Seeds of Renaissance publication tracks
Seeds of Renaissance publication tracks
Part of Content production and marketing pipeline. Agreed direction with Rufus, 2026-09-25. The concrete SOP checklists and step owners are not yet written.
This is the operating procedure for deciding how a piece of SoR audio/video is released. Brand and naming decisions (one channel and one podcast feed, which stations exist, SoR as umbrella rather than a station, visual framing) live in the rebrand issue tree.
Problem
We need enough categorisation that audiences know what they are getting, hosts have distinct voices and formats, and production can be delegated consistently, without creating mini-brands, long approval processes, or a new category for every video. In particular, "is this a podcast episode?" must not become a bottleneck for publishing.
Source material: Rufus's 2026-09-25 framing note and sketch of stations, release platforms and a triage flow (cases: Sarah Wilson interview, quick Dougald Hine interview about Ivan Illich, Christopher Alexander talk, 2RCon videos, 2R course videos, Valerie on Praxis).
Triage: is this an episode of a station?
A piece is an episode of station X only if all three hold; otherwise it is a fast release:
- The station's host leads it.
- It is the station's format (e.g. Over the Mountains = long-form interview).
- We would be happy for it to be the first thing a new subscriber to that station hears.
The station host makes the call, before substantial post-production. If in doubt, it goes out as a fast release.
Applied to the sketch's cases: Sarah Wilson → Over the Mountains. Dougald Hine on Illich → Over the Mountains if it passes test 3, otherwise fast release. Christopher Alexander talk → fast release (a talk is not a station format). 2RCon, course videos and Valerie on Praxis → fast release.
Two tracks plus a promote step
| Episode | Fast release | |
|---|---|---|
| Station and episode number | Yes, numbered at release | No |
| YouTube | Public, scheduled or premiere, subscribers notified | Public; notify subscribers only if strong |
| Title | Guest — Topic | Over the Mountains #N | Topic — Speaker |
| Description | Full, with show notes | Concise and searchable |
| Playlist | Station playlist | Topic playlist |
| Cover / thumbnail | Station cover with "Seeds of Renaissance presents…" | Optional: add one where it is quick and makes a real difference |
| Audio feed | Yes, episode type full | Only if it works without visuals, episode type bonus |
| Website page | Yes; the website is the canonical home for episodes | No; YouTube is its home |
| Social, newsletter, WhatsApp | Yes | Not by default |
The "Misc" bucket and the idea of SoR as its own station collapse into one: fast releases on the main channel.
Promote step. Fast releases that do well get fuller packaging later: cover, page, social and audio. This addresses the Dougald Hine case (did well, under-promoted). It needs a trigger, e.g. a monthly look at YouTube stats to pick one or two candidates. A promoted piece that joins a station gets the next episode number at promotion, not a backfilled one.
Other rules
- Everything public-worthy goes on the SoR YouTube channel. Control noise with the notify-subscribers setting, not by unlisting. Use unlisted only for guest/partner-only sharing or raw archive material.
- Talks with slides and conference footage stay video-only.
- Pieces for a station whose name is not yet settled (e.g. the Sylvie-led station) go out as fast releases and move into the station when it launches.
SOPs
Three short checklists: Episode, Fast release, Promote. Each piece has one named release owner who carries it from triage through follow-up.
Open
- Do 2R course videos belong on the SoR channel at all, or in a course space? Decide separately; it does not block the tracks.
- Check that YouTube's notify-subscribers setting still behaves as expected on the channel.
- Write the three SOP checklists and name the step owners.
