Here’s What You Missed At The International Women’s Podcast Festival 2024!
Oct 11th
Francesca Turauskis gives us the rundown from the International Women’s Podcast Festival 2024, picking out some highlights and quotes from those attending and involved in the event…
“This festival is not just any podcasting event, It’s a space where ideas spark, connections happen and creativity finds new fuel.” – Imriel Morgan, Content is Queen Founder
Imriel Morgan, Founder and CEO of Content is Queen, wrote these words in her ‘welcome’ note for the International Women’s Podcast Festival (IWPF) programme, and it certainly held true for the 2024 festival – this event was something special.
The main conference took place on 4th October 2024 at the Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre, on London’s South Bank. This was a new venue for the festival (previously held at Kings Place) and it was a lovely space for the event, not least because of the community ethos at Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre – aside from the Festival attendees, people were coming to drop their kids off at the nursery, spend time in the community gardens, and more. The highlight of the venue was no doubt the incredible lounge – Spotify designed and supported our networking area for the day and I enjoyed the soft velvet-style seating, columns of flowers and the perfect background for group photo, not to mention the goodies – more of that later!
Whilst I can’t distil the whole event into a simple article, I wanted to share some of the things that stood out for me this year, as well as some comments from others who attended and were involved in the day.
AMAZING CONVERSATIONS (ON AND OFF STAGE)
“I met someone, and just having a general conversation with her, she warmed me up so much… I’ve actually started to follow her and I’m going to listen to her podcast.” – Anon
Given that podcasting is a medium based on chatting, it is no surprise that the day was filled with amazing conversations! On stage we had panels across the day that went deep into subjects such as how producers can shape the experience of everyone involved in podcasts for better (or worse), how we can make money whilst still telling stories that matter, and the importance of journalistic integrity.
What’s also incredible about this event is that such incredible topics and knowledge are not limited to the stage. All the questions from our audience were incredible, opening up new ideas and sometimes challenging the panellists with both respect and confidence. Away from the programming, it was wonderful to hear about all the connections people made in the networking time. The room was always busy with conversations, people waving to each other across the room. We’ve all come away with a list of shows to listen to and potential collaborators for the future!
THE NICEST VIBES
“I cannot thank you enough… As a lawyer, my experiences of conferences are that they are awful, hierarchical, posturing events. The atmosphere at yours, however, gave me the confidence to speak to others” – Patsy, Guest
“The vibes were great, the content was *actually* helpful and provoking, and then networking felt natural and across all levels of industry.” – Steph, CEO editaudio
One of the things that was mentioned consistently was the atmosphere of the day, particularly in comparison to other events. There is a reason that we call our event a ‘festival’ rather than a conference, and we love to hear that there was such an atmosphere of celebration on the day. What’s even better is that the International Women’s Podcast Festival is proof that you can still provide valuable learning and upskilling in this friendly environment. From new podcasters to people established in the industry, it’s been great to hear what people have been taking away from the day!
THE PEOPLE
“Everybody has been so nice. Sometimes you find in groups like that, people can be a bit cliquey, but not on this occasion… It’s been brilliant!” – Natalie, Guest
What makes the IWPF such a special event is everyone who takes part – our speakers in London and on the Global Voices stage and our fantastic volunteers all worked so hard to bring the day to you, and we cannot thank them enough for their energy, help and hard work.
Of course our lovely audience is a huge part of the wonderful atmosphere of the event. More than once I was in a conversation, and someone would shyly say “I don’t know anyone here” to be welcomed and reassured by the rest of the group. Several of the speakers asked the audience to turn to their neighbour to discuss something, only to have difficulty breaking them apart again! It’s incredible to know that there are so many wonderful women working on podcasts in the UK.
THE GOODIES
“Can I borrow your ice cream sandwich for a photo?” – Bea, Volunteer
Merch and goodies at events can often be purely about branding, and goodie bags often follow a similar pattern (I personally have far too many tote bags and water bottles at home!). The goodies we got last Friday were put together and supported by Spotify and it was honestly all so useful. For one thing, we had less ‘things’ and more food and drink, with a juice bar, coffee available and some beautiful salads for our lunch break. The talk of the treats was the ice cream sandwiches from Happy Endings, which were very Instagramable and very tasty.
The fact the goodie bag was a zipped bag has already proven very useful for me to carry around my recording equipment on the day and my beach gear at home, and the cordless lav microphone is so on-brand for the event. It’ll be in my bag from now on for emergency recording situations!
At the end of the night, the flowers from the display were divvied up between the remaining guests, and I smiled to see so many people walking down the streets of London with flowers in their hair.
THE FESTIVAL ISN’T OVER!
The in-person International Women’s Podcast Festival might be over for 2024, but the festival itself still continues online. Our Global Voices stage is a virtual offering and this is the perfect way to continue your learning and celebrate a truly international podcast festival. If you got your login details before the day, you can still access the talks from podcasts experts based around the globe. If you haven’t got login details, we’re currently working behind the scenes to make the videos accessible for everyone. Make sure you are signed up to our newsletter via the bottom of the page to hear as soon as they are available, or head to festival.contentisqueen.org/global-voices to find out more about the speakers and talks.
Photo credit: Will Ireland