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As of today, the Chameleon Academy Podcast officially becomes the Chameleon Academy Network. This means that you will see other titles come across this feed to enhance your chameleon listening experience. Although this is a big move for me, this really isn’t a big change for you. You’ll keep getting chameleon podcasts as you usually do! But I explain it all in this episode so you understand what is going on with the next episode you’ll receive!

Good morning Chameleon Academy. This is a special episode because, as of today, the Chameleon Academy Podcast becomes a part of the Chameleon Academy Network. This means this platform will host more than one podcast show. The first addition to this new structure will be the Panther Chameleon Podcast. This means that you will also see the Panther Chameleon Podcast listed with the Chameleon Academy episodes.

Now, this won’t be a whole lot different from what you are experiencing now. I am currently breaking up my time between the Chameleon Academy Podcast which can deal with more advanced husbandry topics or community dynamics and the Panther Chameleon Podcast which has allowed me to cut out all the noise and speak to the beginner with no previous experience. I was going back and forth anyways and it makes sense that I break it up so beginners can have a place to start and ramp up their experience before jumping in the deep end. Those of you who have been listening for these many years may not realize how intimidating it is to get your first chameleon and then be hit with all the things we obsessed chameleon people talk about!

The Panther Chameleon Podcast was started as an independent podcast and so it does have its own feed. I have decided that I will maintain this for the time being and so the two release schedules may not sync up. Do not worry about this. Balancing all of that is my job! All you need to know is by being here you will get both shows! If you do run into the independent Panther Chameleon Podcast in the digital wilds you’ll know exactly what is going on.

You may have noticed that I am being more and more active as far as creating video from episodes. And this is true. The podcasting world has been going through some seismic change. More and more video podcasts are popping up and we now have a hybrid podcast that I am producing under. This is where there is a video component, but the episode is meant for both video and audio-only. This means that the episode can be watched or listened to with no degrading of the experience. When you listen to YouTube videos or the standard video podcast there are often references to something in the studio or something on the screen. This is a dead give away that you are listening to a video. And I, as a podcasting artist cannot stand that! So the art of hybrid podcasting is creating an audio-only experience and then developing a video around it. You’ll not see this often as it is more difficult than just ripping off the audio component to a video. But the audio podcast is the cornerstone of what I do. It is during the commutes, workouts, and chameleon cage cleanings that my podcasts belong. And I will deliberately continue to produce hybrid podcasts instead of video podcasts because I value that relationship I have with my listeners. What is the difference? Well, when you watch a video there are always distractions around. Episodes are often only partially watched. But with a podcast, the listener can do other things. In fact, podcasts are designed to go along with you while you live your life. And it is an opportunity to go much deeper into a subject and share a greater understanding of a topic which might be difficult using video. I hold a great value for the relationships I build using the audio medium and will continue to be there.

Currently, the one place which is a pure hybrid podcast experience is on Spotify. There you are able to experience the seamless transition between video and audio. For the Panther Chameleon Podcast episodes with video, you can watch the video and then get in your car and listen to the audio with no break in your listening. YouTube is making a half-hearted attempt to compete by allowing selected videos to show up on their Youtube music app, but this has the feel of something duct taped together rather than a serious effort. We shall see where they go with it. But the excellent platform that Spotify offers for the hybrid podcast is the reason why I do not want to give up on the Panther Chameleon Podcast being hosted on that platform. I wish it would be easy to post the Chameleon Academy Podcast onto a platform with that capability, but there are some behind the scenes complications with that. Anyway, this is all just a round about way of explaining what is going on. Hybrid podcasting is the most challenging form of podcasting and it is a worthy test of a podcaster’s skills that I am relishing!

And so, I am going to sign off here and allow you enjoy the first episode of the Panther Chameleon Podcast which will be released one minute after this talk we are having right now. Thanks for being here and it is great having along with me as the Chameleon academy experience matures and grows.