434. How to Walk Into Any Podcast Conference Fully Prepared

0:05 Good morning podcasting Morning Chat. Today is Tuesday January 13th, 2026 and today Pod Fest conferences and showing up prepared. We're diving into real world tips, networking, do's and don'ts, and honest experiences to help you feel confident and grounded at any event. So if you're listening live on Clubhouse, hit the share button on left hand side of the screen and share it. However, Clubhouse lets you. And if you're catching us via podcast, YouTube, LinkedIn, please share this episode with a fellow podcaster. And now give us about 30 seconds and we'll get things rolling. Thanks for being here. Good morning again, podcasting, Morning Chat. Thanks so much for being here.

1:24 I am your host Mark Ronik, and currently on stage with me we have producer Ashley Feller, Sid Meadows, Ralph Esta, BC Babbles, Dr. Faye, Jonathan Howard and Alex Baelish. Thank you to all of you and a big thank you to Jonathan for leading the charge yesterday. Last minute ish. I say last minute, maybe it was a little more than last minute. By around three, 3:30 in the morning yesterday I decided I was not going to make it to the room because I could not sleep. In typical fashion during the week, I tend to wake up very early in the morning and then my mind starts spinning and it keeps me awake. Yes, I think the official term for that is anxiety. And I was just recognizing today that this specific anxiety feels very similar to what I was experiencing leading up to the Empowered Podcasting Conference.

2:31 And this is all around Pod Fest, this anxiety, same feeling, different event. Specifically it's around my presentation. I want to, I told this to Jonathan yesterday. I'll tell this since I see, since Alex is here on stage and I'm sure I've said it to others who are, who have spoken at these conferences. I've said, oh, come on, you've got this. You know this material, you've got this down. Don't worry about it. I take it all back, although I didn't want you to worry about it. I get the nerves. I, I hear you.

3:13 I feel you. The feeling is real. And look, let me just explain and we're going to get into everything I promised at the top of the show. But this is 1 area as well. It's preparing for a conference where that you're going to speak at. And this has been a real challenge for me. First, if you haven't figured it out yet, if you've followed me, been on, been following this show for any period of time, this is not something I do often. I did it at my own conference. I spoke, I've done it at a conference in Memphis that Dominic Lawson had invited me to a couple years ago. And that one was a little more tutorial style. It was a little more the how to use AI because at the time it was still pretty fresh and new.

4:04 But this one feels really different to me. It feels more Ted X talk, if you will. And Ted X talks are only what, not even 15 minutes. This I have to fill about 30 minutes with maybe leaving some room for some Q&A. I do know this stuff, but I think the challenge is a preparing it, organizing it with an ADHD brain and then understanding the right ways for me to prepare and practice. I have been through a three day intensive preparing for this presentation. And you may be saying, but Mark, it's coming up this Thursday, you're just now preparing sort of.

4:51 I had the speech done. Basically what I first did was I went into ChatGPT and I just vomited all the information out that I wanted to share about how to build a community and specifically why a small community builds buy in for growth. And I even had it write a pseudo speech. I say it's a pseudo speech because I had no intention of ever using it, but it was something to put together and then read out loud for me to have a sense of where it was going to go, have a sense of what it might look like, and to hear and feel the words on the page in an organized fashion. But then I kind of left it.

5:41 And that's, I believe, not procrastination, I believe that is genuine ADHD. It's this feeling when a lot of us complete a step in the process, we get a big dopamine rush that reward, and then we feel like we're done. And then to build back up the motivation, build back up the momentum can feel really challenging. And I know to people that there are people that out there that don't get it, don't understand ADHD, and it's really hard to explain, but it feels like a physical block to actually continuing that momentum forward.

6:21 So I've spent the past three days all in on this with very little idea of really how to prepare. I will say one step that really helped me was bringing on a speaking coach. Shawn Douglas is, for those of you who know, Simona Costantini, her partner, by the way, congratulations to them. They are pregnant and expecting in March. Sean, it does this for a living. He helps people speak on public stages and he's done several, I think 22 Ted X talks. He's spoken on some giant stages and really knows a lot about this.

7:07 So that was one thing that I did to help me out. I'm going to pause here because I recognize I've been talking for about 8 minutes now and I'm going to ask, well, I guess I'll ask for initial responses, but I do want to talk to people about nerves first, preparing to speak on a big stage, and I want to hear about how you prepared. And I'll share a little bit more after that about how I've pushed through this kicking and screaming. I think Alex wanted to chime in. First thing I would recommend is try to get there early and get on the stage as as fast as she can if that's what I do with Lucy. And let's backtrack to people who may not know Alex and his daughter Lucy got to speak there last year at the Pikachu. What is it called again?

7:56 I. Never know how to I always. Forget you too, but it's the largest stage they have and it's the mainstage. But it's big. It's got 2 huge monitors and what I did was we got there as quickly as we as early as we could. I got her on the stage. The other thing I did was I brought her mic cover and even though they had their own mic, I put the mic cover on there so she was as comfortable as she could be. That's a good idea. And you know, our our talk was a mess and it had nothing to do with what we did. The slides were wrong. It was just a complete mess. But you know what? We did it and I want to get back there, but it was so much fun.

