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There are not too many things that I regret in this world. But if there is one thing that I regret along my podcasting journey is that I did not attend the first few podcast industry related conferences. Back when Tim and his brother Emil Berkwin created the very first ever podcast and portable New Media Expo conference. Those first two podcasting events gave me the worst case of fomo and ever since I had my first taste of going to an industry related conference, I was hooked. In today's episode we are going to discuss why if you are serious about your podcasting efforts, you definitely want to make sure that you attend as many podcasts podcast industry related conferences that you can get yourself to. Well, hello and welcome back my friend to another episode of podcast Answerman. My name is Cliff Ravenscraft and this, my friend is the original podcast devoted to podcasting, helping you take your message, your business and your life to the next level. That's right. It doesn't matter if you are brand new to this online content creating world or if you've been creating content for many years, there's something we can all do to take everything we do in life to the next level. And today, one of the things that I want to encourage you to do to take your podcasting efforts to the next level on a consistent ongoing basis, it would simply be to attend a podcast related conference. Now I recognize there are people all over the world today listening to this and for many people traveling to the most popular events that have taken place in the United States, it can be a little bit more challenging, although many have done it for years. But the great news is that there are podcast conferences popping up all all over the world. I remember my friends Mike and Isabella Russell did New Media Europe. I was fortunate enough to do a keynote address there. In Manchester in the uk, my friend Paul Spain hosted the very first ever Asia Pacific Podcast Conference and I was able to do the opening keynote in New Zealand for that event. And since then there have been countless podcasting events, big and small all around the world. In a little bit I'm going to share with you a conversation that I had with Nick Pavlides. Now he happens to be the owner and CEO of Pod Fest Expo which happens to be coming up next week as I'm recording this. So I know that there's very little time for you to make a last minute decision. But if you have have the ability to get to Orlando, Florida by next week's event after you listen to this episode, I hope that if it's a possibility for you and you have not already registered that this episode will get you to take that last minute action. More about that a little bit later. But first let me go back and explain to you what I meant about the FOMO that I experienced the first two years during my podcasting journey. Back then I was podcasting as a hobby. I had no idea in that first year that I would ever have a dream of turning what I do related to podcasting into any sort of profession outside of my day job. I was very successful in the insurance industry. I worked as an independent insurance agent selling auto, home, life, health and business insurance in a family run insurance agency owned by my mom and dad, started by my grandfather in 1937 and I was next in line to take it over. So as far as I was concerned, podcasting was just a hobby. It was something I did for the fun of it. Now, even though it was just a hobby and it was something I was doing just for the fun of it, because of some pretty unique situations and circumstances and just the right timing, being at the right place at the right time, with the right topic for the right audience, a lot of things fell in perfect alignment for my wife and I to podcast about a television show that millions of people around the world loved. And there was so much mystery and hidden Easter eggs that hundreds of thousands of people around the world were desperately looking to learn as much as they could about this show. And as a result of that, in our very first podcast, we grew an audience that went into the tens of thousands right out of the gate. That prompted us to launch other shows, podcast shows devoted to other television shows, which also got us audiences in the tens of thousands. Then all of a sudden I recognized, wow, I have all sorts of passions for other topics that are not TV show related. So I launched podcasts related to technology, podcasts related to social media, podcasts related to family and faith, and all sorts of other shows, different podcasts as a hobby. And before I knew it, I was already producing seven to 15 podcast episodes a week, every single week, consistently hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of subscribers around the world. And it was just a hobby. Now, it just so happens that there were only a few hundred podcasters in existence back in those days when Tim and Emile Berquin decided to host the very first ever podcast, podcast and Portable Media Expo. They invited everyone who had a podcast to come to that event. And if I'm not mistaken, it might have been in California. I can't remember. I didn't attend. I do remember that I did not attend. But I can tell you right now, I was very well connected. And there was a lot of collaboration that happened online between all of us independent podcasters. Not all of us, but there were about 60 or 70 other podcasters that I was in regular community with, regular conversation, regular connection. And so what led to the fomo, for me, the FOMO is fear of missing out is the fact that all of a sudden there were about 30 or 40 of my podcasting peers who were all together in one event space, and they're sharing all of the excitement and enthusiasm that they're experiencing through the social media channels and then later talked about in their podcast content. And I realized, oh my gosh, did I miss out on something important. It wasn't until afterwards that I recognized that I missed out. Now, when the second event came around, you, you might think, well, Cliff, why didn't you go to that one? Well, the answer to that question is because at the time, I didn't think I could. I didn't think that I could afford it, not financially. I didn't think that I could afford it in time. You see, I was still working full time as an insurance agent. I was