Todd finds notes regarding the Hersey boys’ original podcast team-up idea: the MT Cast (as in Multi Tasking). Here, you can gain insights into how little Todd actually knows about Play Doh as well as how he covers for his missteps on conference calls. A little something for everyone!
Read The Podcast: Play Doh Life Hacks (or, the Return of the MT Cast)
The podcast starts with a shock – mostly for Eric. Todd starts the show off without a show topic (which is actually not that surprising). What do the boys decide to talk about? Play-Doh.
Play-Doh Questions
Eric is battling his 3-year-old son on the morning of this episode. It is an early morning Play-Doh picnic – full of breakfast food, Olaf the Snowman, and helicopters. Important questions were asked while discussing Hasbro’s famous toy.
- Have you ever made your own Play-Doh?
- Does it still crystalize when you leave it out for several days?
- How do you properly remove Play-Doh from the can?
- What color is the result of mixing all colors together?
Todd, Eric, and Executive Producer Miles chime in on the answers.
The MT Cast
You could tell Todd was primed and ready to discuss an old project. Back in October 2018, Todd and Eric discussed the idea of creating a productivity podcast. Todd discovered his Google Doc with show ideas for their future project.
Known as the MT Cast (for multi-tasking), this podcast would be geared around hacks and productivity tips. Categories would be technology, finance, entertainment, etc… This was always a topic of conversation during the normal Hersey-fest get-togethers. Todd and Eric would often start talking in a room full of family and slowly everyone would leave as the boys would nerd out over a topic. Hours later, Todd and Eric finished talking about ranking music, their favorite Star Wars scene, or if cats/dogs were the superior animal. Does this sound familiar?
The Herseys discuss early episodes, upgrade in equipment and quality, and also their trial run of the original MT Cast.
Why don’t we have the MT Cast?
The Multi-Tasking Podcast never came out as a whole series – but you are getting the exact experience with the TodCast. Eric and Todd did a TodCast episode (Episode 35) on Habitica. This has been the best performing episode to date and was done as a live trial of the concept. Later, Eric and Todd recorded a true version of the MT Cast on the topic of iTunes Playlists. This was a true demo, with the sounds of Eric typing and lots of starts and stops. This never hit the airwaves.
What’s with the name – MT Cast?
Todd and Eric both knew that providing a crystal-clear audio experience would be difficult. Todd carved out his morning drive to record and Eric was often fumbling around with chores or childcare. They both were multitasking but found it fun to podcast. Not only were they multitasking while recording, but they were also going to give tips and tricks on the best ways to multitask (referred to switch tasking by some).
Eric and Todd both understand multitasking and also love a good easter egg.
Todd’s Real Job as a Room Service Maid and Tricks
Todd reveals a funny story about Lilly and her original thoughts of Todd’s job. Since Todd traveled frequently (years ago), she proclaimed him a “Room Service Maid”. The boys discuss what this job might mean and/or why she thought his job was to clean rooms around the nation. Or maybe he just brought food? These questions go unanswered. Maybe Lilly should be on for a guest episode to explain?
Tricks for Zoom and Phone Calls
Todd was outed for some of his tricks. Since the pandemic has started, there are some onlookers when Todd has conference calls. Todd, maybe not created but perfected, uses techniques to indicate he wasn’t able to hear the question or was having issues with his microphone.
"I was talking on mute" - A common technique used when you need a few extra seconds to cool down your original thoughts. This is often used when someone says something really idiotic and you would like to tell them how stupid they are. This can not be used for video conferences, but very effective on telephone calls.
"You were breaking up" - This is not original but the most effective. When you are not paying attention or listening and someone asks your opinion, the "you broke up" or "you were breaking up" technique gets the person to repeat their question. You can now pay full attention and give them an answer. Sometimes you can pair this with "I was talking on mute".
Podcast Show Notes, References, and Links
It should be noted that the titles of the Executive Producers were given to Miles and Abby Hersey on this episode. You can hear from both – one is “pew pewing” robots. You can make the guess who that is.
If you want to hear an original MT Cast style episode, listen to Episode 35.
Listen to Play Doh Life Hacks (or, the Return of the MT Cast)
