatted text file) that made the podcast automatically available on a variety of news sites and various podcast sites, for example Yahoo news. Just then a light bulb went off, the bells started ringing, and whatever else happens when you get a fantastic idea. I’m a musician, I know what an mp3 file is, I have recording equipment, we can do this for Db2!
The Concept
Susan Lawson, who was my boss at the time and my co-worker on that particular project in Baltimore, met me in the lounge and we headed off in the car to work. Once in the car I said “Do you know what a podcast is?” She responded “No”. I said “it’s an audio file where you record your thoughts and share with the world, and we are going to make one next week when we’re back here.” Her response “How much will this cost me?” I said “Nothing, as I have all the equipment. Now, when do we have the best conversations about Db2 and come up with the best ideas?” She says instantly “At the bar.” “Right, so next week we’re going to do a podcast and it’s going to be called The Db2 Cocktail Hour, and we’ll have a topic, but no script, and we’ll just talk about a specific Db2 feature or challenge. There will be an introduction, a commercial break, and a conclusion/disclaimer. Oh yes, and we’ll be drinking!”
The Execution of the Very First Db2 Podcast
March 3, 2005. We’re driving to work and I say that after work we’re going to do a podcast. I had prerecorded the introduction, commercial, and conclusion/disclaimer (the only time I ever did that, all the other podcasts were 100% live) and we were going to talk about data-partitioned secondary indexes on Db2 for z/OS, which was a new feature that solved some problems, but also had some challenges. Her response was “No, we’re not”. After work we parted company at the car and she asked where do we want to meet for dinner, I said “I don’t care but we’re doing a podcast!” We met in the lounge, got some wine and beer, and I eventually got her to come to my room and record the podcast.
The computer was turned on, the microphone connected, I pushed play on the introduction, and away we went! After we were finished we could not believe what we had just done. An honest, non-scripted, spontaneous conversation about a Db2 topic just like we would at dinner and/or over drinks. We were hooked!
History of the Db2 Cocktail Hour
There were 4 series of the Db2 Cocktail Hour. Series 1 – The Db2 Cocktail Hour. The idea is that the best conversations about features of DB2 always seem to happen after the seminars are over, and we’re having a drink at the bar. Although we have an outline, the conversation is completely unscripted and spontaneous:
- Podcast 1 – DPSI’S
- Podcast 2 – Availability
- Podcast 3 – Sequential Numbering
- Podcast 4 – Dynamic SQL
- Podcast 5 – Clustering
- Podcast 6 – Inserts
- Podcast 7 – DB2 UDB for z/OS Version 8
- Podcast 8 – The Evolution of the DBA
- Podcast 9 – Special Christmas Show – Minimizing Change in DB2
- Podcast 10 – Special Valentine Show – Making Love
- Podcast 11 – Special Anniversary Show – Tuning SQL; Stats and Optimization
- Podcast 12 – Tuning SQL; SQL Coding
- Podcast 13 – Tuning SQL; Filtering and SQL Coding continued
- Podcast 14 – Live from IDUG; Legacy Migrations
- Podcast 15 – Top 10 Ways to Waste CPU
- Podcast 16 – Top 5 SQL Performance Features in V8
- Podcast 17 – Live from IDUG; Trends and Directions in DB2 for z/OS
- Podcast 18 – Predictive Analysis
Series 2 – Behind the Bar with The Db2 Cocktail Hour. We have been doing the first series of podcasts, The DB2 Cocktail Hour, for nearly two years. It evolved into an extremely popular show with thousands of downloads per month, and we thank you for that! However, we must move on. In this series, we will still pretty much have the same format as the original DB2 Cocktail Hour. However, we don’t want to stagnate into the realm of DB2 consultants who gloss over features without substance. We’re still hands on working every day on DB2 databases, and want to share that wealth of experience! So, we’re actually going into topics in detail. Each podcast of this series will dig deeply into a specific feature of DB2, or database design idea. In addition, each podcast will be accompanied by some sort of download that you can use as a reference to what we are describing.
- Podcast 1 – Multi-Row Fetch
- Podcast 2 – DB2 9 for z/OS
- Podcast 3 – Logical Recovery
- Podcast 4 – Sorts
- Podcast 5 – Data Sharing
- Podcast 6 – Stored Procedures
- Podcast 7 – EXPLAIN
- Podcast 8 – Optimistic Locking
- Podcast 9 – BIND, REORG, and RUNSTATS
- Podcast 10 – Table Controlled Partitioning
- Podcast 11 – Data Studio
Series 3 – On the Barstool with The Db2 Cocktail Hour
This series focused on managers and things they needed to know about Db2 and the people who work with Db2. I’m having trouble locating the episodes.
Series 4 – The Db2 Cocktail Hour.
This is our fourth series of podcasts. We have been doing the first series of podcasts, The DB2 Cocktail Hour, since March of 2005. It evolved into an extremely popular show with thousands of downloads per month, and we thank you for that! In the second series, we had the same format as the original DB2 Cocktail Hour, but discussed specific features of DB2, or database design ideas in detail. Our third series, On the Barstool, focused on topics of interest to management. In this fourth series we’re going to back to the original format of the cocktail hour. We’ll discuss a wide variety of DB2 topics that can apply to the everyday working folks that keep DB2 going around the world. All topics, overviews, and deep dives will keep this series interesting to a large number of people. Want our take on a topic? Send us a request!
- Podcast 1 – Should You Skip or Step Migrate to Version 10?
- Podcast 2 – Temporal Tables
The Db2 Cocktail Hour began in March of 2005 and continued until April of 2011. After leaving YL&A in 2012, I continued the tradition of the Db2 Cocktail Hour for another 16 episodes, finally doing the last podcast in January 2015. Although it did not have the magic that was Susan Lawson of YL&A.
The Db2 Cocktail Hour is now a thing of the past, but I’m certain it inspired many others to begin publishing information about Db2 in podcast form and it continues today! Two that immediately com to mind are:
- Db2 Table Talk The IDUG Content Committee is thrilled to launch Db2 Table Talk, a signature podcast engaging Db2 thought leaders from the IDUG community and beyond.
- The Db2Night Show The Db2Night Show has the simple mission of building a fun, interactive community around Db2. Each episode will include fun stuff, information, tips, and special guests who are industry experts.
Listen to a Moment in the History of Db2 – Series 1, Podcast 1, March 3, 2005
So, you might still be able to find some of the original podcasts on the internet Wayback Machine. I was able to locate and download the very first Db2 podcast on DPSI’s. I edited out most of the content as it’s no longer relevant, just keeping a few snippets of what we did that day. Here it is…
There were no photos of the first podcast, but these were taken for series 1, podcast 5.
The Last Word – The Technology
We’re using Dan’s PC, an HP Pavilion dv1010us, and the following sweet stuff:
- CAD Equitek B-100 supercardiod large diaphram side address condenser microphone. Actually went through 2 of these as the first one was stolen by a car rental agency.
- Behringer MIC100 tube ultragain preamp
- Pinnacle table top mic stand (confiscated by airport security after going through 6 times!)
- QuikLok A188 Desktop Tripod Microphone Stand (more plastic in this one)
- Mixcast Live podcasting software, eventually moving on to Audacity.
- Dell Inspiron 8100 (retired after series 1, podcast 8), and a few other computers over the years.