Podcast festival will show the joy of networking, July 15th

On July 15^th at 2:30 pm BST, a new podcast festival will be held using the virtual platform of Hopin.

One of the event’s coordinators Minter Dial spoke with me about the event, some of its key contributors, and why it is being held in the first place.

Minter firstly talked about the previous edition of the event which was held in May 2020, and some of the many wonderful speakers that attended as guests.

“This is our first year, but the second edition,” he said. “Last year we had “The Future of Podcasting” which ran in May and featured two great podcasters Kara Swisher (Pivot), and Drew Ackerman (Sleep with Me). The renowned producer Dr Siobhan McHugh, Head of BBC sounds Jason Phipps, and editor of Podnews James Cridland were also in attendance”.

Podcast Festival

Minter moved on to discuss the inspiration for the event, which came from the idea to connect people virtually on a global scale.

“My two co-founders, Andrew Grill and Sam Sethi, and I are all bona fide podcast enthusiasts and, back in the autumn of 2019, we had thought it would be great to create a podcast festival that was genuinely global in scope. Of course, at the time, we were thinking an IRL meetup. While podcasting is growing fast, we feel it is still early days for what looks like a rosy future”.

He then discussed the festival that will proceed after this one, Voices of the World, and how it aims to show off different podcasting cultures and activities throughout the world. “it’s easy to think that podcasting is primarily an Americano-British type of activity. Nothing could be further from the truth” he said. “This next festival will shine a light on some wonderful initiatives from which we all can learn, including from China and India”.

Moving back onto the subject of the present festival, Minter explained what people can hope to expect, which includes a large variety of speakers from different backgrounds.

“We pride ourselves in having a highly curated list of top -quality speakers. Done in the form of an interview, each guest for the Voices of the World is running a podcast that is guided by purpose. As such I expect every attendee to be inspired by the speakers and the podcasts they’re running”.

Minter expressed how the festival is a real opportunity for attendees to experience an entirely networked event. “Using the Hopin platform and a professional production team, we promise a highly interactive afternoon (it starts at 230PM BST) with networking opportunities throughout the afternoon, including an altogether surprising speed networking feature”.

For podcasters attending, he mentioned how it could be a particularly beneficial afternoon in terms of building connections. “Podcasters attending will be particularly interested in the offers and sessions by our sponsors, who are offering two months free for their service, including from Descript (transcription and editing) and Simplecast (podcast management and analytics)”.

Minter then unveiled the impressive lineup of guest speakers who will be present, each with their own extensive knowledge in different areas of expertise.

“Our lineup of speakers is Amit Varma, who runs the Seen and the Unseen podcast, George the Poet, creator of Have you Heard George’s podcast, Dan Snow MBE, speaker of History hit podcast and History hit TV, Lory Martinez founder of the Mija podcast, and Ning Yan, who voices a Thousand Whys, from Beijing China”.

For potential attendees, Minter detailed the best way to enjoy the afternoon and get the most out of the experience.

“Since the whole event is 3.5 hours long, it’s hard to stay for everything, so pick and choose your preferred speakers. But make time for networking, too. That’s good for meeting new people, discovering new podcasts, and getting inspired by others doing fun things in the podcasting world. Our sponsor booths will include plenty of great educational content as well”.

Before we finished he gave one final tip, in terms of attending the networking session that occurred at the end of the afternoon, which he revealed was one of the most enjoyable aspects of the afternoon.

“One of the key surprises last time was the enthusiasm and enjoyment at the networking session at the very end of the event after the mainstage had finished. If you’ve got staying power, grab a drink and stick around for the last debrief!”.

If you wish to attend you can get tickets at www.podcastfestival.live/ITN-VOTW.

Tickets are $25.

You can also follow the festival’s twitter account at @podfestlive.

To get a visual sense of what the festival has to offer look here:

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