I have the philosophy that attendees/community members planning to attend conferences should begin the networking part of their attendance beginning the day after the previous event ends. I’m serious. I’m not a huge fan of traditional networking especially in creative spaces such as podcasting. Ultimately, it’s not as affective as long-term intentional relationship building. Many attendees make the mistake of trying to do all of their networking in the 3 or 4 days that they attend a conference-this is a mistake. In this podcast episode, I’m going to share some strategies on how to prepare for Podcast Movement Denver, what to expect regarding the venue (I’ve side-hustled there and attended events) and some advice I would like to share before you arrive at the event and in Denver.
Welcome to the Brand Building Lab, I’m your host Michelle Jackson and I help online entrepreneurs design businesses that lead with empathy and intention. My goal is to help support entrepreneurs who are amplifying underrepresented creator content in online spaces as they thoughtfully make money along the way
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How to Prepare for Podcast Movement
I am a huge fan of the transformative power of attending a really well done conference. THere’s nothing better than being surrounded by hundreds or even thousands of people who get what you’re doing. But, there’s nothing worse than spending time and money to attend an event that doesn’t meet your needs in the way that you would like it to.
In fact, I cap the number of conferences that I attend in a year because it’s a lot of time and energy to fly between states, show up 100% at a conference and actually apply what you learned into what you’re working on. So, before saying “yes” to my next conference I work through the following questions:
- Am I excited about the host city? I typically stay at 5 days for any out of state conference. If I’m not excited about the host city, it’s highly unlikely that I will attend the event. There are some major events in one of the content creation spaces that I’m in that I just won’t attend because of the host city-I’m not interested in going. By the way, I’ve visited 45 states so it’s likely that I’ve visited the city before and have decided to not go back LOL!
- What is my goal? Why am I attending the conference?
- To grow my personal brand?
- To make money?
- To network?
- To learn new strategies?
- How expensive is the event? I’ve attended expensive events before but I always like to figure out what my return on investment will be? Will I be able to attract clients, projects, sponsors or collaborations during the week of the event or immediately after.
Once you’ve worked through those determinations it’s time to prepare for the event-literally once it has been announced. Whether you’re an introvert or extrovert, it’s my view that if at all possible you should take a long-term approach to any conference that you decide to attend.
For Podcast Movement here are I few actions that you could take now in order to make the event more impactful.
- Share that you’re attending! If you don’t tell us, we don’t know. Share on your social media and in content that you design that makes sense for you to share your goals/etc.
- Attend local podcasting meetups-Podcast Movement and its adjacent communities will often host or co-sponsor meetups across the US. If there is one in your town GO! If you’re visiting a town and hear of a meetup-attend.
- Join Twitter Spaces-I love Twitter Spaces. In fact, the week that I’m working on this post I was a co-host on a Twitter space where we talked about a question that Arielle Rosenblatt had posed earlier that week. The question was would rather get $500 a month for your podcast or 10,000 downloads an episode. It was a lively and helpful conversation hosted by the Black Podcasters Association.
- Host your own podcasting events-You don’t have to wait for someone else to create the thing that you want.
- Zoom Meet and Greets
- Design helpful content that is of service to other podcasters who may need additional support or tips on how to make their Podcast Movement even more impactful for them. This content puts you in a mentor role.
- Attend adjacent local or regional podcasting events-Or, events based on the niche that you’re in. I’m primarily in the personal finance space, so I’ve attended events such as FinCon, the Lola Retreat (which is no longer) and held my own event Money on the Mountain. However, I also have a project about Colorado so I attend events in the travel space as well.
Once You’ve Arrived at Podcast Movement
Hopefully you’ve been able to make some significant connections in the months leading up to Podcast Movement. The idea is that once you arrive you have a few people that you already know and can hangout with as you meet more people during the event.
Here’s what I do to make conferences more approachable for me as an attendee. Even though I am a lifelong extrovert, I’ve always needed downtime when I’m attending events.
- I fly into the host city a couple of days earlier at least one day before the conference starts if possible. I’m able to check out a couple of things in the city and hangout out with other well-known attendees who are often crazy busy during the conference. For Podcast Movement Denver, I’m thinking about hosting a hike or happy hour or both since it’s my home city.
- Always say “yes” when invited to a happy hour, coffee/tea hangout or any even that is casual and allows you to leave the venue and connect with other attendees.
- Use the app-It often amazes me when attendees don’t use the conference app. Use the app!! It tends to go “live” weeks before the event happens. Be active on it. Just allocate 10-15 minutes a day to ask questions, connect or post questions.
