1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,800 Whenever you first started at, with the in-person conference, how did you start getting people 2 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:15,920 interested in it and drum up the enough to attendees to make it a full-fledged conference? 3 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:18,680 In the beginning was easy because no one knew anything about podcasting. 4 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:19,880 So it was a hot topic. 5 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:22,320 So then we got a hundred people the next year. 6 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:25,400 We said, you know, we should invite all our friends like Jessica Kupferman and all these 7 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:27,440 other amazing people from all over the country. 8 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:29,440 And they flew in. 9 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:32,880 And then when we moved it to Orlando, that really helped us grow. 10 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,880 So what we've always focused on is on our community and their needs. 11 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:41,000 So for instance, our closing keynote is the community itself. 12 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,800 We start, we close it out with a gratitude ceremony where people will tell us what they're 13 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:47,600 grateful for up on the main stage. 14 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,840 We have a hands-on experiential learning hall that we added this time around. 15 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:55,960 So we have three tracks where you could learn any editing software, how to use Canva. 16 00:00:55,960 --> 00:01:00,280 So literally you bring your laptop in and thanks to the podcast editors for helping 17 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:02,080 us put that together. 18 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:04,000 Mark Deal and Steve Stewart. 19 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:08,060 And then we have, we're going to have a job fair for our companies that are in a trade 20 00:01:08,060 --> 00:01:12,640 show that could hire people with these specialized skills, as well as the people, the podcasters 21 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:14,200 that need to add teammates. 22 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,100 So we're always thinking about how can we create value for our community? 23 00:01:17,100 --> 00:01:20,960 And that's what we're always doing is adding that value back. 24 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:21,960 And then we have 10 tracks. 25 00:01:21,960 --> 00:01:25,420 We'll have over 500 speakers at Podfest in May. 26 00:01:25,420 --> 00:01:28,340 So we're, we're full bore. 27 00:01:28,340 --> 00:01:32,800 We also created the first ever Amazon live conference for Amazon live creators. 28 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:35,680 We found that a lot of video streamers all want to start podcasts. 29 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:38,440 So it's a really great synergy for Podfest. 30 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:42,560 Now is the conference also going to be virtual as well this year? 31 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:44,240 We will have a virtual pass. 32 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:48,540 The virtual track, the way it works is we actually have a room at Podfest that is set 33 00:01:48,540 --> 00:01:54,320 up and we take some of the best of on the floor and we invite those presenters to come 34 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,080 up and they will teach through the laptop, which is more conducive to virtual learning 35 00:01:58,080 --> 00:01:59,840 and then people could join virtually. 36 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:02,680 And we think that's going to be a much better learning environment. 37 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:04,720 So it's going to be interesting. 38 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:05,960 So we're not just streaming what's in the room. 39 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:08,360 We're going to take someone, they're going to be on their laptop showing and talking 40 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:10,500 to virtually chatting with you in real time. 41 00:02:10,500 --> 00:02:13,280 So we have a room dedicated for the virtual component. 42 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:14,280 Wow. 43 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:16,040 I mean, that sounds like a lot of work. 44 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:21,340 It's a lot of work, but it's the, we always ask ourselves, how would we want the information 45 00:02:21,340 --> 00:02:23,880 delivered and how would we want it delivered? 46 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:29,320 And I think that's why we attract creators from all over the world that feel heard because 47 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:35,160 we listen to their feedback and we make sure that we deliver it in the way that they want. 48 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:40,200 Do you have a favorite experience that you've had at your, at your conferences? 49 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:44,800 I mean, the gratitude ceremony is, I don't know if there's anything else like that. 50 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:49,840 Hearing people's, I remember last year, two years ago, time flies. 51 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:52,280 I remember Maxwell Ivy, he's the blind blogger. 52 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:56,900 I remember him going up during the gratitude ceremony and saying, we give out a treasure 53 00:02:56,900 --> 00:03:00,960 map that you could, it's a physical piece of paper that you could get signed by the 54 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:02,360 exhibitors this year. 55 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:06,660 I think we'll have virtual and physical, but anyways, I forget that he cannot see. 56 00:03:06,660 --> 00:03:08,400 So how is he going to get it signed? 57 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,120 And what happened was each and every exhibitor took them by the hand to the next exhibitor 58 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:14,440 and his entire treasure map got signed. 59 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:19,440 And he shared this up at the gratitude ceremony that at pod fast, everybody's his friend and 60 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:20,900 everybody took care of him. 61 00:03:20,900 --> 00:03:26,840 To me, that's the ethos of our entire community.