Welcome to the Tiny Texas Podcast Festival! Thank you for being here — and for being passionate about podcasting. This event is organized by the Dallas Morning News Endowment for Innovation at the University of Texas School of Journalism (@innovationUT), with special (and much appreciated) help from the team at Austin’s NPR station, KUT 90.5 (@KUT).
Please use the hashtag #TinyTexasFest in any social media mentions of this event.
Refreshments and snacks will be available in the lobby on the first floor throughout the day.
PROGRAM SCHEDULE:
10 a.m. in BMC 1.202
Innovation in Podcasting
These days, podcasts live a variety of second lives: as books, as TV shows and as HBO specials, among other things. Podcast formats have expanded far outside of the roundtable discussion, and the topics they explore are infinite. If you’re curious about the latest experiments and trends in the world of podcasting, begin your day with this session. Christopher Wynn will launch the festival with a discussion about the state of innovation in audio.
Christopher Wynn (@christopherwynn) is the Arts & Culture editor of The Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews). He co-produced the newspaper’s award-winning seven-part narrative podcast My Aryan Princess and is the creator and host of the podcast Strange (@strangepodcast).
11 a.m. in BMC 1.306 (Studio 1A)
Live Podcast: Two and Fro
Two and Fro is an insightful and conversational podcast dedicated to the realities, communities and challenges associated with being black and southern. Topics the podcast’s hosts have tackled include black women activists, black southern dialect, and Queen Beyoncé herself. This live episode of Two and Fro will cover renewed energy for black Southern culture by mainstream media, and the hosts will talk with journalist Kiana Fitzgerald and poet Faylita Hicks about black Texas culture and what this moment means to them.
DaLyah Jones (@dalyahj) is an assistant producer for All Things Considered and an evening host at KUT, as well as co-host of Two and Fro. DaLyah interned for KUT, Texas Standard and was a part of NPR’s Next Generation initiative in 2015. When she’s not at the station, she’s stan-ing for Beyoncé.
Jacquelyn Carter (@justsayjackiee) graduated from Texas State University in May 2017 with a Bachelor of Science degree in electronic media and a communication studies minor. She was very active at Texas State’s radio station KTSW 89.9, where she served as a DJ and co-host of the award-winning “In the Public Interest” specialty show. She is a co-host of Two and Fro, as well as a Beyoncé connoisseur and social media junkie.
12 p.m. in BMC 1.202
Building an Audio Audience
So you’ve created your podcast and published your labor of love on iTunes and Stitcher...but the only people listening to it are you and your co-host. How do you develop an audience for your podcast — and how do you grow that following as your podcast grows? In this session, local audio strategists will help you answer these and other common questions about audio audiences.
Jay B. Sauceda (@jaybsauceda) is the CEO of Texas Humor (@TexasHumor), a company he and his wife Priscilla created to share what they love about their home state. He is also the host of Texas Humor’s newly launched podcast, Y’all Need This (@yallneedthispod), dedicated to straight talk about Texan culture from someone who really appreciates it.
Ivy Le (@urbanhaiku) was one of only 10 selected to attend Spotify’s first SoundUp Bootcamp for aspiring women of color podcasters — out of 18,000 applicants — and she’s a leader in the Women Of Color (WOC) Podcasters movement. Her podcast, FOGO: Fear of Going Outside (@fogopodcast), is a nature show with the most reluctant host ever.
Myrriah Gossett (@MyrriahGossett) is an independent podcast producer in Austin. She has close to 10 years of audio content and production experience, and this spring she somehow managed to produce more than 50 podcast episodes in just 10 days. She does not recommend doing that to anyone.
1 p.m. in BMC 1.306 (Studio 1A)
Live Podcast Recording: ATXplained
KUT’s crowdsourced reporting project, ATXplained, features KUT reporters and producers answering audience questions about the people, places and culture of Austin. In this episode, Claire McInerny discusses Dan’s Hamburgers, an Austin staple for hamburgers, fries and shakes. But there used to be two institutions in town: Dan’s Hamburgers and Fran’s Hamburgers, each restaurant run by one half of a divorced couple. One KUT listener wrote ATXplained asking about the story behind this divorce and how it affected the restaurants. What we found was a love story of hamburgers, family and the town that housed it all.
Claire McInerny (@ClaireMcInerny) is an education reporter for KUT, Austin’s NPR station. She previously reported on education policy for Indiana Public Broadcasting, where she won an Edward R. Murrow Award for a series on English learners in rural school districts.
2 p.m. in BMC 1.202
Recording Your First Podcast
Long-time audio enthusiasts and first-time podcasters Haley Butler and Tinu Thomas will share tips and tricks they learned during the creation of their first two podcasts, which are dedicated to true crime and journalistic history. Along the way, they will explain the decisions they made before, during and after the recording process, as well as mistakes they’ve learned to avoid. If you’re interested in real talk about DIY podcasting, this is your chance to ask questions.
Haley Butler (@haleym_butler) and Tinu Thomas (@tinuthomas01) are the first Audio Directors of The Drag (@thedragaudio), an in-house audio production studio launched by the Dallas Morning News Endowment for Innovation. Before The Drag, Haley and Tinu both worked in audio for KUT (@KUT) and other journalistic outlets.
3 p.m. in BMC 1.306 (Studio 1A)
Live Podcast Recording: This Song
On the KUTX podcast This Song, artists talk about the songs that formed and transformed them. In this live taping of the podcast, host Elizabeth McQueen will be talking to artist, designer, creative consultant and podcaster Krissy Teegerstrom about life-changing music, her artistic journey and her podcast Beyond and Back (@beyondandback).
Elizabeth McQueen (@elizmcqueen) is the producer and host of KUTX’s This Song podcast (@ThisSongKUTX), as well as an organizer of Austin’s Ladypods meetup group. In her past life, McQueen spent eight years in the band Asleep at the Wheel.
4 p.m. in BMC 1.202
Austin Ladypods Meetup: Evolving Your Podcast
Ladypods is an Austin-based meetup dedicated to discussing all aspects of podcasting. At this meetup we’ll start with a quick discussion about what it takes to evolve your podcast. Maybe you have an established podcast that needs an infusion of new ideas, or a maybe you have a podcast idea that needs tweaking. Whatever stage you’re at, change can seem like a challenge. Hear how other podcasters are approaching their own podcast evolution. Then stick around after the discussion to network with other Austin-based podcasters. All are welcome at the Ladypods meetup, but keep in mind that the group is, at its core, a safe space for female, trans and non-binary podcasters.