Hello and thank you for visiting Waggish Writer.
For those who follow Waggish Writer, I shared that a representative of Panodyssey reached out to me as an invitation to join their community. The representative was genuine and timely in her emails with me regarding the invitation, letting me know that the offer still stands to join the community at a future date.
My positive experience has lead me to visit Panodyssey to see what it is all about. The exploration is visiting the website, browsing their resources, and reading their creative creations. Here we go!
WHAT IS PANODYSSEY?
Panodyssey is an online platform that is based in France, home to a wild variety of creative individuals who bring art to life via words and visuals. The company appears to have formed in 2019. The platform appears to offer:
A space for creation, primarily articles, poems, and visual content
Connecting creators to resources to improve their craft such as a proofreader
A niche of the Internet that focuses exclusively on the content
WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON MY EXPLORATION OF PANODYSSEY?
My overall experience from my contact with the content manager and the website is a positive experience. I see great support, unique approaches to their creative channels, and ways to improve their marketability to the international audience.
HOW PANODYSSEY SUPPORTS ITS COMMUNITY
Language is a key part of passing information, especially to a non-native like myself to Panodyssey as the company is based in France. I found that either Google asked to translate the content or I could change the language on the website. If I had issue in switching languages, I close the website and reopen it, seeming to do the trick to help with the translating.
One of the most helpful tools Panodyssey created on the website is Panodyssey Academy. The academy contains articles and videos to guide the individuals from creating their profile to adding different types of widgets such as Airtable. I read several articles, finding them easy to follow (once they turned into English on my end). For the videos, they are in French with only French subtitles as an option.
During this exploration, I came across the information they are working on a feature that would allow authors the choice to set a subscription for their content or have their content for free.
UNIQUE APPROACHES PANODYSSEY USES FOR THEIR CREATIVE CHANNELS
Creativity takes many roles, and I found the approaches Panodyssey took in their creative channels intriguing. Here are some of the terms they used on their website:
Author: individuals from all walks of write who decide Panodyssey is where they can have a creative space to share their work
Contributor: individuals who has specialized skillsets that can bring out the best in another's work such as illustrations, photographs, and proofreading
Curiosity gauge: it appears to be a tool readers can narrow or widen the range of topics presented to them
Creative room: the place where authors/contributors create that showcases their work or collaborate with others on joint projects
A side note to the dilemma of being an author or contributor? Individuals who are part of Panodyssey have the freedom to be both of these roles!
WAYS TO IMPROVE THEIR MARKETABILITY TO THE INERNATIONAL AUDIENCE
I am no means an expert, and I have no official creditability in reviewing others' work. My words can be taken with a grain a salt.
However, approaching Panodyssey as a reader and thinking of the website in a writer's shoes, I have some thoughts on ways Panodyssey can improve their marketability.
Include English versions of their documents
Consider creating English presentations of their videos or adding English subtitles to their current French videos
Create a space where non-native speakers can work with each other and then work across the borders
Otherwise, I see the website just beginning and offering great potential growth. If they are genuine in their outreach to others as I experienced, that human connection goes much further in earning members to their community. My hope is they keep what they are doing as I want to see them succeed from my sideline seating.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON PANODYSSEY
Part of my reason to explore Panodyssey was to see if it offered another avenue to share Waggish Writer. After my exploration and listening to my heart, I feel Waggish Writer and Panodyssey march along the same path but listen to a different beat.
Regardless, for creators seeking a community to belong, Panodyssey is an huge melting pot of different styles of creation and collaboration. While I am choosing not to pursue the path of a creator in Panodyssey, I am finding joy as a reader of Panodyssey's content. One creative space that was "Espace japonais" (English: Japanese Space), created by Manon Perfetta. It contains articles about the Japanese culture, fitting into my fascinating with the Japanese culture.
If I were to follow up on Panodyssey about more details to further introduce this platform for curious creators, here are some questions I would ask:
Why the name Panodyssey? What's its story?
How would a member of the community be able to share previously made content (example: a blog post on their own site)?
What kind of support would an English user of the website receive?
Where does Panodyssey see itself in the next 10 years? How will it get there?
Quick Disclaimer: I decided to write about Panodyssey by my own choice as a writer and a curious journalist (habits die hard from the times I wrote for the Washtenaw Voice). I feel Panodyssey falls into my neglected nook of Waggish Writer as a resource. The type of resource? It is a gateway that connects a writer to an international community that is still growing and full of potential based on my brief explorations.
Below are the website articles I viewed for information:
Ieforestier, A. (2019, July 2020). F.A.Q.: we answer your most frequent questions! Panodyssey. https://panodyssey.com/en/article/tech/f-a-q-on-repond-a-tes-questions-les-plus-frequentes-uh7p9c6b9gf7
Ieforestier, A. (2019, October 17). What is Panodyssey? Panodyssey. https://panodyssey.com/en/article/entrepreneurship/panodyssey-c-est-quoi-8twpauntb7ha
Mousstamire, L. Panodyssey Academy. Panodyssey. https://panodyssey.com/fr/creative/room/panodyssey-academy-3mp35ashqut4
Our Odyssey: Reinvent the content discovery. Panodyssey. https://panodyssey.com/en/about-us
Hope you enjoyed reading over my exploration of Panodyssey! If you're curious, check it out! Let me know in the comment section what you think!
P.S. Be patient with the languages switching back and forth. I promise the content is worth the time.
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