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I traveled to Seattle a couple of weeks ago, where I attended PodCon 2, a podcast conference that was held over two days. PodCon included opportunities for podcast fans and podcasters to connect and learn from one another.
This year's PodCon event included:
- meet and greets with popular podcasters (for photo & autograph opps)
- more than 20 live podcast recordings
- meetups for fans of specific podcast networks and shows
- a cosplay meetup
- educational workshops for podcasters & aspiring podcasters
- panel discussions with both fans and podcasters
- an exhibitor area for podcasts and other related products/services
I went to PodCon both as a fan and as a blogger. I wanted to experience the event from a fan's perspective, and also do a little networking on behalf of the blog.
This review is based on my fan experience only, and includes my thoughts on ticket prices, event organization, which big-name podcasters were in attendance, and more.
Ticket Price & Overall Costs
I purchased my PodCon ticket in late November, 2018. The price of my general admission ticket was $110 (I think $10 of that was actually a processing fee). Early-bird purchasers and individuals who purchased tickets through a fundraising campaign received some cool perks with their tickets (a swag bag and a pizza party with some well-known podcasters), but my ticket didn’t come with anything special.
All PodCon attendees had access to live shows, workshops, the main stage (for the big opening and closing shows), and guest panels with podcasters. In my opinion, the $100 ticket price was well worth all the cool opportunities available to me as a fan at PodCon. In general, I think the price made the event accessible to most podcast fans.
If you're a local to Seattle, or can drive there for the day, the overall cost of attending PodCon stays right around that $100 mark. But what about us non-locals (and especially us east coast residents)?
Location & Venue
Seattle is a great city, but it’s not the easiest or cheapest option for Americans living anywhere east of Chicago. So, while I thought that PodCon was worth the trip, I didn't meet many other podcast fans who flew out for the event.
(Side bar: I met an awesome woman named Kristin who heard that, last year, for the first-ever PodCon, the event creators looked at podcast listener stats from iTunes and other apps, and chose Seattle for the event because the city/region has the highest density of podcast listeners in the US. She also told me that Seattleites "love their cons", so there was no doubt that the event would be well-attended.)
I didn’t pay for my hotel or the flight from Florida to Seattle out of pocket; my husband hooked us up with credit card points. So, I have to be honest: if I had wanted to attend PodCon on my own dime, I’m not sure that I could have afforded it.
That said, Seattle is a fun, walkable city, and getting to the Washington State Convention Center both days of the conference was easy. The convention center is laid out well, and I thought that the rooms were all nice and large. There were plenty of concession options to choose from, and even some great quiet spaces to decompress (a lot of podcasters and fans are introverts, y'all).
Featured Guests & Speakers
When I sat down to write this post and reflected back on PodCon, it seemed to me that the event leaned towards having more fiction and audio drama podcasts.
But then I looked at the featured guests and the live podcast recordings and discovered that wasn't true at all. In reality, PodCon was made up of a lot of chat shows.
The event was created by Hank Green, of Dear Hank & John, and his buddies from My Brother, My Brother, and Me, both of which are chat/advice shows.
Other podcasters from chat-type shows were Ross and Carrie from Oh No Ross & Carrie, Helen Zaltzman from The Allusionist, Hana and Leila from The Stoop, the Hannahas from Hannahlyze This, and Dylan Marron from Conversations with People Who Hate Me.
Related Post: Why You Must Listen to Conversations with People Who Hate Me
I realized that my misconception about the fiction/audio drama shows was because there were a lot of fiction podcasts promoting their shows in the exhibition hall, and a lot of fans of Welcome to Nightvale, Hello from the Magic Tavern, and Lore. Writers and performers from each of those shows were at the event, as well as the creators of The Bright Sessions and The Black Tapes.
My own personal fave podcaster - Hrishi Hirway, the creator of Song Exploder and The West Wing Weekly - was there. I spent an awkward 40 seconds trying to tell him how much I like his work...it wasn't my finest hour, but I'm sure he understood that I was just nervous.
There were over 40 well-known podcasters at PodCon, and they were there to get up close and personal with their fans. That is, if you knew who was who.
One of the trickiest parts of the entire event was putting faces to names! Like that time when Roman Mars walked up to me, asked me for directions, and I didn't recognize him or speak intelligently.
Ugh. This was my own damn fault, though. I had Roman Mars' picture right in my pocket. PodCon actually had a photo and bio of every single featured guest and speaker online and in an app. (Kudos to them for that.)
One thing that I wish PodCon had done differently is the opening ceremony of the event on Saturday morning. That session, which was like a variety show, was held on the main stage in a giant room (see photos below). The show was full of jokes and laughter, which set the tone for much of the next two days.
I would l have loved it if, in addition to the variety show-like presentation, all of the featured podcasters had been brought out to say one or two sentences about which sessions they would be participating in over the weekend. Sure, all of that info was available in the schedule, but this would have been another way to put faces to names, and to get more podcasters on stage at the same time.
Access to Event Sessions
As far as I know, there were not any special PodCon tickets that offered exclusive access to any one session at the event. As I mentioned before, my general admission ticket provided access to all live podcast recording, panel discussions, group meetups, and most workshops.
