Build maps with your location-based podcasts

A few years ago, our good friend George started a venture called Placecloud, location-based podcasts, viewpoints, augmented through the immersive Google Streetview.
You might have seen mention of Placecloud, you might have tried out the platform yourself, or you might have crossed paths with George at one of our events.
George's objective was always to work towards making Placecloud commercial viable. Yet this has been proven difficult, in a fairly crowded niche market, in a space where the big boys mostly only succeed because they have bucketloads of money to spend on marketing (while 'success', in this context really only means large numbers of users, not quite financial viability).

After three years, George decided, in December last year, to take a step back and, eventually, with the team at walk · listen · create, we decided we could take Placecloud forward, not as a for-profit, but still with the aim of making Placecloud self-sustainable.

Over the past few weeks, we've worked hard at implementing a number of changes to Placecloud. The central premise remains the same:

Placecloud maps location-based podcasts, viewpoints, from experts in a range of fields, unlocking the hidden stories that are all around us.

If you've experimented with Placecloud in the past, take a look at the long list of adjustments, or just give Placecloud a try.
The two biggest changes we've implemented are this:

• Financial support is now tip-based; You can tip creators with the amount of your choosing. We take 30% to cover expenses and to keep the platform afloat, while 70% goes to the creators.
• Everyone can now submit a viewpoint, but we visually distinguish contributions by experts.

we invite you to try out Placecloud yourself. You can do some armchair surfing, or you can take Placecloud for a walk on your phone (though, in fairness, the vast majority of the content currently 'on' Placecloud is in and around London). Or, you could go wild and start adding your own content.
In case of the latter, you'd be joining about 100 existing, and distinguished, contributors to Placecloud.

Indeed, Placecloud has some resemblance to platforms like Echoes, Guidemate, Soundtrails, and many of the applications that you can use to make your own soundwalk. What makes Placecloud different is that all content is available, in principle, as a collective compendium of knowledge, from which anyone can abstract their own selection, and that there's a unique tie-in with Google Streetview, creating an immersive experience, even if you're not visiting the location in question, in person.

Go on, go check out Placecloud. And let us know what you think.

In other news, in the coming week, we're giving additional attention to walking and writing. On Tuesday, Andrew will talk to David Borthwick, on Walking, Landscape, and Environment. This is free to attend for supporting members, and affordable for everyone else.

Then, on the 16th, we're hosting a free creative writing workshop. That's free for everyone. Nuts.

To finish off, if you're as vested in these weekly mailings as I am, you might recall that I've gone for a walk in Europe, on my way to northern Sweden, where I'm going to suffer the cold within a stone's throw from the polar circle, as part of a residency in a town of just over 200 eaters of Surströmming.

As I'm writing this, I'm enjoying the sun, while it lasts, in Valetta, the capital of the tiny island nation of Malta. I'll hop over to Gozo in a few days, stop in Budapest, head to Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv, and lounge in the Netherlands, before heading to Sweden.
If you're keen to hook up, let me know.

Meanwhile, keep walking.

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