Lawyers, you may have an interest in doing your own podcast. Whether it's an effort to promote your business or talk about a hobby or other passion outside your work, knowing where to start can be a daunting task. The annual Podfest conference may be where you want to get your feet wet.

Podfest was started about eight years ago by Chris Krimitsos from what began as a meetup at a local café in 2013. Chris created Podfest to provide a platform for podcast enthusiasts, creators, and industry leaders to network, learn and grow in the podcasting world. The first Podfeast had about 100 attendees and grew to about 1500 attendees last month (the last number is based on the conferencing app Whova but I understand Chris may have a larger roster).

I attended the 2023 Podfest last month in Orlando, FL. This was my second Podfest event - I attended one a couple of years ago. My first Podfest was about a month before COVID really hit the United States. I figured enough time had passed since the end of COVID to allow the planners to get things in order (Note that they had some virtual events between 2020 and 2023. But I'm not a big fan of virtual events. I tend to get more out of being around the attendees and presenters, meeting new people, and exchanging ideas. This conference did not disappoint in that aspect!).

The first day of Podfest 2023 started with a round-robin of success stories. The afternoon and the next two days had sessions covering various tracks, including growing your audience, monetizing your podcast, technology involved in podcasting, video creation for your podcast (did you know you can live stream your podcast sessions?!), and more! The forum had various meets and greets depending on your interest (I was disappointed that there was not one geared toward lawyers [I tried with the Whova conference app while I was there but to no avail. 🙁 Maybe next year! 😀]) Meanwhile, there is an exhibition hall where you can see and talk various equipment makers, SAAS companies that provide podcast production like hosting and editing, podcast guesting services, and other services related to podcasting.

There were many sessions to choose from; as such, I could not attend about 80% of them. The major drawback from my perspective was that there were not enough hands-on or detailed how-to-do things with software and equipment; this is the same complaint I have about the ABA Tech Show. Meanwhile, I had to remind myself this was not a stuffy lawyer's CLE conference (although I did meet several lawyers there). Some of the meetings were a little too touchy-feely, kumbaya for me. But that does not necessarily mean it was a bad thing.

Podfest is for people passionate about podcasting and their podcasts. For anyone interested in podcasting, it is undoubtedly an excellent place to start and maybe even refresh themselves about their podcasting interests. Lawyers interested in or actively podcasting today may want to consider attending next year's Podfest.

I'm sure to be back. Maybe next year. But certainly in a couple of years out. Hope to see you there!

MTC.