His fellow writer and podcaster Philippa Ballantine started a “Chip In” fund to help Tee through this difficult time. I’ve made a contribution and encourage you to do the same if you’ve ever listened to Tee, read his books, or followed him on Twitter.

Goddess be with you, Tee. And Natalie, whom I never met: Sit tibi levis terra.

If you have any interest at all in social media, PR, internal comms, and the impact of new technology on old technology (such as  newspapers), you need to listen to this show. And I’m not saying that just because I record contributions for it now and then.

Go on over to the FIR website, listen to an episode or two, and leave a comment on the blog or call the listener comment line. Congratulate them on producing 500 episodes, and tell them ”˜Professor’ Goetsch sent you.

It’s possible that the timing of this particular article has something to do with Leo Laporte’s speech at the Online News Association conference on October 2^nd. (You know, the one where he said podcasting is dead because it’s too hard for listeners—that’s known as ”˜linkbaiting’—but simultaneously revealed that he grosses $1.5 million annual from his This Week in Tech podcast network.)

Funny, that sounds pretty healthy to me. Healthy enough, in fact, to provoke people into the very get-rich-quick delusions I warn people about in my interview with Michelle.

Tomorrow I’ll be heading for AdWeek’s Social Media Strategies conference in San Francisco—in my capacity as a member of the press, to report on the event for FIR.

I haven’t been able to get a straight answer yet about recording the actual presentations for other than personal purposes, but I am hoping to interview some of the presenters and put together a special interviews podcast for Shel and Neville.

One of the interesting things about this particular conference is that I haven’t heard of most of the speakers. I mean, heck, I tend to assume I hear about everything on FIR. I’m looking forward to hearing some new case studies.

So it’s time to charge all the AA batteries for the iriver and check the microphones and pack up the netbook. If you’re going, just look for the redhead in the white lab coat.

The most diplomatic option (and the one ”˜Professor’ Goetsch prefers) is to click ”˜reply privately’ in order to give the person sending the invite a chance to remind you where you met, who you know in common, and why you should accept the invitation.

That’s right: Jeremiah Owyang got Shel & Neville started on the idea of a “For Immediate Release” conference in which ‘Professor’ Goetsch would be a participant. Where? I have no idea. When? Not a clue. What would I present about? Whatever FIR’s listeners wanted. I never miss an opportunity to get together with Shel, Neville, Dan, Eric, Lee, or fellow FIR listeners. And it would be great to meet Michael Netzley. Though it might be good if I finished reading (and reviewing) David Phillips’ book before then…

Because most of the Reports are included in another podcast (For Immediate Release is also part of the Blubrry community), this show is unlikely to participate in any of the advertising opportunities. (Besides, who could possibly do as good a job promoting GoToMeeting as Anna Farmery does?)

However, part of the agreement podcasters have with Blubrry is mentioning their affiliation, so we wanted to be sure to give them a plug here on the show blog, and will make a point of mentioning Blubrry in the presentations and other special editions of Reports from the Asylum which don’t appear in FIR.

Visit the Podcast Asylum on Blubrry.

Sam Whitmore, Sam Whitmore Media
Eva Chen, Trend Micro
Paul Plushckell, Spigit
Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone
Esther Dyson, EDventure, Release 0.9
David Kirkpatrick, Fortune

Conference videos are available here.