Signal Awards for podcasts announce Managing Director Deondric Royster

The Signal Awards, a new podcast award program designed to celebrate excellence in podcasting across a multitude of industry-vetted categories, has announced that industry vet Deondric Royster will now serve as its new Managing Director.

In his role, Deondric will lead all strategic business efforts for the awards program and carry out its core mission to honor excellence in podcasting and enable discovery within the industry, while simultaneously building educational and community engagement initiatives.

He will also launch and host a new industry-focused Signal Awards podcast featuring some of the most-recognizable names in the space, as well as the below the line superstars who make it all possible, from the script writers to the schedulers and everyone in between.

Starting out as an independent podcaster, Deondric advanced his passion for audio into roles at top podcast companies, including iHeart Radio, Anchor, and most recently Spotify. With over 15 years in the audio arts, Deondric is driven by his mission to democratize audio creation and build true diversity and inclusion for all communities in podcasting, while also establishing long-term, sustainable monetization opportunities for all creatives. He sees the Signal Awards as a prime opportunity to further these goals.

“My vision is for Signal to become the industry-leading standard for greatness in podcasting, and to create career-defining achievements for all of the hardworking people in audio,” said Deondric Royster, Managing Director of Signal Awards. “I’m excited to dig more into my role and connect with the community as we lead up to our inaugural ceremony in January.”

The Signal Awards ceremony will take place in January 2023, with more details to be announced. Deondric and the team are planning a significant celebration that will feature nominees, winners, partners, and judges from all over the world.

The Signal Awards are supported by a set of founding jurors who represent the best-of-the-best, including: Jody Avirgan (Host, This Day in Esoteric Behavior); Ray Chao (GM of Audio, Vox Media); Maurice Cherry (Host, Revision Path podcast); June Cohen (Co-Founder, Wait, What?); Jessica Cordova Kramer (Founder, Lemonada Media); Trent Gilliss (Founder, The On Being Project); Michael Gluckstadt (Director of Podcasts, HBO & HBO MAX); Anna Hossnieh (Executive Producer, iHeartRadio Comedy); Jenny Kaplan (Co-Founder and CEO, Wonder Media Network); Rachael King (Founder, Pod People); Deray McKesson (Host, Pod Save the People; Co-founder & Executive Chair, Campaign Zero); Trevor McNeal (Global Social Lead Podcasts, Amazon Music); Debbie Millman (Design Matters); SuChin Pak (Co-Host, Add to Cart); Sarah Pappalardo (Co-Founder, Reductress); Rae Volta (Global Editorial and Publishing Podcasts, Netflix), and Nikki Silva (Co-Host, The Kitchen Sisters Present from PRX).

Most immediately, Deondric and the Signal team will launch an event series on July 14th that will include both virtual and in-person panels with current partners HBO, Pod People, Common Sense Media and Lemonada Media. Subsequent sessions will cover best practices, finding your community, and more. More information can be found at signalaward.com.

Submissions are now open for the inaugural Signal Awards and the Extended Entry Deadline is Friday August 5th, 2022. Podcasts and audio work are accepted in: Shows, Limited Series & Specials, Individual Episodes and Branded Podcasts across a diverse range of categories.