In March, the world was officially taken by surprise as the whole country decided to go on lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19. No more live events. No more in-person meetings. No more hugs. For people who love the energy that events bring, the future seemed bleak. A podcasting event heard globally was only going to be a reality if it could happen virtually.
Fortunately, the show must go on.
Chris Krimitsos, founder of Podfest Multimedia Expo, decided to bring the community back together for the Podfest Global Summit – virtually! After watching the movie “Sing” with his daughters, he had a stroke of inspiration and had a vision of uniting the podcasting community the world over.
And so, with the help of his friends, family, and community of podcasting enthusiasts, his focused promotion began.
From India to Nigeria, from China to Canada, the podcasting community knew there’s still abundant amounts of information to learn from each other. Over 46 countries and 45 states combined for 5,342 people registered and the Podfest Global Summit set a GUINNESS WORLD RECORD™ for the world’s largest virtual podcasting event.
Once everyone signed up, the learning commenced. One fellow podcaster, Glen Duggan from Ireland, said, “This event has been absolutely brilliant. Even though I have access to the recordings, I'm staying up late each night to watch them live. There is so much excellent information. I really appreciate the effort and hard work that has been put in by all of the organizers.”
A Topic for Everyone Helps Podcasting Event Get Heard Globally
With several days of Micro Cons including S.H.E. Con, She Podcasts, Cinema Voz, Podcasting Editors Con and more, there were topics everyone could enjoy!
At first, people were worried about being able to make the same kind of connections they did at live events, but fortunately, through the WHOVA app, the community was still able to have an incredible experience!
Attendee Mike wrote, “Thanks for all the hard work you guys put in for this. Just amazing work. The app was great I was moving around my day listening in.”
Another member of the community, Carole Thomas also chimed in by saying, “Great job on a fabulous virtual conference. Thank you!”
Mr. Al Pete even connected via Instagram…
Nick Rodriguez and Daisy Cedeno mentioned, “Honored to be a part of this [amazing] event!”
Next Steps
Now that Podfest knows it’s possible to put together a successful virtual event for the international podcast community, they’re excited to be hosting several more events in the next few months and into 2021.
Stay Tuned! Podfest Masterclass is set for September 28-October 2nd, and VIDFEST is set for the first week of December.