Top Must-Attend Podcast Conferences

Jordan: 0:00

Not only are podcast conferences becoming more common, but they're getting bigger and better every year. So which ones are the best ones to attend? I'm joined host a podcast and q&a, where we answer your questions about how to start, grow and monetize a podcast. This week's question is from Patricia.

Patricia: 0:23

Hi, my name is Patricia Maristch. And I am the host of the Preppy Podcast where I interview the brands, businesses and influencers keeping the modern preppy lifestyle alive. I am calling in because I wanted to know if there are podcast conferences that you recommend attending to learn more about podcasting and connect with other podcasters.

Jordan: 0:45

Great question Patricia. To help me answer it. I've invited Arielle Nissenblatt, from Earbuds Podcast Collective, and SquadCast,

Arielle: 0:53

I'm pumped to be here and I have so many answers for this one. I love this question.

Jordan: 0:58

I knew you would. Because I mean, I saw you. I think we first met at a podcast conference. So podcast, conferences are great. I recommend them to anyone that has an opportunity to go it is so cool. And you get to meet the coolest people and make new friends and stuff like that. So which ones do you recommend the most?

Arielle: 1:18

Yeah, well, the one that I recommend the most is also the first one that I ever went to. I started in the podcast space in 2017. And I lived in LA and was hearing a lot about podcasts conferences. And there were a few at the time there was the LA festival of podcasts that is no longer. But then I found out that Podcast Movement was going to be in Anaheim that year. And I was like I must find a way to get there. And I made it happen. I did not really have money was not working for a podcast company. But I finagled and made my way to Anaheim. And it was such a productive three days or however long that I was there. I met as many people as I possibly could. And some of those connections have led to jobs to jobs. In fact, I met castbox For the first time there I worked for castbox. After that. I met squad cast for the first time there. I currently work for squad gas. So I can tell you that the return on investment for your flights and for your ticket and everything might not come right away, but will come eventually if you really plug in.

Jordan: 2:16

You know what? That is the exact same thing that happened to me. And so I love that. Yeah. So my first ever podcasts conference that I went to was Podcast Movement in Nashville last year. Wow. It was a blast. Yes. And I made so many friends with people in the podcasting community and even made friends with people who are in the podcast industry, like you know, the people who run the websites and apps and things like that. It's so easy to make a connection with them in those kinds of situations. So you're totally right. And yeah, it led to me also working in the podcast industry, which is crazy. But yeah, so Podcast Movement is a lot of fun, maybe too much fun, but they have amazing sessions.

Arielle: 3:04

The schmoozing really is top notch, really the hallway conversations are a huge part of it.

Jordan: 3:10

See, and that's the thing is like, there are amazing sessions. But I think that the connections that you build the networking, those parties that you attend with other podcasters is just as valuable, if not more valuable than those classes and sessions and stuff.

Arielle: 3:27

Yeah, that's why if money is an issue, but you are thinking of going and you just want to get the bare minimum so that you can get in the door, I would buy the lowest price ticket and just get there so that you can do the schmoozing and attend a few sessions. But you definitely don't need to spring for the highest pass if you just want to be there and make some connections.

Jordan: 3:45

Absolutely. Podcast Movement is best for podcasters maybe when they're first thinking about starting a podcast when they're first starting their podcasts or when they're first thinking about moving forward into like monetizing a podcast, things like that. But then there's also Podcast Movement evolutions, and Podcast Movement evolutions is more for the industry leaders, isn't it? I didn't attend the last one, but I'm going to the next one.

