Podfest Multimedia Expo, one of the most tenured communities of podcasters globally, is hosting its first Podfest Global Summit August 10 to 15.
The purpose of the summit is to assemble everyone in the podcast industry, from veterans to newcomers, under one virtual roof -- with a fun and distinctive twist. The gathering is an official attempt at the Guinness World Records title for the largest attendance of a virtual podcasting conference.
"Guinness World Records was looking for records in the virtual space for obvious reasons, and they have done the leg work to give us parameters of what it will take to set a world record," explains Podfest Multimedia Expo and Summit Founder Chris Krimitsos. "We are super excited to have them behind this attempt."
"We’re proud to unite as many people as possible to learn, get inspired, and grow better together," he adds.
The summit will feature a variety of speakers, topics, and in-depth content that podcasters can dig in to.
"We invested heavily in an app called Whova that specializes in community engagement and will help to bring people together via common interests," Krimitsos says. Zoom integrates into the Whova app and attendees click on the breakroom they want to enter and take part in the content. There are also chat rooms, message boards, and a leaderboard for users to interact.
"The thing that sets a Podfest event apart from all others is the tight-knit community we’ve been building since 2013," Krimitsos says. "You don’t just attend a Podfest event; you become part of the Podfest family."
Krimitsos knew with the pandemic shuttering mass in-person events, going virtual was the solution for the foreseeable future.
"The idea came up while watching the children's movie 'Sing' with my daughters Sedona and Savannah," Krimitsos shares about how the concept for the
Podfest Global Summit transpired. "In it, Mr. Moon has his theatre collapse and almost gives up. He then makes his theatre an open-air venue and brings a ragtag group of singers on the stage and brings the entire community together for one night. While watching this, I felt his pain as a fellow promoter, and with the pandemic going on, I might have shed a few tears as it was all too familiar."
Krimitsos says that 15 to 20 percent of the summit's participants will be Floridians.
"Our largest base comes from the state of Florida since we also founded the
Florida Podcasters Association seven years ago," he says.
Podcasters will be representing six continents -- North and South America, Australia, Asia, Africa, and Europe. "We are still working on getting a researcher from the South Pole online with us," Krimitsos says. Most of the summit's sessions are in English, but Mandarin and Spanish will also be featured.
Passes for the
Podfest Global Summit are free to anyone who would like to attend and learn about podcasting, live streaming, self-publishing, voice-over, and online course creation. There are premium levels available for those who would like to have a higher level of access.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.