still producing seven to 15 podcast episodes a week. And I was a father of three young kids, a husband, and I was also involved in ministry. There were lots of other commitments. And I just didn't think that I could afford to take the time off, work, travel out, have time away, and all of these other things. And so I missed that second Berkwin Brothers podcast event. And the FOMO hit twice as hard that second year. And I had made a determination that after that, I'm not missing anymore. I will be at those events moving forward. The only thing is, is that after those first few years of the Berkwin Brothers event, they ended up selling the rights to that conference to Rick Calvert and Dave Sinkin, the co founders of BlogWorld. And as I'm sitting here telling you this story, I recognize that what I'm in essence giving you is a little bit of a history lesson of how podcast industry related events even came about and what some of the journey has been. So I'll continue this route for a little bit. What was it that I missed out on? Why did I have so much fomo? Sure, it was the fact that I had listened to the content of all of these other podcasters that I was telling you about, and then all of a sudden to think that I could have gone there and met my podcasting celebrities, if you will. Leo Laporte, Laria Petrucci, and father Roderick Von Hogan and Greg Willits and all of these other podcasters that I'm listening to every single week so much that they feel like they're my close personal friends. They feel like they are such a part of my life and because I also was a podcaster and because I'm in community with them, they were genuinely friends. And all of a sudden there's this event and so many of my friends who also have never met ever face to face before now are getting to meet face to face. And I missed that. But not only that, I recognized some other powerful things that came from those experiences. There was so much that those podcasters had shared with each other about their stories and everyone walked away with so many insights on things that they could include and incorporate into their own podcasting journey based upon what they learned from from the podcasting journeys of everyone else. You see the level of sharing and depth of what was shared and the focus of what was shared was intensified at this event because the whole purpose was a shared experience related to this one thing that we all love and what can we share to help everyone improve what we are doing with our podcasts. So let me tell you about my first experience at a full blown podcast industry related conference, a professionally run podcasting event. It was the Blog World event and I'd love to share with you just the fun behind the scenes story of how that came about. My wife and I had decided to host what was called a GSPN TV Community cruise, A Dream Cruise. In fact, back in the day we even had a commercial that we promoted on all of our network shows.
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This summer, join Cliff and Stephanie and the GSPN TV community for the Dream Cruise of a Lifetime.
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A four night cruise to the Bahamas on board the Disney Dream Cruise ship with many exciting features and plenty to do for both adults and kids. Enjoy the world's first onboard water coaster, the Aqueduct.
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Become a detective and solve mysteries with enchanted arts.
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Spend the whole day on a private island. Watch magical fireworks from the ship.
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See Disney style shows with all the characters and much, much more.
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We are planning to make this community event the magical experience of a lifetime.
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For booking details, head to GSPN TV Cruise.
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So what happened was word got out that Stephanie and I were doing this and that people from all over the world were signing up for our cruise. And at the time Dave Sinkin and Rick Calvert, who were the co founders of Blog World didn't really know a lot about my story. And Paul Colligan one day went over to Rick Calvert and said, hey, did you hear what Cliff Ravenscraft is doing? And he like, no, tell me more. He goes, dude, the guy's hosting a cruise with his wife. And people are like, people are signing up to go on this cruise. Go check out his podcast episode. Listen to the promo. This guy is doing some interesting things. Why is he not speaking here? And Rick reached out to me after he listened to the episode and he invited me. He says, cliff, oh my gosh, I'd love to get on the phone and chat with you. And so we got on a call and he says, would you be willing to come and tell your story of how you went from podcasting as a hobby and how over the course of two years you made a decision that you wanted to turn this into your full time career and now you are making a living as a podcast coach and consultant and you have a community of hundreds of thousands of people around the world. People are coming to your cruise. You've got to come tell your story. And that was the very first time I was invited to speak at what was then called Blog World Expo. And attending that event and also having the opportunity to speak on stage didn't hurt. But. But attending that first industry event, because at this point, there was a podcasting track there that was in essence, a carryover from the old Berkwin podcast and portable media crowd. The people who attended those first few events, they were now, many of them, most of them were at Blog World Expo. And so I got to hang out with my friends, those people that had met friends face to face years before. Now I'm in the actual same event space with them, meeting them face to face. And there is something about the energy in a room that is packed with other people who are as committed to, who are as passionate about the medium of podcasting as you are. Not only did I benefit from hanging out with all of the people I already knew, but attending their sessions and learning things about their own journey that had just not come up in conversation previously. Like I said, there's so much you will learn where the intention is to share what