My Time at the RESONATE Podcast Festival

I entered the Institute for Contemporary Art for the first time with bright eyes, a nervous smile and shaky hands clutching onto the audio equipment I brought from school. I stood in the open space used as the stage and took in the buzz of chatter and laughter. Journalists from all over the  world shuffled around me to greet each other and walked up the stairs to settle into their seats. This was the atmosphere of the RESONATE 2024 Podcast Festival (external link)  in Richmond, Virginia.

The RESONATE Podcast Festival was a 2-day event held from Oct 24-26 at the ICA at Virginia Commonwealth University. For the past three years, this festival has been a place for audio storytellers to come together to learn, network and build a community. It was created by Chioke I’Anson, a podcaster, philosopher and educator. In an interview (external link)  with TINK media, I’Anson described the festival as, “a container for attendees to make magic with their peers.” Attendees can attend workshops, get one-on-one advice from mentors, get professional headshots taken and be among other creatives.

Shari Okeke, a notable and award-winning journalist, was our professor for Advanced Podcasting and Radio Documentary, JRN 801 this semester. She raised funding from The Creative School, Journalism Research Centre and Journalism at The Creative School to bring four students with her to Virginia to attend this festival. Not only was this an amazing opportunity, but everything we learned and the connections we made, were a great help to our production of season 3 of our student podcast, We Met U When (external link) ... 

Even though I am a journalism student, I wasn’t too familiar with the world of audio storytelling. I always thought my niche would be strictly in writing. So, when the opportunity to attend RESONATE came up, I knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and applied.

To my surprise, I was chosen.

A month later, I boarded a plane from Toronto to Washington D.C., and then took a bus to Richmond alongside three other students: Leonor Dias, Gabrielle McMann, Alexa DiFrancesco along with our professor, Shari Okeke.

Near Virginia Commonwealth University or VCU, the area we stayed in was cozy and scenic. Cafes were tucked between music stores and vintage thrift shops, the trees' luscious green leaves faded into crisp, golden brown, and college students scattered along the sidewalks going about their day. Richmond is a vibrant city.

October 24 was our first day at the podcast festival. It was Student Day, which was the perfect way to ease us into such a new experience because it was smaller and more intimate. We got to meet other students who were still new to the industry and in the process of finding their voices.

A few students even got the opportunity to share their portfolios with professionals from podcast companies such as Goat Rodeo (external link)  and editaudio (external link) .

I got to sit on a comfy, red couch with my classmates and a few of these professionals after the portfolio review was over. We talked about everything, from our class podcast, We Met U When… to our own journeys as budding journalists. I even got to work with Ali Sirois, who works for editaudio and later on, provided some editorial guidance for my group’s podcast episode.

The second day was the official start of RESONATE, where a range of audio storytellers from across the United States and other parts of the world were invited to take part. The ICA was packed. And it was truly me, my microphone and my Zoom recorder in a new world. I felt like I had been pushed through a portal. I was surrounded by industry professionals, shaking hands with some of the most talented individuals in the radio and podcast world. And they all spoke to us as if we were one of them. Everyone was incredibly welcoming, friendly and excited to meet and talk to us as much as we were excited to meet and speak to them. It was truly the opposite of what I had expected.

This year’s theme was Telling Stories, focusing on the concepts of fiction and non-fiction storytelling through the world of audio. Some of the workshops we attended were:

Fabulously Real by Nichole Hill

Story Shape Up by Gabby Bulgarelli

Gaylors: Taylor Swift Superfans and The Anti-Story Story by Jazmine Green and Sarah Esocoff

Summon The Muse by Avery Trufelman 

RESONATE is a creative’s dream. It is a live showing of what audio storytelling is and what you can make it. Now everywhere I am, every conversation I have, every interesting moment I encounter, I put my ears to the ground in search of potential story ideas.