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2012 Conference sessions

Take a listen to all of the sessions of the 2012 Third Coast Conference. And if you're curious what a radio conference looks like, right this way...

GENERAL SESSIONS

Kickstarter for Radio 101
Kickstarter is the world's largest funding platform for creative projects. Join Kickstarter program director Stephanie Pereira for a primer on how to bring your audio-centric Kickstarter project to life.  Roman Mars (99% Invisible) shares insights learned through Radio Kickstarting themselves. Also! Pereira will be available all day Saturday for one-on-one consulting. (Listen to Kickstarter for Radio 101)

Knock Knock: Introducing the 2012 Third Coast ShortDocs
Third Coast's Julie Shapiro and EveryBlock's Sandor Weisz (neighbors, themselves!) present the four winners (Luke Eldridge, Adam Kampe, John Musto and Abby Wendle) of the 2012 Third Coast ShortDocs Challenge. These little audio gems were chosen from 180 submissions from 20 countries, and feature at least two neighbors, three seconds of narrative silence, and a color in the title. (Listen to Knock Knock...)

Late(ish) Night with Ira Glass
Ira Glass brings our first Conference day to a close with an audio night cap, sharing his favorite moments from this year’s Third Coast winners and other stories. He’ll also explain why, despite persistent popular opinion that the medium will soon disappear, now is actually an *awesome* time to be making radio. (Listen to Late(ish) Night...)

 Radio 2.0
(or: We couldn't change the world, so we changed radio)  
Arteradio.com is a creative reference for radio worldwide and a “school of sound” for young producers. Created in 2002, AR produces original creations (features, dramas, short pieces) with no format, no commentary and no music, then distributes them freely under Creative Commons through podcasts, apps, community radio and blogs. Join founder Silvain Gire to learn more about ARTE Radio. (Listen to Radio 2.0)

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things  
Drawing from radio and beyond, Jad Abumrad (host/producer of WNYC's Radiolab) will share the stories, sounds, people and projects that have most inspired him over the years. (Listen to These Are a Few...)

 

Breakout sessions

AuRa: The Chemistry of Sound
Our digital age has catalyzed a kind of chemical reaction: the fission of radio into two related but distinct media, Audio and Radio. Audio is like gold: it can easily be shaped, molded, crafted; we most often encounter it shiny, burnished to perfection. Radio is like radium: active, ephemeral; it comes and it’s gone. Paolo Pietropaolo shares specimens of Audio and Radio with dazzling essential qualities, and demonstrates techniques that (carefully handled, and sparingly used!) help sound chemists everywhere harness their power. (Listen to AuRa: The Chemistry of Sound)

How to Rock the Funky Story
Here’s a conversation about the essence of story. Any story. Through the lenses of radio, video, music and structure, Snap Judgment's Glynn Washington digs into the nitty-gritty of narrative, and explores what it means to impart meaning and inspiration over the air - especially if your method flies against current radio conventions. (Listen to How to Rock the Funky Story)

Making Radio Against Most Odds  
Imagine reporting in a culture that speaks a language your listeners don't understand, and covering issues your listeners don't totally care about - all in a country that doesn't even want you there in the first place. Add to this unforgiving news deadlines, and you've got the life of a foreign correspondent covering the Arab revolutions and their aftermath. NPR's Kelly McEvers will talk about how to tell memorable radio stories, despite limited resources on all fronts. (Listen to Making Radio Against Most Odds)

Own Your Thing  
Independent producers have always had to fend for themselves, but today the building blocks for independent success - creating great work, reaching real audiences, making money, controlling your destiny - are falling into place in new ways. Leading producers who are deep into their own quests share their wins, losses and draws, and will help tease out a framework to help YOU make the leap. John Barth moderates.

Listen to Day 1 with  Amy Costello (Tiny Spark), Jesse Thorn (Bullseye) and Benjamen Walker (Too Much Information).

Listen to Day 2 with Martina Castro (Radio Ambulante) Roman Mars (99% Invisible),Francesca Panetta (Hackney Hear).

Parachuting In: State of the Re:Union’s Secret Recipe for Serious Place-based Storytelling… in Practically No Time!
State of the Re:Union takes listeners to one place in America at a time, conveying a strong sense of place through great storytelling—with limited time and resources. Host Al Letson and producers Tina Antolini and Laura Starecheski will reveal SOTRU’s secret recipe for how to arrive in an unfamiliar place, stay for 5-7 days and leave with a whole hour’s worth of sound-rich, scene-based radio stories. (Listen to Parachuting In...)

Pitch Perfect: The Art of Editorial Persuasion
Now a bonafide Third Coast tradition... this session pulls back the curtain on one of the most difficult and important skills every producer needs to master: pitching a story. Editors and producers from a wide variety of programs and networks consider pitches in front of a live audience. Emily Botein moderates, with Tom Cole (NPR), Jacob Conrad (KCRW), John Haas (Marketplace), Jeremy Skeet (BBC), Julie Snyder (This American Life) and Anna Sussman (Snap Judgment). (Listen to Day 1 and Day 2 of Pitch Perfect.)

The Quick and the Deadline
Okay. So you don't have months to craft a perfect story. You have hours. But don't throw away everything you've learned at Third Coast just because you're on a tight deadline. Character, narrative and compelling scenes are all possible in daily features. You just need a plan. NPR's Robert Smith shows you how to make tough radio choices before you leave the office, put a little spark into deadly dull events, and how to write like the wind. (Listen to The Quick and the Deadline.)