you have learned about your own podcasting journey. And of course, that is exactly what I was invited to. To do myself as a speaker. So I got up on stage and in the audience that afternoon was the co founder of Blog World, Rick Calvert. And when he heard my story that evening, he made a point to come up to me at the speaker party. He says, cliff, we're going to be hosting another Blog World event. This time we're going to host One on the west coast in Los Angeles. If we were to pay all of your expenses, would you come and tell your story exactly what you just did in Los Angeles? And I'm like, yeah, absolutely. And so I was able to then speak at the very first Blog World Expo la. And the energy, the vibe, it was intense. And there were people who attended that event that maybe didn't make it to the east coast event, but there are certainly hundreds of us who don't attended both. And that was awesome. And then my own personal experience got a little bit more interesting with these events because after Blog World la, I got another call from Rick. They offered me a position as the director of podcasting for Blog World Expo. From that point forward, for several years, I had the ability to invite anyone I wanted from the podcast space. And I had lots of amazing relationships, some rapport built with some pretty successful people in this space. And we packed that house out. And that really took things to a whole new level. There were a handful of people who got together and decided, you know what, maybe we need a conference of our own. Now, for me personally, I was the person responsible for bringing the podcast community to this particular event. So I made a decision to not work with these individuals to help them create another event only for the podcast community. But I eventually did end up resigning from Blog World New Media Expo because I saw that the writing was on the wall. This is where the podcast community was going to. Now, those folks that I was talking about created what is now known as podcast movement, and that really took off. By the time I resigned, they had already built some significant traction. And once I was free and clear from the work that I was doing with New Media Expo, I was then free to accept their invitation to do the closing keynote for the very first ever Podcast Movement event back in August 2017. In fact, I gave the keynote address on my wedding anniversary. That should tell you just how important I think it is as a podcaster to attend these kind of events. And by the way, my wife is the one who. Who encouraged me to take that opportunity because she knows just how important events like these are if you are devoted to the world of podcast content creation. I mean, if you think about it, several years of a significant portion of my income came as a result of an opportunity that came about because I spoke at that first Blog World Expo event that I went to, and this wasn't just me. I saw countless people who were in the podcasting space go to this event and walk away with doing joint venture partnerships. I've witnessed the formation of incredibly profitable businesses, names of businesses you would know today, because the founders of those businesses met for the first time at one of these podcast events. And even if you're not someone like me who has decided to build a career and a business devoted to the podcast industry, but even if you are simply a podcast producer, there's something about collapsing years of learning into just a few days at a conference. The technology of what is available to us as podcasters. Even if your podcasting is a hobby, no matter what your goals are related to your podcast, everything is changing and it's changing fast. And so if you want the latest trends, the things that are working, the new tools, the new resources, going to these events is where you go if you want to stay on top of things. And of course, subscribe to Podcast Answer man if you want me to come back and share with you my own CliffsNotes version of what I learned at these events. But still, I don't think there's anything that can replicate the energy of you being in the same space with thousands, and in some smaller events, hundreds of other people who are just like you, wanting to create content that entertains, educates, encourages, inspires, and motivates people around the world. If you want to be around people who get what it is that you're so passionate about as a podcast creator, attending these events, I believe, is an essential part of your podcasting journey. Now, with all of that being shared, I want to tell you about PodFest. PodFest is an event that was started right around the timeframe when I began shutting down my identity as the Podcast Answer Man. For those of you who are not aware, I just brought back my Podcast Answer man brand back in December 2020. But back in November 2017, I completely divorced myself from this identity for a number of years, and that actually even started way back in 2015. So when Podfest Expo was just getting launched, I was looking to intentionally draw the spotlight away from from people knowing me as the Podcast Answer Man. And for the last several years, I have been building my identity as the Mindset Answer man for business owners, as a business strategist and a mindset coach for people who are on an entrepreneurial journey. I'm still doing that work today. But In December of 2025, I made the decision to bring back Podcast Answer Man. And one of the first things that I knew that I wanted to do when I decided I'm bringing back Podcast Answer man is that I am absolutely going to be 100% committed to attending these podcast industry events, and the first one on my list was podfest Expo. And today I'm going to share with you a conversation I recently had with Nick Pavlides, who is the CEO and owner of podfest Expo. Today I'm going to go ahead and play that conversation for you now, and then I'll wrap up with a few thoughts at the end. Pod Fest Multimedia Expo is the longest running in person podcasting industry conference. And today I'm talking with the person who recently made the decision to purchase podfest Expo, Nick Pavlitas. And Nick and I have a history going all the way back to the earliest days of a ning platform with a community ran by our friend and mentor, Dan Miller. 48 Days Net. Nick, it is such a delight to reconnect with you. How are you?
