SPONSORSHIP 

RESONATE: A Richmond Podcast Festival

An initiative of the VPM + ICA Community Media Center

 at The Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University

The VPM + ICA Community Media Center, launched in 2020, is the result of a unique, innovative partnership between a major public university and a major public broadcaster, both dedicated to growing access to arts and education for all. Within the recording studio and workspace located on the second floor of the ICA at the Dr. Murry N. DePillars Learning Lab, students, media professionals, and community members are learning about podcasting, gaining valuable production skills from experts, meeting other creative storytellers, and getting their voices out into the world.

Podcasting is one of the fastest-growing audio art forms in the world. Podcasts educate, entertain, inform and inspire, but there is one special feature that makes them so powerful: they are the most inclusive and democratic form of documentary storytelling that can be available to all. At the ICA, we believe the art of storytelling should be accessible to everyone, so we can share more stories that matter.

 The VPM + CMC Community Media Center has already made great strides, hosting the inaugural RESONATE Podcast Festival in October 2022. RESONATE put the VPM + ICA Community Media Center on the map as a center for accessible podcast production and education. In 2022 the festival sold out with 280 registrations from podcasting and audio production students, beginners and professionals from across the country. Plans are already underway for the second annual event from November 3 to 4, 2023.

While we expected there to be interest in a festival of this type, the level of excitement and participation did come as a welcome surprise. What we discovered during planning and since the inaugural festival is that this type of professional networking, centered on podcasting and audio production in an arts setting, is unique in the field, and highly desirable for participants. Many conferences across the country moved to a virtual format during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the national professional audio community, and those seeking to enter the profession, have missed the opportunity to collaborate and learn together in person. The ICA’s ability to provide a hospitable environment where the artistry of podcasting can be front and center was integral to the program, and valued by participants. Interest in RESONATE from students, producers, artists, and community partners continues to grow, and your support will help us meet this demand and expand capacity. Sponsorships support our ability to share groundbreaking speakers, content, and skills building opportunities at RESONATE, and provide recognition in front of RESONATE attendees and the entire ICA and VCU community

SAMPLE PROGRAM 

The final line up of programs for RESONATE 2023 is being finalized. A sample of sessions and events included in last year’s festival is available below. 

RESOURCES FOR PRODUCERS 

with Chioke I’Anson, ICA’s Director of Community Media & underwriting announcer at NPR and Amanda Hickman, interim executive director of The Association for Independents in Radio

BUILDING COMMUNITY THROUGH PODCASTING 

with Marc Cheatham of The Cheats Movement 

SCORING FOR NON-MUSICIANS

 with Nichole Hill, award-winning producer & host of The Secret Adventures of Black People 

PRO MIXING, ACROSS THE GALAXY 

with Shane O’Connell, sound designer for Mission to Zyxx 

HOW TO PITCH A PODCAST 

with Ronald Young, senior producer & owner of ohits BigRon Studios 

RECEPTION, NETWORKING & EXHIBITORS 

Join us for happy hour in the ICA Royall Forum with snacks, drinks & art

2023 RESONATE PRESENTERS

The following producers will be with us for RESONATE 2023. While the full line up of speakers is still being finalized, we hope to also include Davy Gardner, Curator of Audio Storytelling at Tribeca Enterprises, and representatives from the CBC.

Anna Sale is the creator and host of Death, Sex & Money, the podcast from WNYC Studios about “the things we think about a lot and need to talk about more.” After debuting at the top of the iTunes chart in 2014, Death, Sex & Money was named the #1 podcast of the year by New York Magazine in 2015. Anna won a Gracie for best podcast host in 2016 and the show won a 2018 Webby for best interview show. Before launching Death, Sex & Money, Anna covered politics for nearly a decade. She has contributed to Fresh Air with Terry Gross and This American Life and is the author of the book Let’s Talk About Hard Things (Simon & Schuster). She grew up in West Virginia and now lives in Berkeley with her husband and two daughters.

Ellen Horne is the director of the Audio Reportage and Podcasting concentration in the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at NYU. She is also the executive producer of the forthcoming investigative podcast series, Admissible, produced in partnership with VPM, iHeart Media and her production company, Story Mechanics. Horne was the executive producer of WNYC’s Radiolab for over a decade. As editorial director at Story Mechanics she produces a range of audio-first creative projects, including stage shows, installations, podcasts and apps.

Dane Cardiel is the VP of Creator Partnerships at Headgum where he leads acquisition efforts for Headgum’s premier host-read ad marketplace, Gumball. He has most recently signed deals with Tig & Cheryl: True Story, Keeping It Rel’ with Young Wayne, and critically acclaimed podcast Love + Radio. Above all else, Dane is committed to ensuring independent podcasters are supported and empowered to achieve success on their own terms. Formerly, Dane was a founding member of Simplecast where he led business development and creator partnerships. Simplecast was acquired by SiriusXM-Pandora in 2020.

Ronald Young Jr. is a host, audio producer, and storyteller based in Alexandria, VA. He has hosted shows such as Pushkin’s Solvable and HBO Docs Club from Pineapple Street Studios. He is the Senior Producer and owner of ohitsBigRon Studios, which produces such shows as the critically acclaimed and award-winning Time Well Spent and movie review podcast Leaving the Theater, both of which he also hosts. As an avid pop-culture enthusiast, Ronald is a frequent contributor to NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour as a guest panelist. He is passionate about social justice and equity and recently helped to tell historical accounts of black folks in the early days of emancipation as the associate producer on the history podcast Seizing Freedom from VPM.

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Title Sponsorship

$50,000 (One Available)


Closing Performance & Reception Sponsor

$25,000 (One Available)


Industry Dinner Sponsor

 $10,000 (One Available) 


Travel Sponsor

$10,000 (One Available)

Session Sponsor 

$5,000 (Multiple Sponsorships Available)


Supporting Sponsor 

$1,000 (Multiple Sponsorships Available) 

In-Kind Sponsor 

ABOUT THE ICA

The Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University presents the art of our time and provides an open forum for dialogue and collaboration across the region and throughout the world. 

Opened on April 21, 2018, the ICA is a non-collecting institution that showcases an ever-changing slate of exhibitions, performances, films, and special programs that translate our world into every medium. Admission is free and open to all. 

Located at the corner of Belvidere and Broad streets, on VCU’s Monroe Park Campus in Richmond, Virginia. The LEED-Gold certified building, the Markel Center, was designed by Steven Holl.

ABOUT THE VPM + ICA COMMUNITY MEDIA CENTER

This publicly accessible recording studio and workspace is located on the second floor of the ICA in the Dr. Murry N. DePillars Learning Lab. The Community Media Center launched virtually in the fall of 2020 and opened for inperson recording and programming in November 2021. 

The VPM + ICA Community Media Center is helmed by Chioke I’Anson, Assistant Professor of African American Studies at VCU and underwriting announcer at NPR. As Director of Community Media, I’Anson will teach a podcasting seminar each semester for students in the Department of African American Studies. 

I’Anson manages a team of VCU students who plan and create a series of community events and youth programs including podcasting and media classes, workshops on podcast development and critique, symposia with invited speakers and mentors, and live podcasting programs. 

He is also director of the ICA’s Levels Up Academy, a summer intensive for participants aged 17 - 22 that teaches audio and podcasting skills.