8:40 And The thing is that's why I say try to get there early and get your bearings of the stage. You don't want to be the first time you there is when you first get up. I think you have an advantage over Lucy and I where you're not on a that big stage, you're on one of the side stages. I'm not saying it's it's better or worse. I'm just saying it's not as intimidating in the sense of the room is large. Your room is not going to be that large. You know what you're talking about. And once you start going, that's where you're going to start flowing. The other thing is, and I think Doug probably told you this, you're going to miss stuff. You're going to forget stuff. It's OK, Just keep going. The main thing is you got to have fun when you do it and you got to take a second and say, Oh my God. This is so cool, you Alex.

9:29 Yeah, And I'll first say large rooms. Small rooms. Doesn't bother me. That's the part where I know once I get on stage, I'm going to feel comfortable. I still might be nervous that I'm going to forget things because that's my biggest fear. I think here is just forgetting the flow. And like you're saying, you're going to forget. And one thing that you just helped me with, I hear it all the time. Nobody's going to notice if you mess up because only you will, because you know your presentation. They don't and that holds true. Like Alex says, they, you know, they messed up. The slides were all messed up. I had and I saw their talk and I had no idea. You know, people can RSVP ahead of time to these talks. I think I'm approaching around 60 people so far attending and the event hasn't even started yet. It I'm excited for that and it doesn't make me nervous. What makes me nervous, like I said, is just forgetting my place.

10:27 And I really the thing that drove me nuts about my event at Empowered Podcasting, when I did my opening remarks, I've gone back and watched only parts of it 'cause it's hard for me to stomach. Normally that's not the case watching back my own content. But I hate the fact that I had my notes and I was leaning heavily on them. And that's because although again, I knew the sentiment, I knew what I wanted to say, I didn't practice enough. I didn't prepare enough. So I had to have those notes that I'm I don't want to do that this year, but I will. I've decided as of probably Sunday afternoon. I'm going to use note note cards.

11:09 I have to, no matter how much I prepare, I feel like I have to Hey, Mark, there's nothing wrong with that. It's there's nothing wrong with having it a bullet point thing. Don't beat yourself up because you're using a tool. It's fine. People do it all the time. Thank you, Alex. BCI think you wanted to chime in? Yeah, let me also say that as someone who attended your last conference, I didn't mind it at all being there on the front row that you had no credits. I'm like, do it, do it, do it. Keep yourself aligned and in charge with what you want to make sure you hit on in your opening speeches. So as a audience member, I didn't even care. That was to me like I would be doing the same thing. But discussing the being on a stage thing. I agree with Alex, get there early. And you do want to try to make that stage feel like your own. And the reason why I want to reinforce that idea is, is especially as someone who used to be in the arts, is because the main delusion we have to combat sometimes. And you may not have this issue, but is that we get on the stage when there's a packed seating area and we suddenly feel like we don't have our own space anymore. Like we're trying to project against this completely overcumbered area that no longer feels like it's ours. So we have to work to remind ourselves we still have our own space.

12:33 The stage is our space. That is the defined parameters that is still uniquely our own that the audience does not get to cross the threshold of. That is our space. They sit where they're at. I mean, unless you're crazy famous, then it may not be your space much longer. But assuming that's not the situation, you get to redefine all the room you have so that your speech, your presentation, whatever it is, whatever you're there for, or can flow more naturally. That makes a lot of sense. Thank you. BC yeah, I am taking that advice from you, from Alex. I will get there early and get my get the lay of the land, start feeling comfortable.

13:13 Like I said, I think the advantage for me is I'm in my element when I get to go on a stage. I love having a captured audience like that, clearly, and this is just new territory for me. I am uncomfortable. So yeah, anything I can do to feel a little more comfortable, I think will will help. I see Ralph, you chimed in here in the chat. Do you want to share out loud with the group? Absolutely. So two things I'll share. And Power Podcasting is my first podcast conference back in September. And if you hadn't just mentioned that you had notes, it never crossed my mind, Mark, when I saw you up front, I just assumed that you had a things that you want to talk about and you want to make sure you didn't forget anything. I think that's very professional. And the second thing I will say is that, you know, this is the way you expand your horizons, Mark. This is the way when you reach out for things you've never done before, that's when you actually grow as a human being. And I know that's uncomfortable and I know that feels very nervous and I don't have the the anxiety type things that you have, but this is how you grow and this is how you will get to the next level.

14:25 And here's a deal. You can do this. Thank you, Ralph. I know I can do it. I appreciate that encouragement. I know I can do it. I'm growing and it's very uncomfortable. I recognize that this is growth and I recognize that once it's all over, God willing, it goes well, which I expect it to go well. I know I'm going to be super proud of myself. And Michael here in the chat brings out the fact that my improv training should serve me well it. And he said don't be afraid to go off script and go with the flow. Yeah, Michael, that's my, that's my challenge because I, I tend to go off script and I do that here all the time.

