From left, Jennifer Crawford, Michael O'Connell and Alex Vidales.
It's All Journalism is a weekly conversation about the changing state of the media and the future of journalism.
In this week's episode of It's All Journalism, Producer Michael O'Connell talks to Jennifer Crawford, co-host of
The JellyVision Show Podcast, and Alex Vidales, the host of the
Pilot Waves podcast.
They discuss their experiences launching their respective podcasts, including how to find guests and what makes a successful interview. The also talk about organizing the first
DC PodFest, which takes place Nov. 6-8, 2015, at the Wonderbread Factory in Washington, D.C.
The idea of the PodFest grew out of Crawford's desire to seek out fellow podcasters in the D.C. area.
"I'd been podcasting for about five years and I started realizing that I actually was very passionate about the platform and really just become in love with it," she said. "And I wanted to talk to more that had that in common with me."
To that end, Crawford launched the
DC Podcaster Community Facebook page, which now has more than 200 members. The group conducts monthly meet-ups, where they swap stories and share tips on how to improve their podcasts. The Facebook group is open to anyone interested in learning more about podcasting.
"When you're talking about podcasting, it is a medium for distribution, but it also is an art form," said Vidales. "I believe that when you have an art form that's this young and has this many people who are all working towards it, you need to pay attention to the quality, the professionalism, the purpose, all those things."
As more people got involved in the group, the idea of organizing a podcast festival emerged. The three-day event will include how-to workshops, live podcasts and seminars on topics like monetization and finding your own unique voice.
"We're trying to touch on a little bit of everything, because we wanted to focus on the creativity, the diversity and the business of podcasting," Crawford said. "We really wanted to enrich people's podcasting experience or at least open their minds to how enriching the podcasting experience can be through your choice of genres, format. There are so many things you can do with this platform."
For more information about the podcast festival, visit
DCPodFest.com and get updates via the festival's Twitter account (
@DCPodFest).