Arielle: 4:11

Yeah, the way Podcast Movement evolutions is build is it's from the same organization, Podcast Movement, evolutions Podcast Movement. Podcast Movement is supposed to be the flagship and Podcast Movement evolutions is a newer event that started in February 2020, right before everything shut down, and it is billed towards more industry folks. So you will definitely see, you know, especially because in the past two years, it was in Los Angeles. So there are a lot of companies that are based in LA, that either held happy hours or made sure to send a lot of their employees there to have a presence. One of the biggest differentiating factors between the two is the expo hall. You can tell that at Podcast Movement, there are a lot more people exhibiting and a lot more diversity in brands and companies that are exhibiting whereas in the Expo Hall at Podcast Movement Aleutians, it's more industry folks. But for the most part, like if you are in Las Vegas, which is where the next one is taking place, Podcast Movement evolutions, and you can only go to one and that's convenient for you, you will still get a ton out of it. I wouldn't even be bothered by the fact that it's quote unquote, for industry, folks.

Jordan: 5:16

What are some other podcasts conferences that you would recommend Ariel?

Arielle: 5:19

Well, I think we should shout out the event that we met for the first time, which is black pod fest, which took place in Atlanta, this past May put on by the black pod collective, spearheaded by ANA gogo who was amazing. And that's a really great event, especially if you're based in Atlanta, and especially if you're part of the black community, there was definitely a lot of folks there who were very proud and excited that that was an event taking place in their hometown. A lot of people flew in from out of town, but it was definitely very Atlanta focused. So I really liked being there. There's a lot of podcast presence in Atlanta, tenderfoot. TV is there. There's a few. There's a few other editing companies, a lot of media companies that are centering themselves in Atlanta lately. So it was a really cool space to be in. It was really intimate, and I really liked the event space that they had. I don't know that they're necessarily going to be at the same one next year. But I do believe that ANA will prioritize an event space that facilitates connections and that has one big room for the keynote speakers but then has lots of small rooms for meeting and for snacks and for lots of different schmoozing opportunities. Again, schmoozing opportunities, operative phrase,

Jordan: 6:23

Oh, yeah. And she had like that party and people got professional headshots taken. And I mean, yeah, that was awesome. That was so cool. So yeah, block pod fest is definitely one to go to, if you can.

Arielle: 6:36

Other conferences I've been to that have definitely been worth it. On Air Fest was amazing. I went in 2018. And then I also went this past year, I hadn't been able to make it in between plus there was a pandemic, you know, all the things on air fest is more appreciation for audio. So there's a lot of live performances, a lot of live podcast tapings, a lot of live podcast tapings, that also incorporate other multimedia elements. So sometimes I'm visual, sometimes other types of sound that's not quite talk audio, sometimes there's music. It's really beautiful. I would say a little bit more industry focused. It's based in Brooklyn. And that one also has really great schmoozing opportunities. But yes, definitely more industry focus there. The event space is beautiful. It's at the why the hotel, I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly, wife maybe, and really a nice area. And I have made some friends there that I'm still in touch with. So that's really how I gauge if it was a successful event. And then I should mention that I helped run a podcast festival called outlier pod fest that takes place in different cities throughout the US. We before the pandemic used to do three events throughout the year in different cities. That was a lot than the pandemic happened. We were like, you know, what, maybe fewer, maybe in fewer cities, but we just had one this past May in Austin, and it was awesome. The goal of outlier is to bring indie podcasters and network slash larger podcasts together. And we really do that by seeking out speakers from all different areas in the podcast space. And the number one thing that I hear after the event every year is it was so great for me to get to get the perspective of an independent podcaster or was so great for me to be in touch with this network. podcaster. So there's a lot of mingling of different levels, different strata in the podcast space, and especially different genres of podcasters. So it's not necessarily all people who are podcasting about sports or society and culture. It's really everybody from all over the place willing to help each other out.

Jordan: 8:32

That is so cool. When's the next one? Do you guys know yet?