15:10 And then I'll call out. Yep, I'm having an ADHD moment. I forget where I was going because often times I get myself too sidetracked and then I forget. I forget my, where I was my, I lose my place. But that's why I'm going with note cards. I was just going to say, Mark, you're going to laugh when I say this, but you're your own judge in that because I never feel like you're having one of those moments as a person that's listening. So that is something you're bringing to the table that no one else sees, my friend. Thank you for that. That's helpful. And by the way, I do have to shout out Jonathan. Jonathan has helped with my anxiety, not just because he led the room yesterday for me in my absence, but because he's helping me with my slides again. As a first timer who admittedly waited till, I'll call it, waited till the last minute, I did not have my slides prepared. And it's one of the things that's giving, causing anxiety because it's not something I'm used to doing. It's not something I'm used to putting together and it's not something I'm used to using when I'm speaking publicly. I don't use slides here.

16:19 Jonathan stepped up, offered to help and we have our first round of slides all together and they look fantastic. So thank you Jonathan for that. I really appreciate it. And you are way ahead of where I was for your conference because I finished my slides 2 minutes before I went on stage, so you are good. Don't worry about it. So basically, Jonathan, you have helped me get further along in my slides than you were yourself. Interesting. Exactly, Yeah. So I knew I was going to use the entire weekend to do this, to prepare because my wife and my stepdaughter, who is in town this week for her birthday, the two of them took a road trip to Atlanta this weekend to go see one of my wife's oldest friends.

17:15 So I knew I had the house to myself. I knew I was going to prepare. And in typical fashion, I sit down first thing in the morning. I've had my coffee, I've had my breakfast. I'm up and energized and sit down. And then it's like flashback to growing up having to do my homework or having to work on a project or having to study for an exam. I was kicking and screaming a little more maturely, but I was, I was having the equivalent of a temper tantrum by myself. Moments of just yelling out loud with my frustration. I really felt at one point, say 30 minutes in of doing very little except complaining. I don't think I got very far.

18:01 And actually this I think actually occurred. This tantrum stuff I'm talking about, it actually occurred the night before because I wanted to get a head start and there was, I think I finally had a moment where I just surrendered to it all. It was almost like, OK, I give. I give. And I think I even said out loud, call it a prayer, call it calling out to the universe, whatever you want to whatever you want to call it. I just said I give up and not like give up on this. Just give up feeling this way. What do I do? Because I don't know how to really prepare for this. I know the overall structure, but I just don't know how to prepare for this so that I can feel comfortable on that stage, knowing every direction I want to go in.

18:48 And that's where I feel like something came through and I just, I got the answers. Note that I've never done mind mapping before, even though it's something that's highly encouraged for people in general and especially for people that deal with ADHD, just never have done it before. So I had no idea the quote UN quote proper way of mind mapping. I just don't know really how to do it. But I just all of a sudden I was just, we'll call it guided to just start writing. And so I mind mapped, you know, it's basically writing a bubble in the center and then stemming off of that bubble. Everything that has to do with that main point so I basically created a bubble. I called it act one of my of my speech of my presentation and I started branching off and using my script that I had prepared with ChatGPT week or weeks before just to help guide me. And what I ended up doing was creating each step, if you will, of that first act step one.

19:54 It wasn't really step, but it's just .1, I'll call it. And then when I felt like that was complete, .2 and the next thing you knew I had multiple pages acts one through 5. And that's when I kind of hit me that, you know what, these are very much like note cards because I didn't write every single thing down that I want to say, just the highlights, just the main points for each bubble. And I decided I can turn those into note cards. So again, going back to ChatGPT. I literally took a picture of my mind maps because they were all handwritten and I fed it to to it one act at a time and ChatGPT and I created note cards. And I feel much better about that now because now I know if I lose my place, I have something that can help guide me. And between those and my slides, I feel better. And yes, I will just say finally, I think the ultimately what all this anxiety is about, it's about fear of judgement. Sid was pep talking me yesterday and was telling me that, you know, he thinks I'm maybe I'm just overthinking all of this. And I think he's right.

21:03 And I think it's because I just want to show up well and I want to make sure I'm pouring in as much value as possible. And sometimes that's a good thing in theory. But if we let it get the best of us, it causes sleepless nights. So if you're a speaker and you're struggling, I hope that some of this value, that some of this information has been valuable to you in your journey prepping maybe for your first time. But I do want to get to other elements of Podfest. So as I was supposed to do, let's shift gears and talk about attendance and attendees and maybe some of the do's and don'ts and some of the experiences that we've had at these conferences to help our audience as they prepare for either Pod Fest or some other conferences that are coming up here in the first quarter of 2026. So let's talk about who might remember their first podcasting conference.

22:05 You know, Ralph talked about he just had one, so I'm sure he can speak to these. ICBC wanted to chime in and Alex did as well. BC I'll come back to you. Do you remember your first podcast conference and was there anything you were really nervous about before you went? Yeah, I'm pretty sure my. Podcast. Specific conference was yours back in September and something I learned and realized after attending is that don't assume all the other attendees are already leagues ahead of you in their podcasting journey. And that's not to downgrade anyone who is, but it's to say that you have no idea what point in anyone's journey any of the attendees are.

