P.E.I. town looks to reach residents through local podcast

The Stratford Town Talk podcast covers events in the P.E.I. town. (Source: Adam Ramsay)

It’s roughly a 10-minute drive from Stratford, P.E.I., to Charlottetown, which is the ideal timeframe for Adam Ramsay and his podcast collaborators. The team is hoping to use that window of time to bring relevant, local information to commuters.

“It was an idea I’ve been thinking about for a while now, how do we get more info to residents?” said Ramsay. “A podcast might be a way to get into the phones of people who want the information. I’m a big believer in getting factual information to people.”

Ramsay is the voice behind the Stratford Town Talk podcast, a newly-launched biweekly show which features news, bulletins, event information, council updates, and service notices for the P.E.I. town.

“We see it as being a condensed version of our Town Talk magazine and our e-newsletter,” said Wendy Watts, community and business engagement manager with the Town of Stratford. “It’s done in a quick and snappy way. The majority of Stratford residents work in Charlottetown and it’s a 10-to-20 minute drive and we wanted episodes to be that long.”

Ramsay, who has volunteered in Stratford for years, said he writes the scripts for the episodes and submits them to the town to see if there’s anything they need to add to it. He records the show in his home studio and releases it on multi-platforms like Spotify and Apple.

“There’s really positive feedback and subscribers are climbing every day,” he said.

Ramsay hopes to expand the format of the show both in Stratford by interviewing local newsmaker and in other markets.

“Maybe it’s something that can work around the Maritimes,” he said. “I’d love to take this concept to other municipalities.”

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