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Yeah, absolutely. I'm doing great. It's an honor to be here and I can't wait to dive deep into what you got on your mind today.
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Before we talk about the Expo. I want to hear your own journey in podcasting.
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Yeah, well, I guess I'll start at the beginning because obviously the current is podfest, but I started when my son was three and my daughter was two and I was thinking about starting a podcast because I had met Dan Miller and I met Dan at a time when I was a lawyer and. And it was May 31, 2013. I flew down to his house at the time, which was he referred to lovingly as the sanctuary, had that barn that he converted into conference space. And I went there as a lawyer to learn how to perhaps transition into business coaching or something. The event was coaching with excellence. And I walk in there and Dan walks in and then this lady walks in and they're sitting down in the front of the room and like, the way they looked at each other, like I had no idea who she was. I had listened to Dan's podcast for years and they were just. They were. It was like they were singing together. There was just back and forth and I had no idea. I learned it was his wife and the way they looked at each other. I was just. The whole time I. I'm sure I learned stuff about coaching, but the whole time I was just obsessed with watching how Dan and Joanne loved each other, frankly. And so I left that event thinking I didn't. I wasn't here because I needed to learn how to coach. I was here because I needed to learn how to be a better husband to my wife. And so I got on the plane and I flew back and I just could not get that off my mind. And so I decided to start journaling my journey of becoming a better husband. And I turned it into this little book called Confessions of a Terrible Lessons Learned from a Lumpy Couch, which is basically about how you can do all the big things right. You can be gentle, you can be faithful, you can provide. But if you do enough of the little things wrong, your relationship will suffer. And so Dan suggested that I turn that into a podcast. And I decided to. It was a good idea, but I didn't want to. It's such a personal topic that I wanted to make sure my wife was okay with it. And so we're sitting at the dinner table and I told my wife that I was thinking about starting a podcast for Confessions of a Terrible Husband. And my son's like, what's a podcast? And you know, he's three something years old. And I was like, well, it's kind of like a radio show, but on the computer. And he's like, can I have one? And I was like, oh man. I was like, I had convinced myself to just start saying yes to family stuff because I was way too much of a work of workaholic. And so I was like, sure, buddy, we'll do one together. How about that? And then my daughter's like, I want one. And I'm like, you can be our special guest. And so in 2014, I started the Confessions of a Terrible Husband podcast just as this like, side hobby immediately took off and got hundreds of thousands of downloads. It just struck a nerve, which was kind of cool. But I also started five minutes with dad, which it has about 260 something episodes. We stopped recording it a couple years ago, but we started recording when my kids were like four and two. And we've been in Parents magazine, People magazine ranked as one of the best places for podcast. I think it was just like the impact that we made some school districts have our personal growth and leadership podcast for kids as a resource for mental health challenges. Like, it's just fascinating. So I got into it just to try to be a little more open about becoming a better husband and then engaging with my kids. And now I have this audio journal of my kids and me having these powerful conversations.
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I love that there's something incredibly powerful about just documenting your journey of having conversations about just everyday life with your kids.
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Yeah, 100%. And we'd just talk about things that were happening and I would connect them to some personal growth concept. Like my daughter was in a race and her cousin didn't want a race. But she was standing at the start line when they said, go. My daughter ran. And what did my cousin. What did her cousin do? She ran after her, and they finished second and third. It's like she went from not. And so my daughter didn't. I was like, you didn't tell her to run. You ran, and then she ran after you. You led by example. And so it's just. So it was. I. To this day, it's pretty probably a favorite thing I've done in my life.
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You know what I love about this, Nick, is you and I have started this conversation talking about how we both got into podcasting. What we originally loved about podcasting, and it has nothing to do with monetization, building a business and finding sponsors and growing your audiences to the, you know, how can I get a million subscribers and downloads and all that other stuff? There's nothing wrong with all of that. And I love the business aspects and possibilities that exist within podcasting, but there's so much more that podcasting has to offer beyond what it can do for a business.