22:47 You may go in there and realize that you are a lot further ahead than you realize compared to other people that you meet. So don't assume that you are going to be realizing that you have a bunch of setbacks. Don't go in there assuming that you have nothing to offer, because you might have a lot of nuanced insights that no one else has, even those who might have been podcasting longer than you have. Thank you BC I appreciate you saying that. I think that's really important. I think that we can come in especially as newer podcasters and feel really intimidated by all the experience around this. But I assure you there is somebody there that is that you are much further along than they are. I agree with you.

23:30 There is something that any everyone can offer at a conference like this, and I think it's just a matter of embracing where you are in your journey. Yeah, Ralph, let's go to you and we'll go back to Alex in a moment. Go ahead, Ralph. Yeah, Mark, I doubt you're going to remember this, but the day of the Empower Podcasting conference, I'm a super early riser. I got up, I went to the gym and exercised, and then I came back to like, the bar area where you were setting up. I didn't know you from Adam. And here's the thing, big take away for Pike for anybody attending conferences, go and interact with people. So what I did was I walked up to Mark and I said, hey, Mark, I'm Ralph. He had no idea who I was. And I just think you've got to do that.

24:11 And then two minutes later, I knew Dave Jackson from hearing him and seeing him, but I never met him in person. And I went up here. He gave me a big hug. That's the thing to do at these conferences, Approach people, go introduce yourself, you know, press the flesh with them. They're people just like you. And because of that, Mark, I think in a lot of ways I'm being involved in your show because I took the leap with this one. I'm going to go talk to this guy. I figured this guy's in charge of the conference. He's a bigwig, but I'm going to just go out there and I'm going to shake his hand and he's going to get to know me. And that's what I did and it worked for me. Thank you, Ralph. And yes, IA 100% remember the moment. It's hard not to remember moments like that for me when it's my event, just having those moments where I'm meeting people one-on-one. And yeah, that morning was I think the was the 1st morning and I was setting up for the podcasting morning chat in the bar lobby area.

25:04 And so, yeah, when you approached me, that was a very distinct moment of the conference that I remember. And I think it's such a good point to to say you never know what opportunities pop up from just pushing through, maybe feeling a little uncomfortable to approach somebody, but you never know what opportunities come of that. And that goes for me too. I had I, I never would have thought in that moment that Ralph would have ended up being a regular here on the show, contributing the way he does, stepping up yesterday last minute and recording the show, playing the clips for Jonathan, etcetera. You just never know how those people that you meet at these conferences are going to change your life, affect your life, make a difference. Alex, did you want to chime in?

25:52 Pod fest is very overwhelming, but have a plan and try to map out what you want to see. But like Ralph said, you want to talk to as many people as you can because you find that there's so many different types of podcasts. I yo, specifically there's this one lady, she takes Taylor Swift songs and like breaks them down and that's their whole podcast. The main thing is check out the new tech, see what's coming up because they got all that stuff. You can touch it, you can feel it in the in that room and just, and just try to embrace everything because I think that's the the hardest part of Podfest. It's so big. Everybody wants to do so much, but you have to kind of take a breath every so often and and just kind of walk around and and enjoy what what's going on. Yeah.

26:38 Thank you, Alex. Appreciate that. I want to go to Sid, if Sid, you are available because I know that I believe Podcast Movement this past year was your first podcast conference. I know you've been to many conferences, so you can probably speak to first time experiences and experiences in general at conferences. But I'm just curious if you would share a little bit about your first time experience at Podcast Movement and maybe a tip for people who are attending a conference like Podfest for the first time. Yeah. Thanks, Mark. Good morning, everybody. Yes, Podcast movement this August was my first podcasting conference that I've ever been to.

27:20 I don't really have anxiety over meeting new people because I think new people all the time. But there is a little bit of nervous energy, I think when you're when you go up an escalator and you walk into a space where you don't know anybody. And so I think for me, the, the thing that was easy for me was trying to look around and scan the room to see who is it that I know that maybe I've connected with on LinkedIn or Instagram or whatever it is, you know, TikTok, clubhouse, whatever it might be that I could try to seek out because that's like a, you know, a bit of an ice breaker. And ironically, the very first person I saw was Paula. And that changes the energy anywhere. You are right.

28:12 And so that certainly got rid of the nerves for me. But my tip is don't be afraid. And I did this, especially at the cocktail party. Don't be afraid to walk up to a group of people and insert yourself into the conversation. It could be really hard and but I think if you just kind of nudge your way into the conversation, it's a great way to meet people, especially in like a cocktail setting. So many people, especially when they're by themselves, will go be that wallflower and stand in the corner and not talk to anybody. But if you can, summon your 20 seconds of courage and bust up in a group of people and introduce yourself and join the conversation.