Radio Producers are from Venus; Photographers are from Mars
When radio producers and photographers team up on multimedia projects, it can often feel as if they come from different planets. Fortunately, their different approches can be harmonized and collaborations between the two can foster a deeper understanding of storytelling practices. Maisie Crow and Jesse Dukes (collaborators themselves) demonstrate the potential and identify the challenges in the radio/photo mash-up, through practical tips, examples and an interactive multimedia exercise. (Listen to Radio Producers are from Venus...)

The Story as Walkabout
Smartphones and other gadgets have detached our listening experiences from the radio, and are making another kind of attachment possible - to where the stories actually take place. Narrative becomes a path through a landscape, geography becomes your editor. Krissy Clark and Pejk Malinovski explore existing projects and further possibilities for how place-based storytelling can reveal the hidden stories that surround us. (Listen to The Story as Walkabout)

Sure-Handedness: Radio That Knows What It’s Doing
The best audio work has a feeling of mastery about it. As you listen you feel you're in good hands, just as you do when reading a fine novel or watching an expertly-made movie. Where does this feeling come from, and how do you make stories that have it? John Biewen looks at sure-handedness in structure, writing, and editing—with concrete examples and audience participation. (Listen to Sure-Handedness...)

Whose Story Is It?
Over the past year, we've seen several major scandals cutting to the heart of journalistic and documentary ethics. Journalists and documentary-makers alike are having to confront anew the relationship between cold, hard facts and the push to make compelling, hard-hitting stories - think Mike Daisey or KONY 2012, for example. As the tools to make and distribute professional quality audio become so widespread, what is the role of common, shared ethical values? Are such values absolute, or can they justifiably be bent? Kelly McBride moderates, with Matt Thompson and Alex Kotlowitz. (Listen to Whose Story Is It?)

GATHER ROUNDS

Note! Gather Rounds were experienced "in the moment," aka not recorded.)

New this year! Various organizations and independent projects will showcase their activities and offerings. These are efforts we think you should - and will want to - know about. Participating:

* AIR's Localore Project
Localore is a national initiative comprised of producers embedded at ten radio and television stations across the country, working to expand public media service to more citizens and shape the new space of converged media. Come meet some Localore producers and learn how they are changing the face of public media!

* Cowbird
Cowbird is a community of storytellers forging connections around the world through their stories. Come explore how audio and image combined can create new storytelling possibilities and how radio producers can use Cowbird to shape their voice and share their work. Learn about Cowbird's first storytelling project with National Geographic, and create a Cowbird story in real-time.

* Get Your Tech On with Transom's Jeff Towne
Are your mic and recorder just not getting along? Are you suffering from Pro Tools Stress Disorder? Transom.org Tools Editor Jeff Towne is here to help. Towne will give an overview of the best gear and software options at various levels of cost and compexity. Bring your own tech quandaries.

* Hindenburg Systems
It's all about the STORY! Hindenburg Systems develops production tools that allow producers to focus on telling a great story while ensuring top broadcast quality audio. Join this master class and get a an overview of Hindenburg Journalist, advanced tips and tricks, and available discounts. Come hear Hindenburg's vision for the future of audio media.

* In the Dark Radio
Nina Garthwaite will introduce you to In The Dark, a London-based organization that radio from traditional settings to new platforms. From live listening events to a radio record store in a glasshouse, In The Dark offers opportunities for new audiences to hear your work. Come for the official launching of Sound Bank 3 - a creative audio grant seeking (your?!) submissions.

* KCRW's Indpendent Producer Project
With the IPP initiative, KCRW supports the independent voices that make radio so compelling. Learn firsthand from producers Bob Carlson, Anayansi Diaz-Cortes and Lea Thau (Strangers podcast) how you can contribute to KCRW’s UnFictional, and submit your proposals to the Independent Producer Project. 

* Radio Ambulante
Meet the producers and creators behind Radio Ambulante, a new and innovative Spanish-language podcast. Learn how their network of journalists, writers, and creative storytellers are changing the lanague of public radio as we know it.

* SoundCloud
SoundCloud, the web’s largest social sound platform, will showcase some of their favorite tools, initiatives and projects from the past year. Learn how easy it is to build a remarkable experience for your online audience without distracting from what's really important: your sound. Come with questions, comments, ideas and inspiration!

*WFMU's Free Music Archive
The Free Music Archive is an interactive library of high-quality mp3 downloads directed by the freeform radio station WFMU. Join FMA's managing director Andrea Silenzi for a guide to selecting music for your projects legally, including podsafe music, instrumental tracks, and music you can modify, adapt or build-upon.

* Zeega
The Zeega team believes that people should be able to make interactive stories on the internet, and that technical knowledge and budgets shouldn't be constraints for exploring creativity online. Creators Kara Oehler and Lindsey Wagner will share Zeega's latest tools, showing you how to create interactive experiences with audio, photos, videos and text.

 

 

Questions? 

Send us an email, or call 312-948-4682.

THE 2012 CONFERENCE IS PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH:

Follow us on Twitter (@thirdcoastfest) or at our Confrence tumblr, for updates big and small. And funny.

 

THANKS TO THIS YEAR'S SPONSORS:

(You should hug them.)