Bohrok Awakener

Nice to have you back, Greg. BIONICLE just wouldn't be BIONICLE without you, and even if we never see another book I'm happy to know that we'll still have you to write the comics and serials and continue helping to craft such amazing, inspiring storylines, especially with the new movie coming out (which looks excellent).

Good news, BIONICLE fans! After a lot of work and research by myself and the team over at the officially christened Chronicler's Company Podcast, we are pretty much ready to go. Here's a quick check-list of the last month's events and what you can expect as we move into 2009 - note that I'm going to be calling my hosts by their first names as well as their BZP usernames, as this is what I'll be calling them on the show and as listeners, it's what you'll be hearing: Me, LORDs tekneon (Joey) and Kanohi Zatth (Pablo) recorded a pilot episode of the show back in early November that was for our own benefit; unfortunately we couldn't get the audio files together, but it went well and proved that the show could work. The episode ran for 52 minutes.I recruited a fifth host - Corey, known around these BZParts as Amethyst. We're all happy to have him on board and while I've stopped accepting any more applications for the time being, in the future I may be looking for more, so keep your eyes peeled!Joey has been doing a ton of useful research - he's been in touch with James of LAML Radio, a popular LEGO podcast, and I'm going to be entering talks about a possible partnership and hosting program. Sometime within the next few weeks before Christmas, we'll be recording another pilot episode for James, and hopefully you'll be able to check it out too.Assuming our negotiations with James go well, we're hoping to bring you the first regular episode in either late December or early January. We've also had some exciting debates among ourselves about things to include on the show; one idea that I came up with was for movie commentaries - that is, we would record our own commentaries for the three (soon to be four!) BIONICLE movies which you could download and play synced with your DVDs to listen to our thoughts, anecdotes, discussions and opinions on the films. I'll post once I've made contact with James and secured a host - until then, au revior!

These past few days I've not made very much progress with the podcast, I'm afraid; I've been under a lot of strain from work that I've let build up, but once it's cleared within the next few days I'll be able to dedicate far more time to this project. Plus, it's giving me thinking time as well as time to get myself a better headset and sort out any other technical issues, not to mention getting to grips with the editing software. It may be frustrating, especially for my co-hosts, but stick with me here; things may be kind of slow getting started, but this is so that we can bring you all a good-quality show from the off, rather than entering the picture on a poor note.

We have a fourth host! Coming in traditionally late is the news that I've appointed LORDs tekneon to be my fourth official co-host; having spoken to him I can tell you that he has many great ideas for the show's content as well as an understanding of MOCs and other fan projects (well... better than my understanding of them, anyway!) and I'm sure he'll bring a lot to the show. I've just spoken to both Krahka!!! and Kanohi Zatth and we get on well, and things are really coming together now, enough that we may have the show up and running within as little as a week. One problem I did encounter was occasional audio breakups with Krahka particularly, but I'll try and sort this out within the next few days. Stay tuned!

This is a little late, but we now have a second co-host! I'm happy to announce that Krahka!!! will be joining the show and I'm sure that her views and opinions as an "old skool" fan will be much appreciated! I've recently spoken to Kanohi Zatth over Skype and there shouldn't be any problems there, I felt that our casual conversation about BIONICLE went well and with a little organisation, the podcast should go down with no problems. I'm still open for any more applicants so feel free to contact me via PM. Don't worry about coming up with an epic Shakespearean application, I'm gonna take you on anyway unless you're really not appropriate for the role... in which case you shouldn't be applying in the first place! I'm hoping to speak to Krahka!!! soon, and then maybe the three of us can get an episode together, once we've talked about segments and decided on the best times to record.

I'd like to congratulate Kanohi Zatth on being my first official co-host! While I haven't yet spoken to him over Skype, I'm confident that he'll bring a lot to the finished show, and I'm looking forward to discussing all things BIONICLE with him and our other future co-hosts. One issue that's been raised by this, however, is the issue of time zones. Ultimately I'm planning on podcasting at the weekend so it shouldn't be too much of an issue unless you can only access a computer during certain times of the day, so don't let it put you off. I live in the UK which is five and a half hours ahead of KZ's location, so while this prevents us from Skyping eachother at any old time of day, I don't think this will prevent us from podcasting as we'll all be able to agree on times to record, and all we need is an hour or two at the very most. So regardless of your location or time zone, keep your applications coming in! Remember that it's very easy to do and costs you nothing!

Okay, so almost a week has gone by, and I have no applications for co-hosts... and as such, this really isn't going anywhere. I appreciate that many of you don't have the time or skills to contribute directly to this as a co-host, although I'm beginning to lose heart somewhat - if you could at the very least leave a comment with some sorts of thoughts or feedback, it'd be appreciated, and help me to get this started. I'm 100% certain that once this is up and running, anyone involved in producing it will have a fantastic time and it'll be a great show to listen to, and even just leaving a comment with your thoughts could help me to actually feel that this idea's going somewhere, you know? Also remember that I still have no co-host applicants, so if you're interested then give it a shot! It's really not difficult at all and I can guarantee that it'll be worth it, as you'll gain both recognition and pleasure from taking part in this innovative and exciting new facet of our great fandom. With the web serials currently ongoing and 2009 approaching, I'd like to get this podcast started sooner rather than later... I may produce a short MiniCast within the next week with a discussion on Journey of Takanuva and Brothers in Arms 3, as well as giving you all a taster of what the full-length show would entail. Stay tuned! EDIT: Note that MiniCast #1 would feature only me, so it'll probably seem a little forced... it's hard for me to talk to and discuss BIONICLE with myself, but hopefully it'll give you all a better picture.