28:54 Stop judging me, Sid. Jonathan, if I if I saw you at a conference, I'd come hang out with you. People would probably relate to Jonathan, those people who have social anxiety. Jonathan and I both deal with that sometimes. Believe it or not, I definitely do. I often, when I'm at these conferences, have to step away for a little bit, maybe 10-15 minutes or so to recharge and get away from the overwhelm of the social aspect of it, even though I love it. I need to refuel. I need to recharge. But don't be afraid to insert yourself is a great tip, Sid and I think that it it can be easier than we give it credit for.

29:37 I think going and just kind of walking up to a little circle of people who are chatting, Likely you're going to hear some chat about podcasting. If you're at a podcasting conference, it's just listen in and one of two things will happen. Either you don't know what they're talking about, which is a great opportunity to ask questions, or you do what know what they're talking about and you have something to contribute. But asking questions, don't be shy if they're talking about stuff that's over your head. It's a great way to break the ice. It's a great way to insert yourself in the conversation. OK, I'm going to go to Ashley, who I think wanted to respond to the whole idea of recharging your social batteries because that's where she flashed an emoji when we were talking. So I'm making an assumption.

30:19 But Ashley, the floor is yours. Good morning. Good. Morning. Thank you. Yeah, you kind of mentioned, what I was thinking is if you're a person who's got social anxiety, maybe get to the venue a little early and see if you can locate some more remote areas that you can take refuge in should you need to. Because you may not necessarily be staying at the hotel that the conference is that I did that a few years ago at Pod Fest. I stayed at a different hotel and that's what I did. I scoped out this outside courtyard area that I could escape to when I needed. And I also wanted to throw it a little tip that might make that make you some money, save you some money.

31:02 And that is if you fly in and you don't want to take an Uber everywhere you're going, that shuttle around Orlando is either very cheap or free sometimes. So you can look it up in the Orlando tourist website, I'm sure you'll find it. Thank you. Great tip, Ashley, all around. I love the idea of getting there early and scoping out the place to see what areas you can kind of escape to if needed. And I should point out that Pod Fest is going to have a whole Wellness area this year, so you'll be able to take advantage. I believe, Don't hold me to it because I don't know all the details, but I believe they'll be things like meditation areas, massage areas, etcetera, etcetera. It's they'll be a whole section at Pod Fest where you can break away and get some, get that mental break that you may need, however you may need it.

32:02 Now, some baza just came up here as we were talking about that some baza. Did you want to talk a little bit about the Wellness stuff or did you have something else you wanted to add? Good morning. I was going to tell you, yes, there is a place there you do have it's called the Zen room. Yes, you can go there if you need to kind of decompress, but it's not for the massages. The massages is for the VIP, but they do have a room that's it's a quiet room that you can just go to and hang out there and just chill and relax. Awesome. Yeah, Thank you, Sambaza. Yeah, I forgot it's called the Zen Room. Jana Swan will be there, and I think she's going to be doing some stuff for that Zen room to help people feel a little more Zen.

32:46 Yeah, Sid, go ahead. So one other thing I wanted to mention about, you know, meeting people and walking into a space that maybe you don't know anybody is and you're going to get in line somewhere. Whether it's you're going to get in line to get your badge, you're going to get in line to get coffee, you're going to get in line at the bar. And people can have their badges on, especially if you're at the at a Starbucks in a hotel and you're there and pretty much everybody else is there and you see those name badges, just introduce yourself to them because likely the person in line came by themselves as well. So they come in and introduce yourself and say, hey, you're here for Podfest or you have Podfest. Hey, I'm Sid Meadows.

33:26 What you know that person will say their name. Nice to meet you. And you can start a brief little conversation like what's the name of your podcast or what brought you to podcast or to Podfest? Why did you come? Have you been here before? There's great little impromptu 5 minute conversations you can have in the line to get your coffee that might lead to sitting next to that person when you happen to show up at the same talk. So, you know, talking to a stranger in line at, you know, check in at hotel or the Starbucks is not necessarily a bad thing. So mom and dad would have proved talking to strangers. Great tip and it's really, it should be relatively easy to do that. I mean, you're at a podcasting convention or really whatever convention, right?

34:13 But there is a theme. Talk about the theme. In this case, ask that person, do you have a podcast? What's it about? Right? That's a great way to break the ice and start chatting. Dr. Did you want to comment on that? Oh no, I'm sorry, I'm off. I didn't mean to. No problem. I have a question for you. I'll come back to you in a second. Ashley wants to chime in and then I have a question for you that I think is very appropriate to ask you. Well, I'll explain in a minute. Go ahead, Ashley. I just kind of wanted to add on to what Sid was saying in regard to meeting people. Make use of that Hoover app. I love that thing. There are meetups within meetups on that app, and I've met people that I'm still in communication with today using that Hoover app and the way they've got it organized and laid out, you can really find people quite easily.

