Episode 80: Dan Shessel

Meet Dan Shessel, co-host and co-creator of the Northern Nerdcast, a showcase for the geeky, nerdy people, groups and events in and around the Edmonton area. The Northern Nerd Network started as a YouTube channel in 2013, but it was killing Dan to leave so much on the cutting room floor, which he found himself doing a lot with video. Podcasts can be longer, and Dan loves podcasts himself, so it made a lot of sense to swivel to audio in 2014, with a little bit of video in the mix. Dan co-hosts the podcast with Chelsea Thompson, who used to live in Edmonton but now lives in Vancouver, and is produced by Trina Shessel, the unsung hero of the operation, as you'll hear. They do the show live via Google Hangout, which minimizes the editing and allows for a bit of interaction. They recorded their 100th episode this week, which is quite the milestone! In this episode, you'll hear more about the Nerdcast's origin story; how to juggle kids and marriage and podcasting; the family feeling of Edmonton's nerd community; what it was like to talk sports on Tight Ends; the doors that the Nerdcast has opened; the surprising appeal of an episode about goats; and more. Have a listen!  Here are Dan's recommendations: Tales from the Hydian Way and Heroes of the Hydian Way by Ben Yendall and a cast of RPGers; The Well-Endowed Podcast from the Edmonton Community Foundation (which is a  a sponsor, but we really like it!); The Tight Ends Podcast, Vanda Favaro's football-and-fun podcast from Calgary. You can watch Northern Nerdcast streaming live at 8 p.m. every Sunday, except on long weekends, and it is released on the podcast feed the following Tuesday. It is also a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB. You can follow @northern_nerd on Twitter, and it's on Facebook and Instagram, too.  Many thanks to Castria for putting this episode together. You've already found it, but tell your friends they can also hear it on the CKUA app or on GRadio. This is the last episode of 2017. We'll be back Jan. 8 with more interviews with local podcasters and bloggers. Thanks for listening, and happy holidays! This episode of Seen and Heard in Edmonton is brought to you by the Edmonton Community Foundation, which acts as a bridge between donors and charities to help create a strong, vibrant community for generations to come. You don’t have to be rich to start an endowment fund, and you can even build one with friends. That's what Gurvinder Bhatia did, as you'll hear in this episode. You can hear the whole story on Episode 5 of The Well Endowed Podcast. Learn more about endowment funds at ecfoundation.org. This episode is also brought to you by ATB Financial, founding sponsor of the Alberta Podcast Network. Did you know that you can now do your day-to-day personal banking through Facebook Messenger, using the new ATB virtual assistant? This is more than a typical chatbot fielding customer inquiries -- it actually allows you to do stuff, like pay bills, check balances, and send e-transfers. If you ever need a human, it will put you in touch, but otherwise, it just helps you handle your affairs easily and conveniently. Find out more at atb.com/learn.