The 4th Annual Philadelphia Podcast Festival kicks off this weekend

If anyone knows how important consistency is, it’s a podcast creator.

Growing an audience takes time, a lot of self-promotion and — from time to time — getting a bunch of people together to show them what exactly it is that you can do armed with a laptop and a really good mic.
The 4th Annual Philadelphia Podcast Festival is an effort by the Philadelphia Podcasting Society to do just that: showcase local talent, link regular listeners with the creators they like and possibly entice others to press record.
Today, at 6 p.m., Jeff Stormer’s Party of One podcast will kick off the roster of 30 podcasts holding live recording sessions from Aug. 19-28 in four venues across the city.

Philly Banner Express is not kidding about the "express" part. They turned this around in about 24 hours! Thanks! pic.twitter.com/JH3WT9G7fs

— Philly Podcast Fest (@PhillyPodFest) August 18, 2016

But making this happen every year since 2013 has been no easy task.
“The biggest challenge in keeping the Festival consistent is time,” says cofounder Teagan Kuruna. “The festival is something we do because we love it, not because we want to make money, so we have to squeeze in planning time throughout the year.”
Besides the support of Philly’s podcasters and fellow Society cofounder — and husband — Nathan Kuruna, this year the festival has a roster of sponsors helping out with venues, audio engineering, graphic design and more.
“We hope that people come away from the festival excited that they saw their favorite shows live — and maybe even had a chance to meet the hosts,” said Teagan. “We also hope that people feel energized knowing that Philadelphia has a thriving independent media community, and that they become inspired to start creating their own content.”
All are welcome for free at the live recording sessions (though organizers do hope attendants patronize the festival’s gracious hosts).
Check out the full schedule for the festival here.