35:03 I agree. Yes, and we'll get into that. I'll let Sid go on, but I think one of the questions I have for Dr. may lead into more about the Hoover app. I'll explain momentarily. Sid, take it away. Yes, sorry, I'm laughing at Jonathan. Jonathan, since I keep making these insane recommendations, Yes, Jonathan, I'm going to push you to talk to people, real live people. But I learned some things I guess not too long ago, some videos one day this week or last week, I don't remember. But you could actually, if you've got AI, maybe even ChatGPT installed on your phone, you could create a folder called Pod Fest.

35:43 And when you meet somebody, you can just go talk to it and say, I just met Mark Ronic spelled with AK and ACAC and AK at the coffee shop at the hotel. Be sure to follow up with Mark about blah, blah, blah. So then you don't have to hear about writing something down. You can just talk to Tat GPT for a second and it captures all of your meeting notes, if you will, the people that you met that you want to follow up with. And I thought, well, that's a brilliant idea. I love that. Thank you, Sid. OK, so Dr. wanted to hear from you and the reason why I was saying this is appropriate because it kind of because I know and we've talked about it as recent as this week.

36:26 You are somebody with apps where you go all in and you will you see a new app and you're all in. You want to go check that out, you know, within reason of course, but I'm thinking about events like this. There are so many choices, so many options, much like Appsumo offers. But, and I know you've been to Podcast Movement before, how do you choose what talks to go to? I've been to 1 before and that's when it was here in Nashville. It was, as you said, podcast movement and I learned a lot just from mistakes. If I had to do everything all over again, I would definitely prioritize all the different places that I wanted to go, the talks that I wanted to hear, and I would leave a lot more time for me to network with people. But yeah, prioritizing now I could do it because I'm so much more settled where I am in the podcasting world and with my career and stuff.

37:32 Before I was super duper green, super duper green. And so that's why I just had to everything, let me go hear that one, let me go. And you know, it was a Gaylord for God's sake. And it's like they were three miles apart, one talk from another and just trying to keep up. And it was just, I wore myself out because it was definitely a mistake. But if I were to go, if I were to go back today, I would definitely prioritize. I know a lot more now than I did then. And some of those talks would not be appropriate for me. They were before they were great. Now I know more.

38:13 So I guess something like that. That makes sense, and I think that's good advice. A lot of new goers want to try to get to every talk they possibly can, and that can wear you out pretty quick if you're not careful. And you may end up at some talks that just may not really apply the way I do it. I've basically created my own filter system going back to that Hoova app that actually brought up. That's something that Podfest uses to like she was explaining to really organize and help the attendees navigate their way through all the different attendees, all the different meetups and presentations, etcetera. What I like to do is stalk all my friends. I'm going to talk about this in my presentation briefly too, but yeah, it's really find the people that you know, whether you know them personally or you follow them on social media and that's the extent of your relationship. But go and see what others are doing and go attend those talks. See what appeals to you of amongst your friends and sign up.

39:22 I like to do it because I also like knowing that there's going to be some people there that I know that I can sit with. It just makes me feel more comfortable and I know that for the most part, I'm going to learn something from these presentations. So it it's more important for me to just find a way to filter out my choices than just go through the entire day, each day of options. It just helps me narrow it down. And if you don't know anybody, this is where Sid's advice really comes in handy. If you can start introducing yourself to people, follow up at some point with, hey, let's connect on the Hoover app and now you can go and see what talks that they're attending or maybe they're a speaker and now you might be interested in going to see their talk. It's really helpful.

40:10 Oh, some baza. I'll come to you. And then I want to go to Ralph because I heard we briefly were talking about Ashley was sharing ways to save yourself some money. And I think Ralph has some tips on the financial aspect. Of conference going. So we'll go to him in a minute for some baza. Yeah, go, go ahead. So what I was going to say is usually I start off with a smile and then for that gets you in a lot in a in places, you know, because the smile starts everything. Everybody is in a happy mood. Not everyone really, but pretty much everyone is in a happy mood at that .2 is the activities, the after activities that they have. If you don't get a chance to to communicate to a lot of the people they have the like the karaoke nights that they have in the evening.

40:58 I think if you go to those not not even the the karaoke stuff, there's some small like lunch and learns and small activities that they have that are hosted. I don't know if they're going to do that this year, but when you go to those small spaces, that's when you meet also a lot of the people because everybody's in a cramped space and, you know, you can't just be on your own. And I think last but not least, if you get a chance to volunteer, one you get to work at, if you're able to work in one of those rooms that they have talks, that gives you a chance to kind of sit and listen to one particular talk and not have you move around and not being aware, not being not aware of where you are. And then also that makes people come to you to ask for assistance and stuff like that.

41:44 So that could get conversations going. That's what I wanted to add on. And Mark, I'll see you there. Thank you all. Sambaza, I know you RSVP to my talk and I'm so glad you did. And I'm calling it out because I have some, I have some notes that I'm going to specifically be calling out, calling you out during the speech. And I'll probably be asking you a question or two. So please be there. I'll be there. OK? I'm dependent on that. OK, hold. On you got, I'm going to be there. Cool cool. And I love his first tip. I loved all your tips and Bazza and the first tip about lead with a smile. And yeah, it might feel very simple, but I think it does go a long way. And Sambaza's got one of the best smiles at Pod Fest, too. It's addictive when Sambaza gives you a a big authentic grin like he like he has.

