A friend wrote to me this week asking for a recommendation on "podcast platform software, he continues "I'm referring to software that will enable us to upload video and audio (a la Youtube) for others to view."

Given that he already has a Web site, my sense is that he is looking for something quite separate and preferably hosted -- not a new Drupal/Workpress/Etc. site that needs to be built from scratch, I would guess -- that would make it possible to loosely integrate a podcast section to the existing site.

I had a couple of suggestions from experience: for basic audio podcasts, I've used BlogTalkRadio and Hipcast. I used Hipcast for a political campaign and it was easy to integrate into the campaign Web site, and -- more importantly -- it made it easy for the candidate to call in from anywhere to record a podcast. I see that Hipcast also handles video podcasts now, but haven't had an opportunity to try it out.

I also wondered if something along the lines of a simple, hosted, blogging platform like Posterous might be an easy way to upload audio & video and provide an RSS feed for it. From experience, I know that services like Posterous handle audio and video quite nicely.

Lastly, the fine folks over at rabble.ca pointed me to Libsyn some years ago -- I recall reading that it had some nice Web site integration features too.

All that to say: What are your recommendations? What are you using to built a audio & video podcast feed these days? Any and all link and experiences appreciated.

This just in from Celina Agaton of Films that Move via the Social Tech Training network:

Films That Move presents a free video workshop with TV Reporter, Kris Reyes for non-profit and social enterprise employees and volunteers.

When: Saturday, March 6, 2010 10am to Noon 

Where: University of Toronto, Room TBD

What makes for a good story? How can you use the tools of today to help you create your own media? How do we make sure human interest stories don't get lost in the mix?

In this workshop, CityTV reporter Kris Reyes will try to help you answer those questions. She will also talk about the elements of a good story, how to shoot your own interviews, and share some ideas for creating and distributing your own media.

No agenda for the morning, but looks like an interesting opportunity for organizations that have an interest in exploring video and a Saturday morning to invest. Go register, it's free!