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Yeah, I never thought, like, we had a resource of the week where we gave an Amazon affiliate link. We probably earned like, 50 bucks in five years, you know, getting a commission on a. On a kid's book or something like that. But there was just something really joyful of sitting there and not intending to benefit from it. But. But I can't tell you, in fact, I would not have been able to get established in the podcasting world. And really, I would not be in the position at PodFest without that podcast with my kids, because Chris Komitsos, who is the founder and he still is involved and a shareholder. I'm the managing partner and largest shareholder and CEO. But Chris and I, we got together and sort of became friends, partly because we're two Greek people. But really, he loved Five Minutes with dad, and he loved that I podcasted with my kids. And so that was, like, every time, even to this day, when he introduced me to the podfest community as the new CEO, it was five Minutes with Dad. Five minutes with dad. And so if you do what you love and. And you just get around good people, the business stuff just ends up happening. Like, I'm not worried about how many downloads or clicks or anything like that, but I've. I've made a lot of money because of a podcast that I didn't care about making money from.
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I love that. I resonate with that so much. So, Nick, tell me, when did you first hear about PodFest Expo? What was Your first experiences with it?
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Years and years and years ago I was at. It was either social media marketing world or podcast movement. One of those two shows and Chris Komitzos and podfest had a booth to promote podfest. And I connected with Chris and he told me, he was like, oh, you know you're a Greek, here, have a free T shirt. Like he, like, he and I just became friends. And then I ended up sponsoring podfest not because I wanted to get in touch with, but I wanted to support Chris. And so for years I bought a booth or I just donated money and say, yeah, you can put my logo up as a sponsor, but I don't really care, I just want to support. I know how hard events are. And he and I just became friends. He wrote a book called Start Ugly, which is a really cool little. When I say little, I don't mean it like diminishing the impact of it. I mean the size of the book. It's a. It's a thin book, but it's got a really powerful message to just get started and don't worry about things being perfect to get started. And so we just connected over that. We became friends. And then In September of 2023, Chris reached out to me, said, hey, I think I'm a little. I think I've taken PodFest as far as I can take it and I'm a little burnt out. I need help. I have a couple of inquiries, but I saw what you did because I also invested in a book publishing company a couple years earlier. Said, I saw what you did with the publishing company. You think you could do the same thing with podfest? I would trust it with you. We're friends and I've seen what you've done and frankly, I didn't want to get into the event space because events are hard to get people into a room. Nevermind 2000 registrations. I just hadn't. I didn't have the experience with it. So I said, listen, I don't know, I like, I love the idea, but you sticking around would be really important to me. So what if for 2024 I don't buy the company? I just help out as if I bought the company and you don't need to pay me anything, don't give me commissions, don't give me anything. All the money is yours. But let's just see if we like working together and if we do, maybe you're excited about PodFest sticking around and we can work together and we'll hammer out a deal. I'm not Worried about that. And so he's like, yeah, sure. I mean, it's a great deal, right? You want some help? Like, there's someone who you. You reached out to saying, I trust you with my company. And the response is, well, why don't I just help you for free? And so, like, it was a no brainer for him. For me, it was a no brainer too, because I got to test out. Talk about due diligence. I got to test out the company. So we had a really successful 2024 and I had a couple of ideas on how we can use PodFest's relationship with hotels to help other people incubate and elevate their own events. And so he had done similar things in the past. We did it a different way, and it was just super successful. And so we hammered out a deal and for 2025, that was the first year where it was official that I was the new managing partner and CEO. And it's just been really, really powerful to get to help the community and go even deeper in there.
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I love it. Now, transparently, I have not been to a single PodFest Expo event. I'm super excited that I am not only coming to PodFest Expo in January 2026, but I'm super honored that you created a spot for me to speak as well. Thank you for that. It is a tremendous honor and I genuinely appreciate it. Can you tell me, have you been to any of the other podcast industry related conferences? For example, did you ever go to Blog World New Media Expo or the Podcast Movement events or any of the others? And if so, how is PodFest different from those events?
