Director of VPM + ICA Community Media Center Chioke I’Anson (Photo courtesy Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU)
Creating a podcast takes more than turning on a microphone and posting the audio online. There’s a lot of work involved, from coming up with an engaging idea to capturing decent audio to finding the perfect host and promoting the work online. Looking to help aspiring podcasters, the VPM + ICA Community Media Center is holding its inaugural Resonate Podcast Festival on Oct. 14-15, featuring industry pros who will discuss the ins and outs of audio storytelling. During sessions running from 45 minutes to an hour, panelists will go over the skills necessary to create a successful podcast, including music design, audio production, pitching, writing and marketing. This isn’t one of those media affairs where attendees pay hundreds of dollars to sit and hear speakers speak.
Chioke I’Anson, director of the Community Media Center, says he wanted to steer away from that scene, which is why Resonate offers one-on-one consultations with representatives from the Association of Independents in Radio, a network that equips independent audio producers with mentorship and tools.
“I knew I wanted it to be kind of intimate,” I’Anson says. “I wanted there to be lots of opportunities for people who are interested in podcasting to talk to career podcasters face to face.”
The idea of a podcast festival had been on I’Anson’s mind ever since the conception of the media center, but he says it came together sooner than he expected because the city seemed ready for it as more podcasts started coming out of Richmond. “It’s time for us to let people know that we are a focal point of creativity,” I’Anson says.
Beyond educational panels from podcasters such as Nichole Hill, the producer and host of the theatrical podcast “The Secret Adventures of Black People,” and NPR’s “Invisibilia” co-hosts Kia Miakka Natisse and Yowei Shaw, the festival will also host an art exhibit of audio works and live performances of podcast episodes.
Podcast groundbreakers Sharon Mashihi and Nick van der Kolk of “Appearances” and “Love + Radio,” respectively, will adapt show episodes into live performances at the end of each day of the two-day festival. Van der Kolk, whose podcast is a strange and surrealist depiction of Richmond history, returns to the city for the first time since 2020 to perform with music and actors.
I wanted there to be lots of opportunities for people who are interested in podcasting to talk to career podcasters face to face.
—Chioke l’Anson
“I want people to have a better understanding of Richmond, and maybe, simultaneously and completely paradoxically, I want them to be more confused about Richmond as well,” van der Kolk says.
In addition, someone will walk away from the festival with $10,000 to produce a podcast pilot. Three finalists from the festival’s national call for podcast pitches will present their ideas to a panel of judges. Then, the producers of the winning pitch will be awarded the check for a contract with VPM.
Throughout the weekend, there will be opportunities for attendees to build connections during the receptions with snacks and drinks from 6 to 7 p.m.
“It’s my hope that this will expose people, students in particular, to the ways of podcast production, and also help show them what some of the opportunities are in the field,” I’Anson says. “I also hope that people who are just podcast-curious, or who just like to have cool experiences, will get to kind of see behind the curtain a bit and see what it takes to make a podcast.”
The Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU hosts the Resonate Podcast Festival Oct. 14-15. Tickets are $35 to $75.
