The Mill, Bloomington’s center for coworking and entrepreneurship, is no stranger to hosting events. With 19,000 square feet of beautifully renovated space, this old factory building has a new life as a vibrant entrepreneurial hub and event space.
2019 marks the inaugural year for Indiana’s first podcast conference, the Flyover Podcast Festival. And it was a hit! If we do say so ourselves. In all seriousness, podcasting has really taken off in recent years.
Keynote speaker, Jay Baer (Bloomington-native, best-selling author, entrepreneur, and podcaster) kicked off the festivities with an engaging keynote, reminding us why podcasts are so powerful. Did you know that 62 million Americans listen to podcasts weekly? Compare that to the 20 million people who watch NFL Sunday Night Football and you’ll start to get the idea. (You can view his keynote presentation here).
The Mill’s Executive Director, Pat East, recognized this demand to support a growing Midwest podcast community. In fact, The Mill is home to our very own, in-house podcast studio, made possible by Jeremy Goodrich (who was also a FPF19 speaker) and Shine Insurance. Less than a year in, and there are a growing number of creative podcasts produced in The Mill’s podcast studio. Taking the cue, The Mill organized the Flyover Podcast Festival, leveraging momentum of these early successes and attracting interest from all over the Midwest.
“Our vision is to become the center of coworking and entrepreneurship in Indiana. Podcasting is something we’ve shown some success in, and when you find something that’s working, you double down on it. With this new form of entrepreneurship in mind, we feel a conference helps progress us towards our vision.” — Pat East, Executive Director, The Mill
In addition to Jay Baer, the Flyover Podcast Festival speaker lineup boasted a number of tech- and business-savvy experts, filling out two tracks: 1) podcast production, and 2) the business of podcasting. Everything from learning how to start a podcast from scratch to promoting it with Instagram to choosing the right equipment, the Flyover Podcast Festival sessions offered a breadth of insights for aspiring and experienced podcasters alike. The Mill was also proud to welcome speakers like:
- Doug Karr, Founder and CEO of Indianapolis-based marketing consulting firm DK New Media AND co-host of one of the top 1% podcasts in the world: Luminaries by Dell Technologies
- Cincinnati Magazine’s digital media talent, Katie Coburn and Kevin Schultz
- Adam Schaeuble, host of two top-ranked podcasts: The Million Pound Mission and Casting the Pod, and founder of the #millionpoundmission project that has already inspired his clients to lose a total of over 55,000 pounds!
- And more!
The energy was high, sessions on point, and, most important of all, the Midwest podcast community finally has a home in Indiana: a place to meet and learn from each other. We look forward to seeing the fruits of connecting people from all industries, backgrounds, and experience levels, who share a common interest in podcasting.
Check out what attendees were saying about #FPF19!
The Flyover Podcast Festival was made possible by the hardworking team at The Mill, as well as Spotlight Sponsor, Share Your Genius, who helps B2B brands create stories worth selling. Share Your Genius President & Co-Founder, Rachel Downey, led a popular strategic podcast marketing session at #FPF19. Stay tuned for more podcast programming at The Mill!
Flyover Podcast Festival October 11, 2019
Learn more at: flyoverpodcastfestival.com
The Flyover Podcast Festival is where the Midwest podcast scene connects and thrives. Experienced and aspiring podcasters alike enjoy a jam-packed day of creative, technical, and business-savvy podcasting innovation.