The Force Field is a podcast in a new and growing media aimed specifically at IT professionals including field service technicians, small VARs and PC businesses in the United States and Canada as well as the Service Provider community of OnForce, an IT Service “Marketplace” with over 10,000 Provider members. The purpose of The Force Field is to provide news, commentary, reviews of new products and technologies and interviews with professionals, companies and vendors in the industry in order to inform, entertain and assist Providers in managing and growing their IT service businesses.
Although new, The Force Field has received rave reviews and great support among members of the OnForce community and the small business community as well. In August 2007 it was placed on the list of Small Business Trend Radio's Small Biz Podcast 100. Our audience continues to rise with each episode and the feedback from listeners is overwhelmingly positive. The show was originally intended as a private podcast for OnForce Service Providers only and was in limited distribution in the Provider Only forums on the OnForce website. Feedback from listeners suggested the podcast had much wider appeal and as of November 1, 2006 the show began open syndication from its own web site at www.theforcefield.net.
The show is currently available as both downloadable and streaming mp3 media to allow the audience to either listen from their mp3 players on the go or while they work right from their desktop. The show follows a standard format starting with a news and comment segment, a tool or product review or tip and/or a call-in or interview segment covering the show topic for the week. Listeners can participate by calling in Saturday nights from 10:30 PM to 1 AM EST. Interviews are conducted at the convenience of the guest(s). These segments are pre-recorded and are usually between 10 and 15 minutes in length. The entire show is between 24 and 30 minutes in length. Interestingly enough, nearly 90% of those who stream the show listen to the entire podcast.
The show focuses on the IT professional or technician who is also a small business owner and is mobile or runs a computer shop. Topics cover hot button issues important to these entrepreneurs and the callers often set the topic of the shows themselves during the call-in segments. Rather than merely discuss the topic, the host attempts to bring it full circle with a summary, possible resolution or call to action, depending on the topic. This helps keep the show upbeat, informative and entertaining.