Debbie Chatenever, community cat caretaker
March 10, 2020
Lori Behrman, The Toby Project
March 17, 2020
Kristen and I got to spend several days in Orlando at Podfest last week. We had a great time! Since we work virtually, it is always great to get together to “talk shop” in person.
We started out with a day-long session with Jessica Kupferman of She Podcasts, Bonnie Frank of Business Fabulous, and Jen Hemphill of Her Dinero Matters podcast. We spent the day focusing on the evolution of podcasting, designing a media kit, how to grow your audience and gain sponsors for a podcast. So it was a deep dive into marketing, PR, and the business of podcasting. We currently get about 1,000 downloads per show and we would love to have a more wide-reaching audience. They had some good tips to share and it was a very supportive group.
For the next couple of days, Kristen and I attended conference sessions. Kristen was learning all things technical, so she went to many different sessions that were beyond me, but I got to learn more about how to get your name out there on all sorts of platforms and social media, etc. We had fun doing a Q+A session in the exhibit hall at an incredible recording booth. But the highlight of our trip was really the field trips that we had.
Our first field trip was to Orange County Animal Services. Since Kristen and I are both from New England, the one thing the struck us as interesting was how spread out the facility was. We were greeted warmly at the door and given a map that said to follow the paw prints, which led us around the building. You could tell this organization was working to be a progressive and proactive as they could be. All of their cages had portals (Don’t know what a cat cage portal is? Check out the photo for CCP Episode 47 or Episode 295 with Dr. Kate Hurley.) and there was a cageless area for cats.
There was a very good TV screen listing the cats and the length of stay (LOS) for each cat in the cat area. It also listed which cats had been adopted that day. There was a spay/neuter clinic across the street and a large dog area. We did see kitties getting adopted, too. As we were leaving, we found out that they are in the process of building a new facility, so I can’t wait to see what that is going to be like!
Our second field trip was to TLC PetSnip in the Tampa area. We visited with Lisa Gray, Director of Development, at their Lakeland location. TLC PetSnip offers high-quality, high-volume, low-cost spay/neuter and wellness services at three locations. Kristen and I arrived at discharge time (I know that is the worst time for us to visit, but we were limited on time.) and the TLC staff was wonderful. It was great to watch the staff discharge their patients professionally and smoothly. In addition to spay/neuter services, TLC PetSnip offers wellness services, and they have started a pet food bank too. Polk County, where TLC PetSnip is located, is in one of the areas of the country with the highest euthanasia rates for cats.
TLC PetSnip is making a difference by increasing its services countywide and trying to offer them as affordably as possible. We wish them luck and had a great time meeting the several office cat assistants that they have.
All in all, it was a great trip, and if you didn’t see our posts on Facebook and Instagram, definitely check them out.
