Pulling Back The Curtain: Year 2 of Washed Media
The first time I hunt-and-pecked my way through a “State of Washed Media” update, exactly a year ago on our one-year anniversary, we couldn’t have foreseen the debacle of a year that awaited us. I discussed listener meetup destinations we planned to hit and out-of-office video production ramping up, among other plans. Of course, Covid changed all that and here we are still dealing with it. But despite the uncertainty of the media landscape, the tightening of big sponsor ad spending, and the general societal turmoil caused by this virus, we had a pretty great year. And, as always, we have all of you to thank for that.
A year ago, we had just moved into our new office, the Lodge, Brett was settled in and pushing ad spots for us going on four months, and we were getting ready for our Breck trip.
We now have another Washed member on board, the young and pretty weird Randall Trembacki, who we hired to head up video production. Episodes are now available on the Washed Media YouTube page. Further, he’s currently creating a schedule of videos we plan to film away from the studio this year. He’s also made a name for himself with his signature Happy Hour Live signoffs (check them out on our YouTubes). Oh yeah, and we kicked off a weekly happy hour live stream during the at-home Covid era. A little Wednesday night entertainment for the kids stuck at home. Vizzys not mandatory but encouraged. Brett landed us big name guests from sports broadcasting, television, and other various members of the media world.
We launched a sports podcast in 2020, too. It’s called Too Much Dip, hosted by Dave, me, the controversial and somehow verified Micah Wiener, and a guy who actually knows what he’s talking about in KJ Ellis. It’s a nice balance of fun and informative sports takes and banter. It, too, has a supplemental live stream during football season, on Thursday nights.
2021
Another very recent podcast development hits close to home. The Mail-In, a podcast I started at Washed Media to replace a previous pod I hosted at a former employer, is changing hands. Coincidentally, the new, younger version of the Mail-In launched today. Just now. Go listen. Kayla Haby and Big Game Brett are taking over as hosts. As I’m writing this, I haven’t yet listened to their first episode but they’ve promised a tweaked format and revealed new branding last night. Their test episode was unsurprisingly really, really good, and I’d expect it to only get better as they settle in and build on their already strong rapport. Host chemistry for days.
Because much of our 2020 plans were put on hold due to a pandemmy, our 2021 plans aren’t too different to start the year. Videos are going to be made and meetups are going to happen. Chicago, Nashville, Dallas, Austin, Houston, New York, Atlanta. They’re all possibilities. We might even have a creative and charitable strategy for choosing the next destination that we’re excited to discuss with you all. Come onnnnn, vaccine.
We are also planning a golf/work trip to Cabot Links in May. That gives me four short months to pull my game out of the gutter.
I may be sharing this prematurely -- sitting on exciting news until the time is right isn’t exactly my thing -- but I think we’re nearing an announcement that another podcast will be joining the network soon. An established, successful podcast hosted by a couple respected people in media, one of which would supplant me as the most socially followed in the netty. Something I’m not thrilled about but will learn to cope with over time. More on this later, hopefully.
On the Sunday Scaries front, expect the following: more content, more merch, and more (read: different) candles. To hear it straight from Will’s mouth, listen to the episode he recorded to kick the year off.
Continue looking for new content on Patreon, as well. We're going to keep bringing you Bachelor/Bachelorette/Bachelor in Paradise, Worst Of, and Spooky SZN episodes, as well as possibly new material you haven't heard before.
Lastly, but most importantly, we continue to have the greatest listeners in the world. I will never get tired of saying this and I hope you guys never get tired of hearing it, but thank you a million times over. You are the reasons why we have such fun, amazing jobs.
Here’s to a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2021 for us all.
P.S. Dave is about to be a daddy.