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Nearly 100 people attended Egypt’s first podcasting conference which took place on Saturday, March 7 at the American University in Cairo’s Tahrir Cultural Center. The event was hosted by AUC’s Department of Journalism and Mass Communication.
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. 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.
Kim Fox, 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.