John and I started the TechFlash Podcast a few months ago without fully explaining what we were doing. When I read some of the comments on our latest episode, I realized that a full explanation would probably be good.

We're doing the podcast primarily for ourselves. We've worked together for years, and it's part of our routine to get together when we can to catch up on things in person, talk about the past week and, ideally, think ahead to what we should be thinking about next on the site.

We started the podcast mostly as a way of scheduling that into our weeks, giving it a little structure, and letting TechFlash readers in on the conversation. Occasionally I've been doing the podcast as more of a programmed thing when John has been out, mostly for my own amusement, so I can see where some people (especially newer listeners) would have gotten confused about where we were headed. It's actually not meant to be a full-blown interview program.

Particularly as we settle in and get more comfortable, the podcast is just going to be us sitting around and talking, maybe playing an interesting or funny audio clip, sometimes bringing in someone else to talk, and occasionally going to an interesting event or location.

My favorite review of the podcast on iTunes so far is the one that says it's "like chatting over beers with my tech geek buddies."

That's basically what we had in mind when we started. Sometimes we repeat ourselves. Sometimes we ramble when we try to make our points. It's the way these end-of-the-week conversations tend to go, and that's probably not going to change. It's just us sitting around unwinding and putting the week in perspective.

If you get something out of listening, that's great, and it's good to have you hanging out with us. Please feel free to call and leave a message on our voice mail (206-876-5465) if you want to chime in for the next show. On the other hand, if you don't get anything out of it, that's great, too -- there are definitely more meaningful ways to spend your time, and I'd encourage you to find some.

At any rate, thanks for reading ... and listening.

-- Todd Bishop, co-founder, managing editor, toddbishop@bizjournals.com, @toddbishop