Jill Bauer became hooked on podcasts during the pandemic when she did a lot of walking outside.
The habit continued with her commutes from the Norwalk area to the Sandusky office of
Shores & Islands Ohio, where she works as public relations manager for the organization that promotes the region and also has a location in Port Clinton.
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Jill Bauer“I’ve listened to a ton of different podcasts,” Bauer says during a recent phone interview. “And, you know, you almost get to feel like even though you’ve never met (the podcast hosts) that they’re your friends.”
Now Bauer is poised to become that kind of pseudo friend to anyone who listens to Shore & Islands’ just-launched podcast,
“The SHORE Line,” which she hosts with Social Media Manager
Dayton Barnett. The plan is to debut an episode every Monday, she says.
The idea, of course, is to promote the area in general, as well as to be able to link a specific episode about a partner attraction on said attraction’s Shore & Islands Ohio web page. Following the show’s introductory episode, “The SHORE Line” is focusing on indoor waterpark resorts, with
Cedar Point’s Castaway Bay up first.
Along with representatives of attractions, Bauser says they are talking with folks from other types of local entities, including chambers of commerce.
“I kind of feel like we have an unlimited pool of potential guests,” she says with a laugh.
Bauer makes regular appearances on area radio stations, including remote hits for
WPCR Radio in Port Clinton via her computer and the software used by Greg Peiffer, the station’s president and general manager.
“I was like, ‘Gosh, this is so easy. Could this platform be used similarly to create a podcast?’”
And thus a partnership with Peiffer was created in which he provides the link for the hosts and guests and helps out with editing out small talk, coughs and the like.
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Bauer prepares for a podcast recording session. (Photo/Courtesy of Jill Bauer)“It works out really nicely because we can have guests from all over,” Bauer says. “I’ll be able to talk to folks that are on the islands without them having to get to the mainland. We’re going to be talking to one of the organizers of (Sandusky’s
IRONMAN 70.3 Ohio triathlon), and they’re in Chicago.”
While there are travel-theme podcasts, she’s aware of only a few that are destination-focused.
“There’s nothing like this in this area right now,” she says.
Along with listeners who find an individual episode when researching an attraction, Bauer hopes to grow a local audience consisting of area residents and regular visitors.
“We’re already up to 75 subscribers – yay!”
Although her job requires her to be very familiar with all the area has to offer – one of her responsibilities is writing blog posts for the website – and she’s very comfortable talking over the air, this is unfamiliar turf for Bauer.
“It’s a fun and interesting challenge for me,” she says, “because I’m used to being the guest.”