Arielle: 8:36

I think Los Angeles and I think in September who Okay, more information soon outlier pod fest.com, something like that. What do you think of pod fest? I have actually only been to pod fest origins. But I have heard great things about pod fest pod fest. So pod fest origin similar to Podcast Movement evolutions is the offshoot event that happens at a different time throughout the year as an opportunity for more sponsors to come together. And for more people to come together to meet those sponsors and to meet each other. So I went to pod fest origins in November of 2021. And it was in Tampa, I'd never been to Tampa before it was cool. It was at the ice hockey rink. That was also cool, but it was literally cool to really cold. And that was cool, because again, pretty intimate event. Not too many attendees, but the people who do attended really came together and I made some new friends there. And those friends slash connections have already resulted in events together online and collaboration opportunities, software integrations, things like that. So again, I think the bottom line here is if you can attend a podcast event and you can really put on your extrovert hat, you will have a good time. It's true. She podcast for the first time happened in October of 2019 in Atlanta. That was a really great event that had a nice location in downtown Atlanta and a really great booth area with I want to say 30 vendors so I met a lot of new podcast As related companies I met ASA collective their shout out to Asa collective and Marla. I spoke at that event with Skye Pillsbury, on journalism in podcasting. So that was pretty interesting. That is a really great event. If you are a woman or a marginalized gender in podcasting, she podcast really likes to uplift those people who are not men. And men are of course invited to these events.

Jordan: 10:22

Yeah, I know Alvin went to it.

Arielle: 10:25

Yes, their goal is not to be exclusionary, their goal is really just to uplift and make sure that they have the resources they need to make beautiful podcast content. So she podcast is really great. And the Facebook group is great, too. She podcast is taking place again in October of this year in DC. So I'm gonna go in, I'm gonna take the train and I'm pumped. There's also tons of online podcast festivals that take place. One that comes to mind is pod Don, led by Lee Yahara. And Danielle decir Corbett, that just took place a few weeks ago. That's a really great event that has changed shape over the years, because I believe at one point they were thinking of doing in person, but now it's all online. And I attended that one and 2020 had a really great time. The online events are interesting, because you really have to make an effort to stay online for the schmoozing opportunities beyond just the learning opportunities that take place on Zoom or on stream yard or sometimes on hoppin. So sometimes these events will do a great job saying like, Hey, make sure to attend the virtual happy hour. And sometimes there won't be that virtual happy hour. If that's the case, definitely attend the sessions, learn what you can from those sessions, be active in the chat so that you can meet some people. And I do hope that we continue to see hybrid events like that, that are in person, but have a virtual option, because there's some times where you really want to go to an event, but you just can't make it work. But you do want to support the event and you do want to meet the people. That's why hop in is a really great service because it's a hybrid event platform. So I hope we see more of that. We covered a lot of conferences in the US there are of course conferences not in the US, I'll just shout out a few of them quickly. There's Radio Days, Europe, Radio Days, Asia, podcast show London, and a few more that I'm sure I'm not aware of. I know that the Africa podcast festival is a thing it has taken place in person, I only remember something during the pandemic that they did online. And of course, there are more that we're missing. But I just wanted to shout out those that I am aware of a great

Jordan: 12:20

place if you want to plan out both in person and virtual podcast conferences to attend. Also find like free conferences and free virtual events and things like that pod news. dotnet has a really great calendar. I love checking that and seeing what's going on because that is constantly being updated. And I swear there are several events every week that he has listed on pod news. And it's really wonderful because you can register to attend virtual classes and webinars and things like that all over the world. So you're not just like limited to the US or the UK or something like that if you wanted to meet people and network with people and things like that. So I definitely recommend checking out the Panis dotnet event calendar.

Arielle: 13:08

My parting words are just that if you can afford it, you should go if you can't afford it, try to find a way to go. Sometimes there are scholarships available. Sometimes if you have something that you can leverage, like maybe you get 10,000 downloads per episode for your podcast and you're willing to do a bunch of different pre roll ads for those podcast events. Maybe the organizers are willing to give you a free pass or a discounted pass. So just get creative and try to make your way there.

Jordan: 13:31

Those are great tips. Thank you so much, Ariel for coming on the show. I appreciate you taking your time out to help me answer this.

Arielle: 13:38

Thank you for having me.

Jordan: 13:41

I hope this episode of Podcasting Q&A has been helpful to you. If you have a question you'd like us to answer on a future episode, go to pod inbox.com/buzzsprout or click the link in the show notes to leave us an audio message. And as always keep podcasting