Embracing Change

The Future of Podcasting Conferences Post-Pandemic

The first post-pandemic podcasting conference is going to be packed! But after 2 years of distanced-everything experiences, will a return to “business as usual” at in-person podcast events be enough?

March 2, 2021

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Is it weird for me to hope that podcasting conferences never go back to normal?

I know that sounds like a heretical statement. And I also realize you may feel quite differently, are sick of all the restrictions you’ve been living under, and are really looking forward to podcasting conferences the way they used to be.

And I agree with almost everything about that sentiment. ‘Cept that last bit.

Virtual Lessons For In-Person Events

I could do without barely-competent but terribly-enthusiastic presenters doling out bad advice from the stage. I know it’s hard for conference organizers to vet every speaker. And by no means am I saying that Zoom-based events, Clubhouse rooms, or other virtual events are free from such problems. Quite the contrary.

But many who find it easy to bail on a bad virtual room will suffer through a bad conference session if only not to make a scene or embarrass the presenter by walking out. Yeah… screw that. The Law of Two Feet has always applied, but we’ve had a year or more to put that in practice, So perhaps we’ll all feel a bit more empowered to walk away when we’re not getting what we need from a session.

I don’t relish enduring finicky house sound systems that make it hard to hear the presenter, panelists, or audience members who have questions. And I’m dreading showing up five minutes before my own talk is scheduled to begin to figure out if it’s a hand-held mic, lavalier, or lectern mic that I’ll be saddled with.

No such problems—as attendee or presenter—when I’m in using my mic in my studio or when I’m listening through my earbuds via my phone. Yes, problems with internet connectivity and other tech snafus are still quite common. But we are talking about a podcast conference, so I’d expect a certain level of competency. On both sides.

And I’m not looking forward to presenters who, rather than looking at and engaging with members of the audience, turn around and talk directly at (often because they’re reading from) their word-packed PowerPoint slides.

Again, virtual tech is far from perfect here, as screen-sharing still is often more alchemy than science. Also, no visuals in audio-only group events means no slides at all. But there’s a lesson there. Perhaps presenters are learning that the slides are there to reinforce the talk with at-a-glance factoids and supporting imagery.

I think that many of us spent almost all of 2020 lamenting what a poor simulacrum virtual events were. But we really didn’t have a choice, so we adapted. And now in 2021, many of us are seeing the benefits from those adaptations. We’re not living in the new normal. We’re living in the new different. And many of us don’t want to go back.

But I Still Want To Hang Out With You IRL!

I miss the physicality of in-person events. I miss seeing faces in 3D. I miss in-the-flesh greetings. Maybe hugs and handshakes will be overtaken by elbow-bumps or whatever less-infectious greeting rituals gain dominance. I’m fine with whatever it is. I just want to do it.

I miss the hallway conversations. I miss holding court at a booth in the back of the hotel bar. I miss almost being late to my speaking session because I was deep into a conversation with someone I just met in the green room and lost track of time. I miss planning out which meetings I would attend and then abandoning those plans in favor of a three-hour lunch with like-minded podcasters.

I can’t help but wonder how our lived experiences of the last year or so will change our expectations of future in-person experiences. Will they be the same? No, of course they won’t.

The New Different Podcast Conferences

Hopefully, smart conference organizers will recognize our new different expectations and make a blended in-person and virtual experience like we’ve never seen before.

Maybe there’s a way to get live feeds running for each and every session that both look and sound great!

Maybe that leads to fewer concurrent sessions, where in-person, on-stage, in-real-time talks are done in one or two rooms, with “breakout” sessions occurring (and recorded) only in virtual spaces.

Maybe the “drop-in” paradigm is fully embraced, with an entire track determined on-the-fly, with a nod back to the “unconference” format that was the darling of the aughts, modernized to meet current expectations.

Maybe there’s a way of enabling public live chats for every session. I watch a lot of live videos on YouTube and often the live chat is every bit as meaningful as the live event itself. How can we bring that into the podcasting conference world?

These are the kinds of questions I hope every podcast conference organizer is thinking about. Because it’s not just a brave new world waiting for us out there. It’s a brave new different world, and I do not think we’re going to accept the way things were when we meet up again at a podcast conference.

If you’ve been approached by a podcast conference organizer, send them a link to this article and ask what they’re doing to ensure their conference is ready for the new different world in which we’ll soon emerge.

And if you personally get value out of the content I bring to you four days a week, you can show me your support at BuyMeACoffee.com/evoterra, where you can buy me a virtual coffee.

I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.

Cheers!

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Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra. He’s on a mission to make podcasting better. Allie Press proofed the copy, corrected the transcript, and edited the video. Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.

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The first post-pandemic podcasting conference is going to be packed, but after two years of distanced everything experiences, will a return to business as usual at in-person podcast events be enough?

Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.

Is it weird for me to hope that podcasting conferences don't go back to normal? I know that's a heretical thing, right? We're all looking for the old normal. We don't like the new normal. We want to go back to the way things used to be.

Well, maybe, I suppose, if you want to do that that's fine. But I personally could do without barely competent enthusiasts jumping up on stage, giving bad talks, and giving bad advice. I know that's hard to police and maintain, but you know, it happens. It happens. And I think that tools like Zoom, Clubhouse, and other apps like that have taught us over these last two years now, or by the time the conferences come around two years it'll be, they've taught us that we can easily walk away.

If we're not getting value out of a room, out of a session, out of something we can do what we used to call in the conference world the law of two feet and exercise that by getting up and using our two feet to leave, but harder to do in person. But we're learning to do it virtually. You know, those iffy audio systems that are in the big plaza hotel conference rooms and things like that. You know, those are often plagued with challenges. It's hard to hear and many of us have a kind of a rotten experience in those rooms if they're even miked at all. But you know, here in my studio, if I'm watching or experiencing it on my phone with my headphones in, I'm great.

And also, I think the people that are have been producing these things distantly, especially podcasters, we're used to talking into microphones, but we're not used to talking lavalier microphones or other equipment at the hotel.

But if we're doing our own stuff, you know, it's by far from perfect. We've all been on Zoom calls or other things where the people don't have the right equipment. But again, this is a podcasting event. That should be pretty solid, I would think. And I'm not going to miss, I'm not looking forward to returning to, I should say presenters who stare at their word-packed PowerPoint slides, as opposed to the audience when they're talking. Yeah. That's not great.

Now, there's a barrier to doing that, obviously in the virtual world of Zooms and Clubhouses and other sorts of models. But, you know, and again, audio-only platforms make that really challenging. But maybe one of the things that the presenters will learn is you don't need word-packed slides. You need, you know, you. Put the facts on the slide. Put some other things. Anyhow.

you know, I think many of us have spent the better part, well, almost all of 2020, and we're probably the first quarter, at least, of 2021 really griping about the, those of us who experienced podcasts conferences virtually, we griped a lot about the, what a poor simulacrum that really is. But, you know, I think we're starting to see some value in virtual, in distanced, whatever you want to call it. But more importantly, in what I call this not the new normal, because I don't think that's what we're into, I think this is the new different paradigm.

This is new and different. And I think we've only begun to scratch the surface of what that means right now and how that will translate itself into the physical world when we go back. Because look, I miss the physicality. I miss being face-to-face, fist bump to fist bump or elbows, whatever we're going to do, masks up or not. I miss those things. I miss the hallway conversations. I miss holding court at the bar. I miss all of those things about it. But at the same time, I wonder how all of those experiences will be changed when we get back to them.

I don't think we're going back to the new normal of things. I think that's going to automatically change. This new, different, whatever that means to us is put in place here. Also, I don't think it's a binary choice. I don't think that it is a situation, if you're having a podcast conference, do you do it virtually or do you do it in person? I don't think that's happening. Well, obviously that will happen, but I think there's a middle ground. I think there's a way to combine the two things, physically and distance, because we just learned how to do it all at a distance. I don't think we're going to throw those lessons away when we start doing it in person again.

So that can mean a lot of different things, right? That could mean, I don't know, live feeds in every one of the sessions so that people around the world can view them at any particular time. And I know all these things are problematic I'm going to say, but again, we're used to that now. Maybe it means fewer concurrent sessions at the podcasting events that are in person, because we can't get to all of them. I don't know. Maybe there's a way to do drop in. We're learning, drop-in stuff from Zoom and Clubhouse and others. Maybe there's a drop-in track? An entire arm, an entire day filled and we're kind of like an un-conference style the way things used to be back in the oughts, maybe? Having public chats available for every session.

I know I watch a lot of things on YouTube Live and they love that the chat thread is way fun and interesting. How do we do that? How can we bring that into the podcasting conference world? I don't know. It's a brave new world out there. It's a brave, new, different world out there. So, let's see what we can make of it when we finally get to go to some of these podcasting conferences.

I think you should share this episode with a conference organizer that you know. Maybe that will give them some new ideas of how they might approach the space. What they're going to do in this new, different world of podcasting conferences, because they don't want to slide back to the way things used to be. They may, but you know, hopefully you can convince them to take some of these lessons that we've learned over these last year to two years and we're finally there, and make their conferences a little bit better. Maybe so.

And if you like that idea or all of the ideas that I've been bringing to you for the last, how long have I been doing this? Three years now? At Podcast Pontifications please go to buymeacoffee.com/evoterra, and do just that. Buy me a virtual coffee.

And that's it. I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.

Cheers!

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