42:35 All right, let's go to Ralph. Ralph, I know that this morning before the show, you said you wanted to talk a little bit about the financial side of conference going. So what tips or thoughts do you have on that? I wanted to bring a little racticality to this. My my hat is in accounting O one of the things if you're going to be attending, keep track of every dollar you spend. I'm talking about your hotel room, any flights, any Ubers to and from the airport, any meals, anything you've spent for that trip, because you may be able to deduct those things as long as there's a clear and legitimate business purpose. And if you're a podcaster and you're in this to either generate a profit or maybe just offset some of the income you have, keep track of the expenses.

43:18 Now, a credit card statement is not sufficient. You actually need the receipt. So what I'm going to recommend you do, everybody carries a phone with them. Now whenever you spend money, take a picture of that receipt at that moment and then after the comments you can go back and assemble all that information. So that's my practical tip of the day for a conference going. Thank you, Ralph. I know there are also apps that help you with tracking your receipts and such, taking pictures, etcetera, and I think 1 is called Concur. Does that ring a bell to you, Ralph? I'm not familiar with that one, Mark, but there are a bunch of them out there. I was just trying to make something very basic because pretty much everybody can take a picture.

43:59 And The thing is, when I work with content creators, they'll always say to me, well, I've got my credit card statement, Ralph. No big deal. No, the IRS actually wants a picture of the receipt. And one of the great things you can do is write on the receipt where you are and what the business purpose was, because that wins every time when I present that to an auditor. Great point. And actually sticking to the simplification of what you're, you know, keeping track. One way that I do that is when I take a picture of the receipt. This is specific to iPhone users, by the way. So please forgive me if you're not. But when I go back into my photos and look at that picture of that receipt, if I just hold tap and swipe up, it gives you a little section.

44:41 It gives you information about you that that photo. It tells you things like where it was taken, what time, etcetera. But there is a little section for notes and I don't know, Ralph, if that was what you were just explaining or not, but that's how I do it. As I flip it, I just swipe up and then type in any details just to make sure I don't forget. I actually go and take it one step further and actually write it. Take a pen and write on the receipt what it was, who you were with and what the business purpose was. That way it is completely clear evidence if you ever have to present that to somebody. Yeah, good tip as well. And yes, I was right, concurconcur.com, if you're just interested in using an app instead of the simple way, well, the app makes it simple too, but I think what Ralph is sharing might meet might make it easier.

45:30 This way you don't have to learn an app just days before you're going to the conference. Ashley, did you want to chime in with something? Yes, please. I just wanted to offer a simple suggestion for organizing your receipts. If you have an iPhone, before you go, make a note for every day that you're going to be there and for every time you make a purchase, like Ralph was saying, take a picture of that receipt. Because now with the Apple updates, you can actually attach just about anything to an Apple Note. And I do this all the time. Take pictures of your receipts and put them in your Apple Notes and then you can out to the side right write notes about that receipt if you need to. Great idea. I see.

46:11 Ralph loves that too. He put that in the chat. Great idea, Ashley. Yeah, thank you, Ashley. Loving all these tips. I'm curious, as we are coming close to wrapping up, those of you who are either attending Pod Fest or have attended different podcasting conventions, do you go in with a goal or do you kind of let the experience unfold naturally? I usually try to go in with at least one big intention. Last year, my intention was to see as many talks of the people whom I'm connected to, right? So anybody in my community, anyone that I, I'm connected to outside my community, just the people that I know, I make sure to see as many of them as possible.

46:59 That was my intention this last year. I'm doing that again this year, but I'm also giving myself a little bit of grace because I think I'm going to, I think this year is going to be more for me about networking. I think that's going to be my more of my intention this year is to have those one-on-one meaningful conversations, as many of them as I can, and that's going to be really important to me this year. Does anyone go in with a goal like let let's go to Sid for a second. Sid, when you went to Podcast movement or Empowered Podcasting, did you have any goals or do you just kind of go in and see what happens? So somewhere I have them written down what my goals were. I do not remember what the goals were, but I also like what you talked about, having an intention. You got to know what you want out of it while you're going. So to Ashley's point, the Notes app is great to like. What is it you want to accomplish? Why are you here?

47:53 Who do you want to meet? You put everything in one place and you can use the little check box and check it off as you actually get it done. So I do set goals and intentions when I go to these things, Mark. I don't remember exactly what it was for either one of the two conferences that I've been to, but that's OK. Yes. OK, Dr., Did you want to add something? Yeah. So we've talked about this before and there are two camps when it comes to this. But I have been loud and proud about my affinity to business cards. I love. I love a good business card. There's something about holding that business card and looking at it and then looking back up at the person who gave it to me. And I associate the design of the business card with the person.

