PodFest 2025: Uncle Marv's Takeaways

Hello friends, Uncle Marv here with another episode of The Unhealthy Podcast. Yes, I'm back again. And I know that I was just with you last week telling you that I was back from hiatus and that I would be back with some new shows. But before I did that, I wanted to give you yet another update because when I recorded that last show, it was before I headed up to Orlando for PodFest, which is the annual indie podcaster event that was held every January in Orlando. And I just came back from that. So I actually went up on Thursday. The conference starts on Wednesday, goes through Sunday. So I went up Thursday, it was there Friday, Saturday, and came back yesterday. I'm recording this on Monday night. And I just wanted to say that it turned out to be yet another fantastic event put on by our friends from the Tampa area, Chris Krimitsos. I probably said that wrong because I'm not looking at his name, but it was a good event. And I can't go into all that happened at the event. I do need to let you know that I was a volunteer this year, so I didn't actually go around to all of the normal sessions that I do participate in all the events. I was a bouncer for some of the VIP events and the Hall of Fame. And then I volunteered for the comedy track as a helper in the room. So that's what I did for a big chunk of the conference. But I did get to hang out with several of my friends, and it's a little different. Some of you may remember, and I will try to explain this a little bit more down the road, but my day job is in tech. I do network and IT support for businesses. And a lot of the conferences that I attend on a regular basis are tech conferences. So I get to spend a lot of time with the techie friends that I have. My other main podcast is a tech podcast. So I talk to other IT business owners, I talk to vendors, I talk to industry leaders in that space. I don't get to do that a lot in this health and wellness space that I'm sort of in. I'm in as a podcaster, but I'm not in because I'm not a health professional and because I'm not trying to sell you anything. So I don't always get the opportunity to hang out with those people. Obviously I need to do that more. And that started with heading over to PodFest. So I was actually able to meet with several people, some of whom you will know. Elikqitie, who has been on my show a couple of times already, I got to spend Sunday brunch with her and her husband, got to meet him for the first time, and just catch up. And she's going to be on the show here shortly. We've got a lot to catch up with her. I did not know there were some things that she had gone through at the second half of 2024, both good and bad. Well, I'm not going to say bad, bad. I mean, she's here, she's alive, she's healthy, all that good stuff. But some things that if you hear, you'll be like, ooh, sorry to hear that. But she will share. My friend Scott Johnson, who was a tech at one time and is a full-time podcaster now, I should mention Scott received a Glenn the Geek Hebert Award, which is an award that is for a community hero and for somebody that does a lot of things behind the scenes, provides significant contributions to the podcasting community, and embodies the spirit of collaboration. So Scott won that award, and I have to commend him for that. Scott has been somebody that I was a part of a podcast group with for, I don't know, the last 18 months or so, where a group of us podcasters got together and talked about our shows, talked about how to help each other get better. And Scott was always reaching out to people, bringing in new friends, reaching out and offering help. So absolutely understandable that he would get that award. Glenn the Geek Hebert is somebody who, if you don't hear that name very often, he is a pioneering figure in the podcasting industry. He founded something called the Horse Radio Network, and I think it goes back all the way before, well, at least it's before 2010. So I think it might be as early as 2008. And it was a podcast about horse stuff. And you would think, oh, who wants to hear a podcast about that? Well, a lot of people, because he actually created an entire radio network around horses and grew to a network that, I don't know, it's got something like a ridiculous number of shows in this network with sponsors, and that turned into a full-time business for him. And yes, I'm digressing, but I just want to give you an idea of what I was a part of this past weekend and why I think it's a great rejuvenation thing that I went through. Had a lot of that with the tech side throughout the years with a lot of conferences and stuff I do. Did not have that with this podcast. So I'm glad that I went. I've already signed up for next year, and I hope that as we do these shows and you hear some of the new guests, some of the returning guests, and the topics that we talk about, you'll hear the enthusiasm in my voice. And the topics are going to be all over the place. Yes, we're going to keep talking about my journey into better health. We're going to expand into all those areas that I've talked about where it's not just health and wellness. It's not just diet and food. But we're going to talk about holistic things. We're going to talk about functional medicine. We're going to talk about a couple of areas that I never thought I would talk about. Yes, we talked about mushrooms last year. But we're going to talk. I'm going to have a couple of episodes where I talk to moms about mom things. We're going to talk about, what is it, birthing, a subject I thought I would never really talk about. And then, of course, I've got some people that I met that we're going to talk about how to grow old gracefully. And I'm looking for... Yeah, here it is. Real talk about aging well. And I met a lady here. She actually calls herself a boomer. So we're going to have that. And, of course, we'll deal with all the other stuff. I've got a card here that reads, Eat Better Food Today. Living in Gratitude. Midlife Fulfilled. Holistically Speaking. The Spiritual Sense. Yeah, I got all these cards here of people that I've met that we're going to have on the show. So that is what we're going to be looking for, or forward to. But to get back to PodFest, one other thing I want to say. They do an annual induction of Hall of Fame members. And this year, I think there were 11 people that were inducted. But I want to give a shout out, and I don't know if he'll ever hear this, but in case somebody else who hears him or hears his name does. I mentioned his name earlier. Chris Krimitsos, who basically is the creator of PodFest. Started out in the Tampa area. And he began his show in media. He was an executive TV producer and all of that. But really got involved in podcasting, I don't know, same time around as Glenn The Geek. So 2010, 2011. And in 2015, launched the first PodFest event. It was in Tampa, and then they quickly knew that they had to grow it into a city where conferences were second nature, which is Orlando. And if you can guess by the year that it started, last year they celebrated their 10th anniversary. And of course, this was something that was, I think they got a little scared because, of course, the world ended in 2020, the year of our COVID, 2021. They actually had to turn this into a virtual event. And at the time, broke a Guinness World Record with something like 5,800 attendees virtually at a conference at one time. So there's a lot of stuff that goes along with this. But Chris, of course, has been the steadfast leader of PodFest. And if you talk to other podcasters who have been on the full journey, I, of course, was not on the full journey. I've only been to four of the 11 podcasts. Chris has been somebody that has been not just a leader, an innovator, an encourager, just somebody that has embodied the spirit of the indie podcaster to keep this medium, this industry growing, and to encourage others along the way. So wanted to make note of that, the fact that he got inducted into the Hall of Fame this year and well-deserved, well-deserved. So let's see. Now, I was kind of going to talk about some of the other stuff that happened there. But for the most part, folks, just what I told you. I wanted you to hear, you know, when I did the show last week, what I was alluding to is the fact that, you know, I knew I would be going to PodFest. I did not anticipate the amount of juice that I would get from the event but got a lot. So new shows will be coming out. I think I've got one scheduled for later this week and already got one scheduled for next week. And I've got speakers lined up. So be on the lookout and, you know, give us feedback and let us know if we're on the right track. But that's going to do it. So the goal of this show, folks, is to live healthy and be happy. And we're going to do that by dealing with everything, mind, body, and spirit. So that's going to do it. And until next time, Holla!