How to listen
Online: www.gemcitypodcast.com
Some Daytonians are quick to disparage our fair city. Not the folks behind Gem City Podcast, which is devoted to spotlighting what’s happening in local business, politics, music and more.
Since the first Gem City Podcast was posted on May 19, 2013, more than 100 episodes have been produced on everything from the St. Anne’s Hill Historic District, the Boonshoft Museum and Belle of Dayton Distillery to local acts such as Able Danger, Tino and Todd the Fox.
The team that puts it together, Eric Ruiz, Mark DaGrossa, Izzy Rock and recent addition Libby Ballengee, sat down recently in the Oregon District space where the program is produced to discuss Gem City Podcast.
Ruiz: “When I first started, I looked to local podcasters to get an idea what people are doing. I contacted Izzy, who runs two successful podcasts (“On the Block” and “Tales From the Hardside”). He was the nicest person.”
Rock: “I’d been waiting for somebody to do a podcast focusing on Dayton. I grew up in the area. I love the local music scene. I’m a collaborative person. I don’t want to take control of anything. I want to be a part of something.”
Ruiz: “Izzy immediately told me how to do things and talked about some of the mistakes he made. I went on one of his podcasts, and he’s been helping us ever since.”
Rock: “For the music, I wanted to do a storyteller podcast where bands could have something that represents them at that time. I wanted them to be able to express themselves. We have them play three songs on the podcast and then they talk about the songs they performed, their origin story and memorable shows, and then it’s all edited in post (production).”
Ballengee: “Izzy’s stuff is more edited together, but it’s more of a free-flowing conversation with Eric, Mark and me.”
DaGrossa: “We run ours as an organic conversation between two or three people. We want to find out how they ended up in Dayton, why they’re here and how they feel about the city. Do you love Dayton or do you hate Dayton? Doing it that way has worked out pretty well.”
Ruiz: “Lizzy has been with us a few months now. Her strengths are well above ours in marketing and a lot of other aspects, and she brings a woman’s perspective we’ve never had before. We want to be a multiheaded group where we’re all strong in different areas. The podcast is still a growing entity, and I’m embracing the evolution of it.”
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