Field Notes: Podcast Movement 2016

Blogging and podcasting are not only similar: they’re complementary.

July 27, 2016

Cesar Abeid

Automatticians, the people who build WordPress.com, participate in events and projects around the world every day. Periodically, they report back on the exciting things they do in the community. This week, we share our experience at the Podcast Movement 2016 conference.

People use WordPress.com to share many types of stories, from written essays and photo galleries to podcasts. Podcast Movement has quickly become the conference to attend for audio storytellers, so we were excited to be there to support the podcasting community and spread the word about podcasting tools on WordPress.com.

Live from the WordPress.com booth

Cesar Abeid, Trevor Montgomery, and Dustin Hartzler, Happiness Engineers at Automattic, attended the latest installment of this exciting event earlier this month in Chicago, Illinois. The conference, now in its third year, drew over 1,500 attendees. WordPress.com was a sponsor, so we had a great opportunity to engage with the community from our booth — and to feel the love for WordPress!

Podcast Movement 2016: A Recap

There were sessions on how to get started with podcasting, how to monetize your show, best practices for conducting interviews, and many other topics aimed to help podcasters take their shows to the next level. This year’s speakers included Alex Blumberg, former producer for This American Life and Planet Money on NPR, and Dan Miller, bestselling author of 48 Days to the Work You Love.

Hundreds of conference goers stopped by the WordPress.com booth, where we talked about using WordPress for podcasting and the different tools to publish and promote a show. We were also available to offer hands-on help with bloggers’ WordPress sites.

Podcasting on WordPress.com

While many podcasters are using self-hosted WordPress.org sites, some attendees did not know that WordPress.com also supports podcasting.

Did you know: according to Todd Cochrane from Blubrry, creators of the PowerPress podcasting plugin for self-hosted WordPress sites, there are over 200,000 active podcasts in iTunes. Since Blubrry powers over 60 thousand of them, at least 30% of all currently active podcasts are running WordPress!

WordPress.com makes it very easy to get started with podcasting. All you need to do is create a new post category, change a few settings in your dashboard, and submit your podcast to iTunes and other catalogs. Just follow these steps to launch your podcast (if you don’t have a WordPress.com site yet, get one here).

Some of the advantages of podcasting with WordPress.com:

  • Simplicity: Both your website and your media are hosted in the same place, making it easier to manage your content.
  • Security: Your podcast and site will be protected by WordPress.com against attacks and spam.
  • Backups: All content published on WordPress.com is protected and backed up so you don’t have to think about it.
  • Maintenance-Free: Your WordPress.com site is always running the latest version of WordPress, and you will never have to worry about updates.

We continue to work on tools for podcasters here at WordPress.com, and would love your input on how we can make them better.

What’s your show?

Do you have a podcast? Tell us about it and post a link to it in the comments below!

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14 Comments

Comments are closed.

  1. jerrymcmullen Jul 27th at 4:35 pm

    My friends and I have been running our podcast, Worst. Comic. Podcast. EVER!, for two years via WordPress. Having the podcast has opened up the doors for us to host panels at regional comic cons, which we record and share as podcasts when we can. Please check us out at worstcomicpodcastever.com. Thanks!

    Liked by 16 people

  2. iangallacher Jul 27th at 4:55 pm

    Here’s my late father’s podcast “The Movietone Years Podcast”, 44 episodes on his career at Movietone News – a British newsreel company, where he started working in 1945.

    https://terencegallacher.wordpress.com/podcasts/

    Liked by 15 people

  3. janesplaining Jul 27th at 5:05 pm

    LOVE podcasts! I actually just made my own blog post about my favorite podcasts for and by women, check it out – https://janesplaining.wordpress.com/2016/07/27/best-podcasts-for-women-by-women/

    Liked by 9 people

  4. baimeilian Jul 27th at 6:10 pm

    My friends and I have just created a variety of new podcasts here on WordPress!

    “A group of misfits who just aren’t satisfied with consuming the culture around us.”

    Our podcasts include
    – The Baseline: Zack, Roel, and Anton talk about anything and everything basketball. Living in a basketball crazy archipelago, listen in as these wannabe experts give their 2 centavos on topics you already have opinions about.
    – Bingestream: Jan talks about shows he thinks is worth talking about with a rotating cast of really “cool” people. No, really; it’s awesome.
    – Identity Talk: Jan and Marianne talk about their introduction to psychology and MBTI, the possible inadequacy of personality tests and their fight against stereotypes

    Check us out at tsinelasmedia.stream

    Liked by 11 people

  5. Dustin Hartzler Jul 27th at 6:41 pm

    Reblogged this on Dustin Hartzler.

    Liked by 5 people

  6. Cesar Abeid Jul 27th at 7:37 pm

    Reblogged this on Veni, Vidi, Velcro and commented:

    Here’s my latest contribution to the official WordPress.com blog:

    Liked by 5 people

  7. acdagency Jul 29th at 4:08 pm

    Hi! Thanks for the article, looks like a great way to begin a podcast.

    Liked by 7 people

  8. Metro Square Jul 30th at 7:02 am

    This is an incredible blog post. Really, you’ve got all the information I need about doing an audio-based website and saved me several days of time. Thank you!

    Liked by 4 people

  9. deepanilamani Jul 30th at 11:21 am

    Thanks for the information 🙂

    Liked by 5 people

  10. Hopping Mad Jul 31st at 8:09 am

    Thumping good political and economic commentary from the Left, “Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss Bunny,” airs on Netroots Radio on Mondays at 8AM and then as a podcast on Stitcher, iTunes and GooglePlay. Our WordPress website is http://ImHoppingMad.com and our tag line is “Politics. Economics. Carrots.”

    Liked by 4 people

  11. Reggie's Take Jul 31st at 8:23 pm

    I have a podcast and use my WordPress website to promote it, but haven’t put it to iTunes yet. I looked at doing so, but at first glance seemed a bit daunting. Would love to hear from others who’ve put there podcast on iTunes to know how easy or difficult it was for the,. Here is my latest Podcast https://reggiestake.com/2016/07/27/reggies-take-podcast-23-50-years-of-star-trek/

    Liked by 4 people

  12. Hilltown Families Aug 1st at 1:20 pm

    Hilltown Family Variety Show: https://hilltownfamilies.wordpress.com/hfvs/
    An hour-long, commercial-free weekly radio show/podcast since 2007. Last week was our 200th episode!
    Guest DJs (including Grammy award winning/nominated artists), music the whole family will enjoy, and even storytelling. Most shows are themed, often times with an educational bent.
    New shows posted on Sundays at 8am. Enjoy!

    Liked by 6 people

  13. Sarmaşık Ajans Aug 2nd at 10:07 pm

    Hi! Thanks for the article, looks like a great way to begin a podcast.

    Liked by 6 people

  14. Jürgen Aug 3rd at 8:35 am

    Good getting started guide. Our podcast is designed to help smart businesses with an interest in innovation become even more innovative. InnovaBuzz Podcast – http://innovabiz.com.au/podcasts/

    Liked by 4 people

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