Nearly 100 attendees at PodFest Cairo, Egypt’s first podcasting conference
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Cairo, Egypt—PodFest Cairo, Egypt’s first podcasting conference and one of the first in Africa, took place on Saturday, March 7, 2020 at the American University in Cairo’s (AUC) Tahrir Cultural Center (TCC). The event was hosted by AUC’s Department of Journalism and Mass Communication (JRMC).
The half-day conference, designed to bring together Egypt’s podcast creators, kicked off with the keynote speaker, Hannah Allam, a Washington, DC-based national security correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR). Her speech on the power of storytelling included many examples of her challenges transitioning from print journalism to audio.
Sessions with tips for podcasters on narration, interviewing, selecting equipment, promotion, and monetization were held in English with simultaneous translation. Listening sessions were held in English and Arabic, highlighting the Ehky Ya Masr podcast and others.
The inaugural PodFest Cairo Podcast Pitch Competition showcased three finalists who pitched their ideas for new podcasts to a jury featuring Allam, AFP reporter Farid Y. Farid and content creator Mazen Yasseen from Just a Go Proer. Freelance journalist Ahmed Feteha won the grand prize with his idea for a mental health-focused Arabic podcast, titled “On the Edge.” Feteha won a package that included everything needed to start a podcast: three hours of studio time from Just a Go Proer; three hours of mentoring and coaching from the Ehky Ya Masr podcast team; an audio recording kit including a Zoom H5 recorder, headphones, and an equipment bag provided by Shams Stores; a one-year PRO license from audio-editing software Hindenburg; a one-year music license to Blue Dot Sessions; and a PodFest Cairo swag bag.
Kim Fox (pictured centre), the conference organizer, said, “Egypt has a rich history of storytelling, so it makes sense that podcasts will be a part of that legacy too.” Future plans for PodFest Cairo include a micro podcasting event at AUC on the New Cairo campus in the fall for faculty, administrators and students in addition to the next iteration of PodFest Cairo next year.
For updates, follow PodFest Cairo on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well as our website http://podfestcairo.com/. The conference hashtag is: #PodFestCairo.
This is a press release which we link to from Podnews, our daily newsletter about podcasting and on-demand. We may make small edits for editorial reasons.
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