- Check out the schedule-I still attend sessions when I attend conferences. So, I’m like to check out the different sessions and plan out my schedule.
- Know and respect your personal limits-There are moments when I just have to get away. So, I do. Take a nap, explore the host city, go swimming or do a fun workout.
What is Your Goal?
I often find that I’ll be speaking with attendees and I’ll ask them why they are attending the conference. More times than I can count, people will say the following:
- I just want to hangout with other podcasters-Which is fine…
- I’m not sure
- I hadn’t thought about it?
There’s nothing wrong with hanging out or not being sure about an event until you’ve arrived. All that I would ask of you is to set at least one goal for any of the conferences that you choose to attend in any of the content spaces that you happen to be in.
Examples of Podcast Movement Related Goals:
- Make new friends. It can be hard making friends as an adult. Podcast Movement and other conferences are great places to make new friends.
- Market your podcast to a new audience
- Share a unique skill that you have with other people
- Find a community member designed resource for a skill that you’re trying to learn.
- Meet a podcasting idol.
- Meet 5 podcasters in the same or adjacent content space.
- Start a mastermind group with podcasters that you’ve met.
- Find guests for your show.
- Launch a product that you’ve created and sell 10 units of whatever it is.
- Hold a successful session
- Find partners for a project you would like to work on
- Meet the team from a platform that you would like to connect with
- Create an affinity group filled with attendees that you’ve met. What do I mean? Here are some super random examples:
- Star Trek Podcaster Community
- Sewing Podcast Community
- AI Podcast Community
Pick one or a maximum of 3 goals to achieve during your time at Podcast Movement. Don’t just float around the event and leave wishing that you had approached the event differently.
Preparing for Podcast Movement Denver
I’m from Denver and I’m very familiar with the Gaylord Rockies facility that will be hosting Podcast Movement Denver. I’m sharing some tips and things to consider.
- Denver is a high altitude location. You can get altitude sickness here when coming from lower altitudes. Touch base with your doctor with any concerns that you may have.
- Don’t do your regular workout the first couple of days that you’re here.
- One beer equals two-Again, it’s a high altitude location.
- Drink a lot of water and stay hydrated.
- Bring lotion, lip balm and sunblock.
- Unfortunately, August is wildfire season in the West. By “The West” I’mean all states from Colorado going west to California. That means we could have smoke or haze due to wildfires depending on how dry the winter was.
- I love the Gaylord Rockies facility and am so excited to hang out in the water park. The team that runs the facility is so freaking nice and I think attendees will really enjoy the facility.
- One big downside to this facility-it’s really far from Denver’s downtown. In fact, even though I live in Denver, I’m opting to stay at the facility because it’s just too far to commute from my home.
- Because of the distance to Denver I would recommend adding days to your trip so that you can enjoy Denver or the mountains. There is a shuttle that goes from the hotel to the light rail station or you could take a Lyft to the light rail station which is 5 minutes away. The train will take about 30 minutes to reach the last stop which is Union Station.
- Also, if you’re wanting to go to the mountains they are 45 minutes away from the facility. So is Red Rocks Amphitheater. My point is that you’re going to need to factor in transportation for any adventures you’re looking to do.
Want to Visit the Mountains?
If you don’t want to rent a car and drive through the mountains, I recommend the following all day tour that will take you to Red Rocks, the Continental Divide and Breckenridge. You just have to make your way Union Station where participants will be picked up by the tour company. Click on the following link to learn more about this tour. The last time I checked there were 182 five star reviews and is a great deal.
- If you’re looking to go to Breckenridge/Vail you can take the Bustang from Union Station to those locations. I love the Bustang service and use it often especially during the winter when I don’t feel like driving to the mountains.
- Recommended Denver Experiences in no particular order:
- Meow Wolf
- Casa Bonita (now owned by the South Park guys)
- Yoga on the Rocks or a concert at Red Rocks
- A day in Boulder hanging out on Pearl Street Mall
- Colorado Rockies Game and hangout at McGregor Square
- Beer Spa
- Orphelia’s Electric Soapbox
- Avanti Food and Drink Food Hall
- Dairy Block
- Visit a speakeasy-I love Retrograde
- I’ve included a link to my website Square State Colorado which will have more ideas of fun things to do while you’re in town on it.
I hope this was helpful and that you have a fantastic time at this year’s Podcast Movement Denver conference. As always, I’m looking forward to it.
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