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Yeah, and I've been to Podcast Movement a few times and that's a great event. I know they're, they're at south by Southwest this year. It seems like a really cool way that they're shifting now that they are in partnership with. Sounds profitable. But for me, the more successful all of the podcasting events can be, the better it is for everybody. And I think all of the events have their strengths and differences. Podcast Movement is. When I've gone there, there's lots of great podcasters there. They, they. The one that I went to most recently, I didn't go this year, but I went last year. It was all in almost all in one big room. Like the expo hall was really big and so the stages are there and everyone has headphones and listens to it, which was kind of cool. It's kind of different that you don't hear the speakers because it's all in one. It was, I think it was all in one big room. There may have been some offshoot rooms. I think there were, but it was pretty cool. I mean, there's, it was good size event, a lot of the same attendees as PodFest. There was also a lot of really, I know, like it has a reputation of being more industry focused than creator focused, but I, but I think they, they do get a lot of creators there too. Podfest, we focus a lot on the creators. And everything that I do is really in all of my businesses that I'm involved in. I have a one sentence business plan. And that's if I help enough people become successful, I never have to worry about my own success. And you probably recognize that as borrowed and twisted from Zig Ziglar and other brilliant people who are, who came before us. And so the one sentence business business plan for PodFest is really focusing on the independent podcaster. And so if I can help enough independent podcasters become successful, I never have to worry about my own success individually or as a company. And so we really focus. There have been some folks who want to cut us a big check to be a big sponsor and take over some area or whatever, and we have had to say no because it's inconsistent with our vision. So we're really leaning in to the folks who have a message in their heart or a method in their head that they want to share with the world through the medium of podcasting, whether it's audio, video or both, and giving them all of the people, resources and information they need to become successful. And so that's our goal in planning out podfest every year there. It's how do we, how do we make it so all of the people, resources. So resources are like companies and sponsors and equipment or whatever availability, the people, resources and information that these people who invest their time and money to come to PodFest need to become successful, in this case in 2026, how do we make it so they're all within those four walls of podfest? And then secondarily to that, how do we make it easier for them to find the people they need and to learn the information they need? And so it's almost like a little treasure hunt. But the next layer is how do we help them find that treasure? And we love the industry professionals, but at the same time, it's really hard. And so we have a very low margin business. And part of that is we want to make the ticket prices affordable so that way independent podcasters can afford to go, especially because we know, they need to pay a whole lot of other people, like the airlines and like the hotels, the restaurants, in order to attend. So even if our tickets, even if we paid people $100 to go, it would cost them a lot of money. So we really try to keep it focused on how can we make it worth their time and effort to go. And then with the industry folks, we have a lot of great people in the industry who love us because of our focus on the independent podcasters. It's one of those, if we do what we intend to do with the independent podcasters, the industry folks, the we will attract them all, but they won't, it won't seem like they, quote, unquote, take over because we'll have so many independent podcasters there. It'll always be about the podcasters and the industry folks who do show up. They're there to lean into the. They obviously they want to get a return on their investment, but they're there with that same heart to serve the independent podcasters.
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Tell me about the folks who do the hall of Fame for podcasting, because one of the things that I am aware of now is that the hall of Fame ceremony has moved over to PodFest Expo. So can you tell me a little bit about that transition?
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Yeah, I mean, I don't know why they, they used to do it at Podcast Movement. It's Rob Greenlee who runs it. And when I want to say it was 2024, they came for the first time. It might have been 2023, but I don't know why they ended up coming over to podfest. But we love that they're there and they host their ceremony every Friday of Podfest. So it's Friday the 16th this year, and it's an honor that the Podcast hall of Fame that's recognized some of the most impactful people in podcasting comes and it's about a two hour ceremony. People get dressed up and they go, I'm one of the people who vote to get in. And then people who are in the hall of Fame get to vote on who gets in. And this year we have, I think a lot of the names have been released. I know they are being released. Like our mutual friend Pat Flynn, who I know you've been in a mastermind group with for years, is being inducted. Our mutual mentor and friend Dan Miller, who passed away in 2024, is being inducted. And how cool. And apparently Rob Greenlee has told me that in his phone call with Dave Ramsey. Dave said, feel free to let people know I'm coming to induct my friend Dan Miller into the hall of Fame. So that's pretty cool.
- [40:36]
A
And also I heard that it is confirmed that Joanne and Ashley and Kevin and Jared are all going to be there as well, which is Dan's wife and his children. So I'm super delighted. If nothing else, I'd go to Florida just to witness the ceremony and to hang out with them and see them again.
- [40:57]
B
Yeah. And on Friday. I think it's going to be Friday right before the ceremony, maybe a couple hours before they're having a 48 days reunion. Almost like a meetup with people in their community. And I believe Dave is going to go to that too. I'll make sure to give you that info so you can at least pop in and say hello to them. But yeah, it's going to be, it's really an honor to see some of the folks who, you never know. Like a lot of these brands, you and I might know who's behind them, but a lot of people don't know who's behind them. But to see the founder of a company like Libsyn or a company like Blueberry or a company like Buzzsprout or whatever, to see the people there, not just at the booth, but the ones who really were, were there building it from the ground up and stressed about how they're going to make payroll, but so committed to helping people and building their dream get recognized for it. It's really, it's really something else. And also, James Cridland from POD News is getting inducted this year. So I mean, lots of great. There's, I want to say there's probably a dozen, maybe 10 or 12 people getting inducted.