48:41 And I think you can put a lot of personality into that business card and on the back of it write down met at Podfest birthday is the same of us as mine daughter likes soccer as like like mine does or something to, you know, spark that memory and go ahead and take a picture of it with your phone. But I love coming home with a ton of those business cards. Love that. Thank you, Dr. And I think that some people feel like business cards. I was trying to look for some old timey music, but I just couldn't pull it up in time. But some people may say, you know, that's old school. But I still see business cards being passed around at these conferences all the time.

49:30 I keep them on me because sometimes people ask me for them. I find that it's easier to have AQR code burned in on my home screen of my phone, on my lock screen Even so that this way if somebody needs it quickly I can just flash that they can take a picture. Do both. Yeah, I think both is the safe thing to do. Because yeah, because a card is a real conversation starter. You know, you lose something in the whole digital Ness. I made a board a digital Ness of it all. That's like, I get what you're saying and Ashley I hate. Words in the morning.

50:10 Ashley said. And you can take pictures of the business cards that you collect and put it in your Apple notes and add notes below the card. Yes, great, great caller there. Ashley. Sid you wanted to add something? Yeah. So I love business cards too. I don't have as much of an affinity to them as Dr. does. I do think when you're giving out a business card, the more unusual it is, the better. I remember one year I made our team get round business cards and they were kind of odd sized and I remember this one guy going, where am I supposed to put these in? Like in your pocket? There's not a holder for a round business card. I'm like everybody we gave those business cards out to was like, oh wow, this is really cool. It is a memorable moment.

50:55 Whether it's a color that identifies with your brand for like Dr. Her cards should be purple with white writing on them. You know, I mean, something like that that's really memorable. But I am not a fan of the scan your contact information. Do you know why, Mark? I have a guess anyway. I think my the reason would be because then later you don't know who you spoke to and where where they are on your phone. Yes. You don't remember who you talked to and you scan 25 people's contact information and how do you find who those people were in your contact app and who were they and what were you supposed to do? That's why if you do do that, use ChatGPT to make a note that, hey, I just scanned Mark's business card. He's with Ironic Media.

51:43 He does podcast editing. I want to follow up with him about joining the clubhouse room, like something like that. So you remember who you scan. If you don't do the business card, you do the electronics. You got to remember it or it's just lost. Those digital cards, the dot cards where you can do the QR code and all that like that works really well. And I feel like they need a feature to to deal with that issue that you're sharing a feature that maybe when the person scans it sends them an e-mail like, hey, great to connect to you with you. Here's all my info and it sends you an e-mail or stores it somewhere for you so that you can go back and look at it. I think that's an. So I found.

52:24 This lady on TikTok. I found this lady on TikTok mark that she uses again iPhones rule. She uses the shortcut app in that comes with your iPhone and she creates this automation using ChatGPT that you can set it up that does exactly that. Like you take a picture, you do a shortcut, it'll draft an e-mail for you. Great to be set it all up great to meet you. I bought puts it in your outbox or your drafts box so that you can look at it when you get get back to your computer. So you can. I'm still figuring out how to do all this, but I just think it's fascinating that on your phone is such a powerful computer that you can do things like that with it. Love.

53:09 That that's so cool. I'm going to have to look into that. Although I don't know that I have the brain capacity to learn it this year, but it's something I'll want to learn for the next conference that I attend. That sounds perfect. Listen, we got a lot of great tips, some of them that I was able to write down quickly. If you're a speaker, go to that room that you're speaking early. Get a lay of the land, get a feel for it. Start building up that comfort with because once you're feeling comfortable, you're going to feel more confident. Make sure that you are social with others, as hard as that may feel sometimes to some of us. Push yourself a little bit to talk to people and get to know them and exchange information. Don't be afraid to insert yourself and once that social battery is drained, if you're one of those people that it drains relatively quickly, take a break.

53:58 Find your own space, take advantage of rooms like the Zen room. And then as far as money saving tips, take pictures of all your receipts. Document them because you could save yourself money by you save yourself money on taxes. These are write offs and I think for me the probably the most important take away is to make sure you're setting intentions or goals for attending an event like this. Whether you're a speaker, whether you're an attendee, I think knowing what you want going in will improve your experience tenfold. And it's OK if that intention is I'm coming in to just experience the event and take it all in, that's fine.

54:44 I think it's just important for us to understand and make it clear to ourselves what we want to get out of doing something like this. We're investing money in this. Yes, we've got some ways you can save it, but you are investing your time and your money into this. So make sure you know what you want to get out of it. We are back tomorrow covering all the headlines around the world of podcasting and it is important. If you saw the Golden Globes, I want to talk about that whole category tomorrow because I am feeling like there's a mixed bag in the industry around that whole thing. Some people loved it, some people felt like it was a smack in the face to the podcast industry.

55:31 Spoiler alert, I loved it and I'll explain more about that tomorrow, but we'll cover other headlines as well around the world of podcasting. So join us 7:00 AM Eastern live on Clubhouse, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, all the places. And remember, if you can't join us live, that's OK 'cause we put it out as a podcast just a few hours later. So check out Podcasting Morning chat.com For more information. So until tomorrow, make it a great day everybody take care.