Simon: My Temporary Leave of Absence from the podcast



That picture...again!

Hi #Treksters

As many of you may know (Phil & Jamie in particular) I am very passionate about the podcast. To the length that (at times) I will go above and beyond to make the podcast the best it can, which can manifest itself into a help or a hindrance.




Although most of the time it’s the latter (much to the annoyance of Phil & Jamie), which is why I have decided (after consulting with Phil & Jamie) to take a Temporary Leave of Absence from managing the podcast (between 17^th December 2015-1^st March 2016).

So I am writing this blog post to explain my reasons behind my decision.

Firstly, I’ve got to say that there’s no single reason why…but it’s all centred around the fact that I need to concentrate on sorting myself out. Because that’s something I’ve neglected to do, whilst I’ve been producing content for the podcast.

In my mind I’ve been unable to do both, as I’ve needed to know that (however stupid it sounds) the podcast would be ok without me there.

Now that we’ve been up and running for a year, I think it’s about time for me to take a step back…and for Phil & Jamie to take the burden. Something I’ve solely been responsible for the past three and a half years.

Which is why I want to focus on what’s important to me, my friends & family. As I feel like they’ve lost out (at times) when I’ve put my efforts into the podcast.



Me, Phil & Jamie together at Destination Star Trek London 2012 (DST1)

This has even effected my friendship’s between Phil & Jamie, as they’ve changed since we started (and later launched) the podcast.

In a way my friendships with them have become ‘cursed’ and ‘charmed’, because I obviously get to see them more often…which is fantastic!

But when we’re together, we just talk about the podcast. Which is stopping us concentrating on what started the whole adventure (our friendships), detrimentally causing friction along the way.

As I’m the main cause of all that tension (in one way or another) I’m going to step aside as Executive Producer (for a while) and ‘leave’ the podcast in the quite capable hands of Phil & Jamie!

Like I say this is only a temporary arrangement, as I’ll still be active here on the blog…and over on Twitter & Facebook (and our e-mail).

Meanwhile, backstage I’ll also be acting as an Advisor (or Consultant) to the boys. Who I’m quite sure will want some advice from me concerning the perils of running the podcast on a daily basis.




Me and Phil together

And it also looks like I’ll be taking over one of Phil’s jobs, as I’ll be the one who’ll be uploading our latest episodes up onto SoundCloud (our new home).

As you might expect with this kind of change (however temporary), there is likely to be some ‘teething problems’ while the boys are getting use to ‘running the show’ and everything that entails.

Podcast 'juggling act'

Because I’ve always described it (running the podcast) as being a bit of a 'juggling act'. Due to the fact that you’re desperately trying to keep everything going simultaneously…which is no small feat!

So I just ask that you give them a chance to get use to how much time & effort is needed in order to keep the podcast running smoothly (and on time).  

For more information about this please listen to our Science Fiction Regrets episode!

This comes into effect on Thursday 17^th December 2015 at 00:00am until Tuesday 1^st March 2016 at 00:00am.

This is Simon from The Engage Podcast signing out!