- [41:58]
A
What would you say is, from your perspective, the changing needs of the independent podcaster and what is PodFest doing to meet those needs?
- [42:07]
B
Well, I think part of it is like your recent live stream where you highlighted how you have for $179, you have this entire studio in your pocket. The barrier to entry is pretty low for a high quality audio or video content. I don't know that that's a need any. I think as we continue to develop it, it'll be super helpful. For me, the two things that make people successful are consistency and people we can find information. But I know that my life is going to be the same five years from now. If I have the same people in my life five years from now, if I meet new people who stretch me, who provide opportunity or who I can provide opportunity to, my life can improve. So I think for Me, the biggest needs that I see in independent podcasters is the encour, the accountability and the resources to keep going, number one and to be consistent. And then number two, to get them in the room. Like, I can't tell you, even if it's a virtual room like you and I are in right now, but even better in person, if they can just get in the room with people who are content but not complacent in their life, they're going to really progress. And you can figure out the rest of it. You can, if you like. The old saying is, if you're not embarrassed by the first five episodes of your whatever or the first five blog posts, then you waited too long. And so all the rest of that stuff can figure it out. The marketing, the. The recording. If you just get started and keep consistent and connect with the right people, then you're going to be successful. It's when, not if. And so that's what. That's part of what we're hoping to provide. We'll give you the information and we'll find you the resources, but let's get the people who want you to succeed as much as they want to succeed on their own.
- [43:51]
A
I saw something else about some sort of Pod fest on the move or around the globe. Can you tell me what this is?
- [44:00]
B
Yeah. So this is Chris Komitz's brainchild, and it's brilliant. What Chris thought was, hey, what if we didn't wait a year to see everybody? But let's go around the country and then around the world to the extent that we can do that and meet podcasters where they are. Let's have this pod tour where we go to 30 or so cities around the country. Some member of the team is there, and sometimes someone just wants to do a pod tour stop, and they're not a member of the Pod Fest team, but they might as well be come to every show they're on, every call. And so we go around for two hours in a night, we talk about PodFest, we talk about what we're seeing in podcasting, and we just meet with people. And so we've done that now for three years, and it's becoming more and more popular. And we've even had stops in Colombia. In 2024, we were in the country of Colombia. We had a lot of support from Blueberry for a pod tour stop in the Philippines. And So we did PodFest Asia two years in a row. And Todd Cochran would be there, and he'd be a really big supporter, like, specifically Todd but also Blueberry and Todd passed away this year, so we're hoping to honor him. We are honoring him at PodFest, but we're also hoping to honor him by being able to go back to Asia again.
- [45:21]
A
Yeah, that was a huge loss for the podcasting community as a whole with Todd and definitely a significant influence in a lot of our lives. So glad to hear that he'll be honored as well. Pod Tour. What if somebody has not attended one of those, but they see that one's, let's just say, within a couple hours drive from their own home location and they were planning to attend one? What's the format of those look like? Are they unique to each one?
- [45:49]
B
The general format's the same, but because of each city and the locations that we get. Usually where we go to someone's office who has a conference room or there's a podcast studio that invites us in, or there's someone who's just like, hey, let's just go to this restaurant. We go in the back room of the restaurant, or it's a co working space that the member uses or a member of the podfam uses. And it's generally two hours long. Half an hour of networking at the beginning. Then one of the. We have a presentation, 10 trends and video this year and resources to help you if you're growing your YouTube channel. So one of the PodFest people talks a little bit about PodFest, talks about what we're seeing, and then there's usually about a half an hour afterwards where we offer people a discount if they buy their tickets to the next PodFest there. So it helps sell some tickets and it helps give people a sense of what the podfam is, you know, is really like a little bit of the energy. And one thing we were really fortunate as a company, when we say we were the longest continuous live event, it's because we were fortunate to get in in 2020 and have our event before everything shut down. So we didn't miss a year of in person. So we're lucky that we. We've been able to keep that momentum because even missing one year, you lose a lot of momentum with things. So this POD Tour, it's about feeling that energy. And you'll notice that there's just something about. There's something special about that room where you can just feel. I don't know if it's the authenticity or if it's the, like. There's just something about the energy at podfest that's. That's really powerful.
