VIDEO
Building Community Events Panel - DC Edition!
Hear from community organizers who are building community in the Washington, DC area. We'll discuss event visions, practical planning, and tips for fostering local connections, offering insights applicable to any city.
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About this panel
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Monday, June 16, 2025
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12pm - 1pm PT
3pm - 4pm ET -
60 min
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FREE
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This panel is recorded and made available on SoundPath.co for AIR members. Not an AIR member? Join now.
Join us for an informal and insightful webinar focused on cultivating a thriving audio community right here in the DC area. This will be a relaxed chit-chat and Q&A session exploring the essential elements of building local connections among audio enthusiasts and professionals.
Our discussion will touch upon key considerations for event organizers, including the initial vision and motivations behind their gatherings, practical logistics such as space, time, and planning, and various event formats, from casual bar meetups to cozy potlucks.
Our discussion will touch upon key considerations for event organizers, including the initial vision and motivations behind their gatherings, practical logistics such as space, time, and planning, and various event formats, from casual bar meetups to cozy potlucks.
We'll also delve into valuable tips, tricks, and actionable advice for successfully planning community-focused audio events, with an eye towards how these strategies can be adapted and replicated in other cities. Come ready to share your thoughts and learn from the experiences of others!
Who is this panel for?
- Experienced Community Organizers looking for inspiration
- People who are interested in organizing events yet not sure how to get started
- People in the Washington DC area who want to learn more about local events
Meet the Moderator
Thomas Lu
Thomas Lu is a journalist, audio producer, and story editor based in Washington, DC. He is currently a freelance editor/mentor for Australia’s All The Best Radio. He was most recently a producer for Vox’s science podcast Unexplainable, where he produced and reported an episode on how to talk to aliens.
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Meet the Panelist
Siona Peterous
Siona Peterous is a multidisciplinary artist and long-time podcast producer working across audio, photography, and live activations. Her practice blends storytelling, cultural memory, and community connection. That is the basis of her community event series, Friend of a Friend Social (FOAFS.) What started as a casual here-and-there meet up for folks to work through the awkwardness of creating adult friendships became an active interactive event series that centers on arts, culture, music + all things audio. The space is for everyone - introverts and extroverts - and is aimed towards breaking down barriers to developing creative connection.
Friend of a Friend Social is based in D.C. with plans to expand later this year.
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Meet the panelist
Ellen Weiss
Ellen Weiss is an award-winning journalist and leader with more than 40 years experience working in audio, video and digital newsrooms. She is co-founder and executive producer of Rock Creek Sound. Prior to that she served as Washington Bureau Chief and Vice President at The E. W. Scripps Company. There she created a multimedia national investigative team and launched podcasting for the company. While at Scripps, she received her forth Peabody Award for the “Under the Radar” investigative series and the RFK’s Journalism Grand Prize for the investigative documentary “A Broken Trust,” a project highlighting the lack of justice for survivors of sexual assault on tribal lands.
Prior to that she spent nearly 30 years at NPR and served as Senior Vice President of News. In that role, she oversaw global expansion of NPR News, the creation of award-winning programs, an investigative unit, podcasts and the digital integration of the newsroom
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Meet the panelist
Hannah Rosin
Hanna Rosin is a writer and podcaster. She is the host of Radio Atlantic and a Senior Editor at The Atlantic. Previously she was the editorial director for audio for New York Magazine[2] Formerly, she was the co-host of the NPR podcast Invisibilia with Alix Spiegel.[3] She was co-founder of DoubleX, the now closed women's site connected to the online magazine Slate, and the DoubleX (now The Waves) podcast.[4]
Rosin has written for The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, GQ, New York and The New Republic. She is the author of God's Harvard (2007) and The End of Men: And the Rise of Women (2012).
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