At any given time during PodCon, there were at least 9 different rooms hosting discussions or recordings. Figuring out which sessions I wanted to attend - and the trade-off of missing a different one - was my biggest challenge.
For example: I really wanted to see a live recording of The Allusionist, but there was a panel of podcasters speaking about podcast turnoffs at the same time. As a podcast blogger who has a lot of pet peeves that shape my opinions of shows, I chose to go to the panel discussion. (I can always listen to the recording of The Allusionist in my podcast player.)
I spoke to a lot of other fans with the same dilemma as me; feeling like they were missing out on one thing by choosing to go to a different thing. FOMO was in full swing at PodCon.
FOMO was in full swing at PodCon Click To TweetAlso, getting a seat early in the really popular sessions was key, as seating was first come, first served.
I didn't get around to any of the smaller live recordings, so I don't know if anyone had trouble getting a seat. I do know that there was standing room only in one of the podcaster workshops I attended. For some reason, that workshop was scheduled in the smallest room in the venue.
Overall, I was thrilled at the number of options I had at PodCon. Unlike a lot of podcast festivals, I didn't feel like I was restricted to only live podcast recordings.
Related Post: Review: My First Live Podcast Event
The Lotteries
Not only were there audio dramas at PodCon, but there was a little bit of "lottery drama", too.
Although there weren't any "exclusive" event tickets, there were lotteries that were held before PodCon. The lotteries were for "podcaster meet & greets" and "creator chats".
The meet & greets were opportunities to meet a podcaster, chat with them for a minute or two, and get an autograph and/or photo. A few weeks before PodCon, I received an email that gave me the option to enter a meet & greet lottery. I could pick from a bunch of different podcasters that I was interested in meeting, and cross my fingers.
A couple of weeks later, I received an email letting me know that I had won a spot to meet Aaron Mahnke, the creator of Lore and other podcasts. (I'm writing a post about this soon, and I had Aaron sign a Lore book to give away to one of my readers!)
So great, right? For me, yes.
But I spoke to dozens of fans over the two days at PodCon who didn't have any idea about this lottery. They wanted to know how they could enter, when the winners were selected, etc.
I figured that their emails got lost in their Spam folders, but then I heard that a LOT of people had the same questions and complaints about the creator chat lottery. That's when I realized that I hadn't gotten an email about the creator chat lottery, either. (Creator chats gave attendees the opportunity to have closed-door, small group discussions with an experienced podcaster).
What happened? Why did some people get these lottery opportunities but others didn't? I have no idea.
All I know is that there were a lot of questions around the lotteries, and I felt badly for those fans who really wanted a chance to enter. Some awesome people were actually looking to trade or give away their lottery spot to people who wanted it more (they've got some good Karma following them around).
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Organization
My personal experience with purchasing PodCon tickets, and receiving PodCon communications (like the lottery opportunity) was really good. From the very beginning, I thought that the organization and logistics of the conference were on point.
PodCon used the website and app Sched, which was super convenient. I was able to create a profile with this software and access the entire PodCon schedule, which was color coded based on the type of session. Live recordings were green, workshops were blue, and so on. I could view the entire schedule as well as create my own schedule by selecting sessions I wanted to go to.
Here are some screenshots I took of the PodCon event in the Sched app:
The description and location of each session was also in the app, as well as which podcasters or speakers would be in attendance. You could even click on the podcaster's name and photo and get their bio.
The use of the Sched app was essential, since you didn't need wi-fi to access the info once you downloaded the app. It must be said: the Wi-fi at conference centers in the United States is horrible. A lot of people didn't know about the app, and were fighting to get the web-based schedule to load on their phones.
(I know this because I was a PodCon volunteer for 8 hours over the two-day event, and a zillion people came up to ask me for information because their phones couldn't load the schedule. Click here to read about my experience as a volunteer at PodCon.)
Connecting with Podcast Fans
One of the fun things about PodCon was how chatty everyone was. I met dozens of people - fans and podcasters alike - who were like me: just thrilled to be able to talk about podcasts for two days!
In addition to meeting people in the exhibit hall, a lot of people struck up conversations while waiting for sessions to start.
I met the co-hosts of A Novel Adaptation while eavesdropping on their conversation with some other podcasters (I was sitting right next to them, and they really didn't seem to mind it when I mentioned that I was listening).
I write this podcast blog because I could talk about podcasts for hours. The people who attended PodCon are just like me. We were all excited to see or meet our favorite hosts, and just about everyone was keeping a list of podcasts that they were going to subscribe to when they left for the day (because again: bad Wi-fi). Here's a list that another fan shared with me:
Overall Experience
PodCon was truly an event in which a podcast fan like me - someone with zero recording experience - was welcome to attend without feeling like an impostor. I learned more about the podcaster experience, and that's cool with me. I want to know more about the challenges of recording, editing, and getting sponsors. That interests me.
But you didn't have to be interested in those topics in order to enjoy yourself and get your money's worth at PodCon. The live podcast recordings and meet & greets were meant to provide all kinds of podcast listeners with an unforgettable experience. I would go to PodCon again - and I hope I get the chance in 2020.
Want to see the rest of my PodCon photos? Head over to my Facebook page, where I've created a PodCon2 album.
Read this next: Podcast Review: Imagined Life