- [47:23]
A
Just hearing you Describe that energy. It's reminding me of the old days of podcamps. I don't know if you attended any of those. Podcamps were the wild west of. Of the podcast. Before there was an. There wasn't an industry. We were just a bunch of independent podcasters. We were a bunch of guys with microphones and hand coded RSS feeds attached, you know, to some audio files out there. It was wild. And I think it was Chris Brogan and Christopher S. Penn who started the movement called podcamp. And they based it off of something that was called WordCamp at the time, and they were unconferences, and so basically anyone could sign up to speak, and it was first come, first serve. And so it was all. It's like. It's just like, if you have a podcast and you want to come talk first come, first serve, you've got a spot here at this event.
- [48:14]
B
But if Chris wants to do that, we will find a room for him to have an unconference if he wants. He's from around here. He lives like an hour from me or something.
- [48:22]
A
Are you in Boston? Is that right?
- [48:23]
B
Yeah. Yeah.
- [48:24]
A
Okay, cool. I'm sure you can get in touch with him. If not, I can connect you, but it's. It's amazing. I love that energy. I'm excited about this energy. Nick, is there anything else you want to share before we wrap up?
- [48:36]
B
I'll be running around PodFest quite a bit, and so if people see me in the hallways and I look like I'm rushing to get somewhere, stop me. It's fine. I want to meet everyone who's there. I had so much fun meeting people at PodFest last year. And, you know, I am going to be running. If I. And if I'm running somewhere, I'll be like, nice to meet you, and let's. Let's reconnect later. But. But yeah, I want to get to know everyone who's there. I am a hardcore introvert, so I probably will not approach you, but please approach me and say hello if you get the podfest.
- [49:13]
A
Wow. I got to tell you, I was so impressed with my conversation with Nick Pavletis. I mean, you could just hear the energy with this guy. He is humble. He is in this because he loves this space. He has a creator first philosophy. I love the story of him with his kids. There's just so much I love about Nick and his story and, of course, the energy that he's talking about in this space. While I'm about ready to experience my first. First PodFest Expo version of this. I know that energy. I know the energy that he was talking about. And I can tell you right now, I am excited to return to rooms like this, being in rooms with people who get it, having conversations that change the trajectory of how I communicate and connect with my audience. And I'm excited that for some of you, you're going to be able to experience that with me. And I recognize that not everyone has a ticket to PodFest Expo and it may not be possible for you to get there at such short notice, but I do want to encourage you, whether it's PodFest Expo, podcast movement, the event that just happened in London a couple of months ago, wherever there is a podcasting event, if you are serious about podcasting, get yourself in rooms with other podcasters. There is just so much that is going to be possible for you. And I'm not talking about just sitting and listening to other people tell about their experiences on stages. I'm talking mostly about the Fox face to face conversations in the hallways, at lunch, at dinner, various different meetups. There is absolute magic that happens in these real life face to face interactions with other people who love podcasting as much as you do. Now, for those of you who don't already have a ticket and you actually can in such short notice, make it out to PodFest Expo, head over to podfestexpo.com, grab your ticket, and if you use promo code, PAM stands for podcast answerman, you'll get 10% off your ticket. But hey, for those of you who are not going to be able to make it, put this on your calendar as soon as this event is over and they announce the dates for 2027, I encourage you to put Podfest Expo on onto your calendar for next year. And for those of you who are listening to this and you feel that pull, that desire to take your podcast seriously, but maybe traveling to this event right now isn't possible for you. I want you to know that I have built something that gives you a very similar kind of support and momentum. Podcasting A to Z is my step by step coaching experience for people who are ready to launch, relaunch, or even level up their podcast. And the great news is that you won't only have me working with you, but you'll be in a room of other podcasters who are showing up, doing the work and moving forward together. For each of the four weeks of this course, we will tackle your questions, we will solve real problems, and together we will build momentum. If this podcast episode has reminded you that you do not want to go on this podcasting journey alone. Podcasting A to Z might be exactly what you're looking for. My next session starts right after I get back from Orlando on January 26th. Head over to podcasting A to Z.com and register today. If there's one thing I want you to take away from this episode is that you do not have to do this content creation journey alone. Don't just go out there in the world looking for a bunch of new resources. I encourage you to look for rooms with other people like you. Podcasting is much bigger than your home office these days anyway. Whether it's PodFest Expo in January 2026 or any podcasting event or other related industry events such as Social Media Marketing World or some of the other entrepreneurial and online business events that I'll be attending in the years ahead, I hope you and I will have the opportunity to see each other face to face and have a genuine conversation. Thank you for joining me on this journey as I shared the historical landscape of these amazing events. There are so many more events out there today that didn't get mentioned, but I will be sharing other events down the road and I look forward to the opportunities for our paths to cross many times in the years ahead. Until next time, I encourage you to take everything you do to the next level Podcast and some man.