As part of the never-ending effort to use the resources found among the podcasts of iTunes, I was searching for new ‘listening experiences’ and came across the Competitive Intelligence Podcast. This site and associated blog and podcasts are managed by a Mr. August Jackson.
Mr. Jackson has taken the time to put together a very user-friendly site with a variety of feedback tools. I am not sure what his current audience is but it deserves to be larger. I recently listened to episodes 6 thru 9 and found useful information in each one. I think one of the best episodes to date was No. 8, which featured an interview with John McGonagle. I have read several pieces written by Mr. McGonagle as part of my graduate studies and he definitely helps to define the current standards for effective competitive intelligence. It was a pleasure listening to the interview.
On a note more related to the themes of this blog, it seems that some coverage on the rols of competitive intelligence in international development would be a desirable topic for future podcasts. Mr. Jackson’s website and podcasts are an excellent way for someone to become familiar with CI as it currently applies to acommercial/corporate environment. An important complement to the commercial CI sector is the non-profit area. In a brief internet search I came across one firm that lists its experience in CI for non-profits (SIS International Research) and a tutorial about the importance of competitive intelligence for non-profits (Penn State Access eNonProfit).
It seems like a worthwhile market research project to determine what firms work in the area of international development and which of these actively employ competitive intelligence staff as part of their standard activities. I am open to any comments from readers about resources that (likely) already exist in this topic and meanwhile I will have a new item on my professional development “to do” list.
Sean,
Belatedly many thanks for your kind words about the Competitive Intelligence Podcast. Judging from your blog you’ve been involved in a number of international projects, and I hope the podcast can have an international scope so individuals such as yourself will continue to see the value.
To answer your question about the audience, at the moment LibSyn statistics tell me that I have approximately 200 downloads for most episodes. The downloads are fewer for the earliest episodes before my promotion efforts had a chance to catch on. Of the 200 odd downloads I have about 130 are from people subscribing to the RSS feed and the remainder downloading the episodes. The interview with John McGonagle had around 260 total downloads, so far my most popular episode.
If you ever have any ideas for topics you would like to see covered, please let me know. Feedback is always very welcome!