NEPA Scene Podcast returns as weekly live streaming show on Wednesdays starting March 22
NEPA Scene is proud to announce that one of our most popular features, the NEPA Scene Podcast, will be returning this month in a new location with a new format and new co-hosts, conducting the same honest, uncensored interviews and in-depth discussions about Northeastern Pennsylvania that the show has become known for over the last two years.
The podcast will now be presented as a live, multi-camera show that will stream in high definition on NEPA Scene’s Facebook page on Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. Every episode, which will run about an hour long, will then be converted into a free audio podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher, while the video version will be available to watch on Facebook and YouTube. Viewers are encouraged to tune in and interact during the Facebook Live stream so that the hosts can address comments and answer questions as they come in.
Recorded and produced every week by Internet marketing company Coal Creative in their production studio in downtown Wilkes-Barre, the first show will stream live on Wednesday, March 22 at 7 p.m. with NEPA Scene editor Rich Howells and his new co-hosts, Johnny Popko and Brittany Boote. Popko is the senior marketing consultant at local radio stations Alt 92.1, Rock 107, and ESPN Radio. Boote in the owner of Boote Photography Studio in Forty Fort and organizes and promotes concert events in NEPA.
“I’m so excited to try this new live format with two good friends I’ve made during my years as a journalist in NEPA who care about the local scene and have helped it thrive in many ways,” Howells said.
“I think we all have different perspectives that will bring something interesting to the table during our interviews and breakout segments during the show. I hope all our previous listeners and new viewers will tune into this show, which is something totally new for our hometown area.”
“Being able to help bring the NEPA Scene Podcast to Facebook Live is a very exciting opportunity for Coal Creative,” Coal Creative founder Gerard Durling added.
“This is a next level way to engage our community, and I’m very glad that we’re able to take part in that.”
The original NEPA Scene Podcast ran for 62 episodes from 2014 through 2016 at TwentyFiveEight Studios in Scranton with Howells and co-hosts Mark Dennebaum, president and owner of TwentyFiveEight, and Lauren Quirolgico, former commercial and content strategist at Lavelle Strategy Group in Scranton. It became a distinctive staple of NEPA Scene’s unique, independently produced coverage of the local arts and entertainment scene while also tackling some of the serious issues that affect NEPA. It remains the only ongoing podcast about these topics in the area.
“Lauren moved out of Scranton to pursue a new job opportunity in New York City, and Mark is running a very busy and successful business. Last year, it became increasingly difficult for Mark and I to make both our schedules align, so we slowly stopped recording shows to concentrate on other things. Before we knew it, the podcast had become dormant, and while we discussed relaunching the show with a new format after Lauren left, we just weren’t able to make it happen in a timely fashion. We’re all still friends, and I wish them the best with their current work,” Howells explained.
“A few months later, NEPA Scene started partnering with Coal Creative on some projects, and I was so impressed with the content that they were putting out that the conversation eventually turned into other things we could do together. While we had a few simple video versions of the old podcast available, I had always envisioned a more visual format to appeal to those who don’t regularly download podcasts. With Coal Creative’s namesake creativity, live streaming capabilities, and shared love for NEPA, it seemed liked a natural fit.”
The plan is to produce a new hour-long episode of the NEPA Scene Podcast every week that will feature interviews with local artists or experts on topics that the hosts feel are important to the region. Every episode will be available for streaming and download on nepascene.com.
