The conference hosted around 30 speakers in two conference tracks, covering the topics of personal motivation, types of podcasts, how to create quality content and be authentic, monetization of podcasts and their audiences. The most important and valuable insights into the development of the podcast scene came from Voxnest and Google Podcasts.
Francesco Baschieri from Voxnest, an Italian podcast solution provider, shared insights from their research of podcast audiences around the world. Their interesting discovery was that most podcast listeners come from the US and UK, with most of them listening to podcasts on iOS devices, although 85% of the world’s smartphones run on Android. One of the reasons for the significantly lower number of Android listeners is that Google Podcasts app was launched only last year (Protok is available on Google Podcasts, as well).
In response to this, Zack Reneau-Wedeen, Product Manager of Google Podcasts shared that the future of podcasts is in short formats – educational and language learning podcasts. He also noted that Google is aiming to double the number of podcast listeners in the future and that Google Search Engine will soon be highlighting more podcasts in their search results.
Protok podcast was created by a team of people with different interests and skills gathered around a mutual passion for technology and trying to investigate the ways technological innovations and advances influence and change our society. HTEC recognized the initiative of its employees and supported the podcast with the necessary equipment, a place to connect, work and exchange ideas. In April, Protok team won the first place at the MediaJam Hackathon organized by IREX and Impact Hub Belgrade and was awarded a 3-month mentorship at Impact Hub and a trip to the Radiodays Europe Podcast Day Conference in London.
