Multitude Podcasting Conference: Meet Amanda McLoughlin
Written by Arielle Nissenblatt
The first-ever Multitude Podcasting Conference is coming! On September 9th, podcasters and creators will gather virtually for a day of learning via panels, speakers, workshops, and more. The goal? To discuss how to make a living in the podcasting industry.
While there are a lot of podcasting conferences out there (both virtually and IRL), Multitude seems like they’re trying out a new approach to this event. I was curious, so I spoke with Amanda McLoughlin, co-founder and CEO of Multitude, about her hopes and dreams for the event.
Arielle Nissenblatt: How did the idea for the conference come about?
Amanda McLoughlin: We’ve been kicking the idea around for years! Back before the pandemic, we spoke at other industry conferences all the time. Our workshops were focused and prepared, with handouts, hashtags, and QR codes to download follow-up resources because we’re big nerds! And there was clearly a market for it, since our sessions were often standing-room-only, even at 9:00am on the last day of a con.
We wanted an entire conference for people like us and what we were doing: working creators, professional audio makers, and anyone with a non-traditional path into podcasting. I tried to make PodCon into that space! I was deep into planning PodCon 3 with Hank Green, evolving its programming, learning from PodCon 2’s mistakes, and becoming financially sustainable. But I was as surprised as everyone else when they abruptly announced it was canceled. Then the pandemic hit, and all conferences paused.
By early 2022, some conferences were coming back, but we didn’t yet feel comfortable going to large in-person events—especially in states that didn’t support any kind of vaccination or mask mandate. So with the encouragement and great ideas of Eric Silver and Brandon Grugle, and the extraordinarily capable organization skills of our Community Manager Roux Bedrosian, we started planning MPC in spring 2022!
AN: How does the conference fit into Multitude's content and brand strategy?
AM: We’re making the thing we wish existed: a conference about the day-to-day realities of how people really make a living in this industry. MPC is practical, honest, and focused.
Our focus as a podcasting company is building community. That means cultivating meaningful connections for our audience, equipping fellow podcasters with the resources and support they need to thrive, and setting standards for other companies in the audio industry. MPC is where we can advance industry change on a larger scale, starting with the people we share the stage with and the kinds of conversations we foster.
AN: Tell me about the decision to keep it online.
AM: We didn’t consider any other option, truthfully. The financial and logistical barriers to conference travel, not to mention the ongoing risk of COVID, made this an easy decision.
Being online means speakers and attendees can log in from anywhere in the world and not miss out on the stuff that makes traditional conferences valuable: connecting with other attendees, hearing and interacting with speakers, and accessing recordings after the fact.
AN: How did you source speakers?
AM: We made a list of people in podcasting who we respect, whose opinions we value, and who we thought would be exciting choices to headline any podcasting conference. As soon as we started reaching out, those folks said ‘YES’ and offered their own suggestions for speakers too. The result is the incredible speaker lineup you see today!
We particularly wanted perspectives from those who work for themselves, who have organized labor at their workplaces, who left bigger companies to start something of their own, and the hired guns that support the whole industry without full-time benefits. These are our peers, who are out here every day navigating a rapidly-changing industry, and their voices are the most helpful ones for us to hear. We suspect other people will feel the same way!
AN: How is this conference different from other podcasting conferences?
AM: MPC is fully online, pay-what-you-can, and all speakers are PAID for their time! We’re running just one panel at a time so you don’t have to miss anything, and sessions will be recorded in case you can’t make it the day of.
We’re also learning from bad panels we’ve attended in the past! It’s awkward and unhelpful to put two people who have never met into conversation on a stage. You have to pair people who know each other, who are excited to talk about the subject, and who have time to prepare. Best of all: none of our sessions are sales pitches disguised as panels. I swear, if I go to one more panel on marketing strategies that’s actually a sales pitch for a bro-y marketing agency, I will scream.
MPC has focused panels made up of people who know and like each other, who put the pre-pro work in beforehand to make the best use of their time (and yours!). We promise useful conversations and good advice, all safely online.
AN: What will a successful event look like to you?
AM: The highest compliment we could receive would be, “Wow, this feels like it was made just for me.” Maybe you’re a producer somewhere who’s struggling to grow your career. Maybe you’re a self-employed podcaster and you feel really alone in your work. MPC is where you’ll find community.
We want these sessions to feel like the lobby after the conference, or the afterparty to the industry mixer, where you find the people who really get it and compare notes on the stuff that actually affects us.
AN: Do you see this event being a yearly one?
AM: Definitely! We know these conversations are important and I don’t see any other space where they can happen. The Multitude way is to make space where there wasn’t one before, so MPC is here to stay!
AN: What's next for Multitude?
AM: I know this sounds corny, but I promise I mean it: Every day we get to make podcasts full-time, paying people what they’re worth to make shows they love, is a true win. Multitude shows publish nine episodes a week, sell ads for 25 independent shows, and hold virtual events every month in our Discord (the latest one was a presentation party and it ruled). We’re working on new podcasts, new resources, and more, so stay tuned via our newsletter or by following @MultitudeShows on Twitter and IG!
And hey, COME TO MPC! Register to attend live on Friday September 9 from 10-5 ET, or get recordings of all sessions after the fact, at multitudepodcastingconference.com
Thank you to Amanda McLoughlin for this conversation! Best of luck to the Multitude Team on their first event.