Hi folks. As you may have seen, the podcast topic in General Discussion was closed; this is just because advertising-type topics such as mine are not really permitted in GD, there's no problem with doing a podcast. Per the suggestion of .:Toa Velox:. (thanks!), I've created this blog to track all future updates. So far I've had one possible podcast name submitted - The Voice of the Chronicler, by Kaxix, so thanks to them! I personally like the sound of this name - it's different from most of the podcast names you'll see on iTunes, and I can see it standing out to BIONICLE fans and non-fans alike. Leave comments with your thoughts on this potential name, or submit your own names to me via PM! No host applications so far, but I'll post back here when I do. Don't be shy, remember that it's completely free and will be a lot of fun! BA

Hello everyone, you've probably not seen me around the forums for a while, I've been quite busy with other projects recently and haven't had the time to enjoy the forums. However, my interest in BIONICLE hasn't waned, and from listening to countless episodes of MuggleCast during this hiatus from BZPower, I've come to realise that what I'd really like is to discuss BIONICLE with other fans, and there are no good BIONICLE podcasts, at least that I'm aware of. And why not, I ask? There are plenty of more mature fans who'd enjoy making one a success, and it'd have a decent listenerbase. Not to mention that there is more than enough material to talk about (set and story discussion, set/comic/book/movie reviews, website discussion, theories, news, etc...). So this is my plan. My BIONICLE Podcast (I don't have a name yet - PM me your ideas, see details below) will initially run as either weekly- or bi-weekly shows, with episode lengths being anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, if we have a very lucrative topic to discuss. Me and my co-hosts will discuss various topics, with the show divided into several segments. Segments are liable to shift around and alter during the course of the show's run, and listener feedback will help us to plan future episodes. Of course, I'm not planning on running this show on my own, and that's where you come in. I'm looking for at least four "main" co-hosts - they don't have to be available for every episode, but as long as we have at least three hosts, including myself, then we'll be able to run an episode. For information on how to apply, see the bottom of this post. To give you a better idea of how the show will be, segments can include things such as News, Set Discussion, Story Discussion, Web Discussion, Reviews, Listener Feedback, and even interviews with well-known figures from the BIONICLE community. Of course, much of the show is still in the early planning stages, and I'll need to discuss it with my co-hosts first, to come up with an episode plan that suits all of us, and the listeners too. My current plan is to get the show up and running by at least November, although this is subject to change. The technical side: to record the show, we will be using Skype to speak to eachother online. Skype is free to download and easy to use, so there shouldn't be any problems there. To actually record our conversations, and then to later edit them, we'll be using Audacity, another free to download software. Lastly, I, as the main editor, will convert the file into an MP3 and put it online. I don't know for sure what we're going to do for hosting, although I'm looking into it as we speak. Having an iTunes feed is also a possibility. So, the good stuff... how to apply! Co-Host Applications First and foremost, I'm looking for around four-to-five main co-hosts who will join me in discussing BIONICLE on each episode. They don't have to be available for every episode, but they need to be around enough that they can join in on a reasonable number of shows - we don't want one hit wonders, or episodes with only two co-hosts. If you want to be a co-host on the show, there are several requirements, I'm afraid: You must be a fan of BIONICLE. Maybe this sounds obvious, but this is a show for BIONICLE fans, and I don't want the show to be filled with negative speech by ex-fans or other people who have lost interest.You must have a solid grasp on speaking the English language - all nationalities, accents and dialects are welcome, but you must be able to speak English well.I won't put an age limit on the application, but applicants should be emotionally mature - we can and will have a laugh on the podcast, but I don't want this to become a podcast dragged down with silliness and immaturity. I'm 17, by the way - my personal recommendation would be that co-hosts should be around 14 at the youngest, although I will let younger members apply and test them just the same.You must have Skype and Audacity installed, along with a decent-quality microphone and speakers (ideally, a headset).In terms of availability, I'd say that you should be available at least once every four weeks - that should be a safe indicator.Remember that we'll be wanting people to enjoy listening to us - I'll say this now that applicants who appear to have a good mix of common sense, maturity, charisma, humour and knowledge of BIONICLE will have the greatest chance of winning a place.If you meet these conditions, and you're interested in applying, then I'd like you to PM me, saying that you'd like to apply and telling me a little bit about yourself and why you'd be interested in joining the podcast. If this application interests me then I'll PM you back with information regarding the next stage of the application process, including my Skype name - we will then arrange a time to speak casually on Skype (don't worry, no formal interviews), which will allow me to better judge who deserves the placement. I will finish taking applications when I feel I have enough, but when I do, I will post it here, and the winners will be informed by PM. Also, if you don't get a placement, don't worry - we'll try and get you on the show at some point as a guest host! Podcast Name I still need a name for the podcast, too - any ideas can be PMed to me. A few ground rules: Biocast is already taken by bioniclestory.com, and Bionicast is already taken by some Bionic Woman podcast. So neither of those can be used. I'd like something catchy and appealing, which will hook BIONICLE fans when they hear it, yet also sound interesting to non-BIONICLE fans. It doesn't have to end in "-cast", but it needs to sound like a show name.Of course, check that it's not already taken by another show, as that wouldn't be very fair on anyone and will just cause confusion if people try to search for us (or them!).