Dave Ankers is the Director of Content at WWOZ 90.7 FM and wwoz.org, New Orleans' Jazz & Heritage station.  He has worked in radio since 1984, starting at WMMR in Philadelphia, and then at SW Networks, Launch Media, Launch Radio Networks under Yahoo! Music, and United Stations Radio Networks.  At WWOZ since 2012, he has been a project manager and a liaison to the Archive of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, as well as producer of the radio program New Orleans Calling and of the station's Tricentennial Music Moments.  He has also been the producer and executive producer of many live broadcasts, including from the eight-day New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.  

Swarup nurtured Stark Communications Pvt. Ltd., from its inception in 1994 in Trivandrum, South India, to an agency recognized for its distinctive creative, work ethic, people-centric growth and outstanding client retention record. He played a key role in building the Kerala Tourism brand for two decades, actively partnering the brand’s journey from a non-entity to India’s No.1 tourism destination. Swarup’s tourism campaigns have consistently set benchmarks in the realm of destination marketing in India and won him many national and international awards.

Mr. Harrish M Bhatia is currently President - Sales & Marketing at Dainik Bhaskar Group.

 Dainik Bhaskar Group is into Radio, Newspaper and Digital.

He is one of the most respected corporate business leader, opinion maker and author in media, entertainment and consumer durable sector. Sharp business acumen, ability to run businesses as profit center and breaking new ground for business expansion are his core competence.

In his illustrious career of 39 years has created significant value in large corporation’s i.e MY FM (Radio channel of Dainik Bhaskar Group), Korean multinational corporation LG Electronics Ltd, JVC-Victor Company of Japan, ONIDA and Aristocrat Luggage through product innovations and customer centric marketing and sales strategy.

He has authored three books as well. The book ‘Management and Life Lessons from Ground Zero’ is based on his extensive and in-depth corporate experiences of 38 years while ‘Jiyo Dil Se - Live Your Dream’ is based on his own life journey and people he admires. ‘Values create Value – Learning’s from the life of Rajeev Karwal’ is his tribute to his mentor.

One of his mentee, also wrote a book ‘Professional Pursuit’ based on the lessons he learnt from him during his stint at MY FM.

He has been on the esteemed Jury panels for various international and national events, penned many articles, and has been bestowed with awards for his various HR-centric initiatives.

Olya Booyar is Head of Radio for the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, an association of broadcasting and associated industry bodies reaching more than half the world’s population.

Based at the ABU’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Olya is responsible for setting the strategic direction for Radio as well as helping to drive an expansion of services to the ABU’s more than 270 member organisations across the region and around the world. She takes a hands-on approach to public service broadcasting and media development in the digital era, organising and presenting numerous development initiatives for ABU members.

Born in Ukraine and educated in Canada, Olya began her career as an on-air broadcaster-journalist with the multicultural, multilingual Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) in Australia. She rose rapidly through the organisation’s journalism, programming and management ranks to become SBS’s first Corporate and Community Relations Executive, before leaving to become Deputy Director of the nation’s Classification Board. She has also been a General Manager in charge of content, consumer and citizen matters for the Australian media regulator the Communications & Media Authority (ACMA).

She is a past-President of the global International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) and is on the Board of the World Summit on Media for Children Foundation, the International Radio and Television Union (URTI) and Australia’s National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN).

George is Head of Marketing at Radiocentre, the industry body for commercial radio. In his role he runs the UK’s biggest audio conference, works on national ad campaigns promoting radio and also produces the award winning Mental Health Minute. On top of his role at Radiocentre, George presents on national UK station Fun Kids.

Dave left the ad agency world in 2004 to join Rogers Radio.  Over the last fifteen years he has created imaging and advertising for 54 stations, winning dozens of Canadian and international awards.  He is a seven-time New York Festivals trophy-winner, including two Grand awards.  

Since 1995 Diego has utilized his hybrid skills as a scriptwriter, sound designer, musician, radio producer, video editor, post producer, director and tv producer. His impressive career trajectory has seen Diego working within the best first-line radio stations in Buenos Aires as an independent audiovisual producer, creating an unmistakable style through sounds and graphics among all media productions.

As Owner and Director of DMC STUDIO in Buenos Aires, Diego specializes in radio arts, sound stories, commercials, field recording, sound design and mixing. An industry pro known for award-winning work, he creates audiovisual productions for radio, TV, social networks and movies. 

Diego also serves as a Radio Producer for Urbana Play FM.

With 8 Gold New York Festivals Radio Awards, 1 Silver, and 6 Bronze, he has also twice earned the presitigious NYF Grand Award, the ultimate honor bestowed at the NYF Radio Awards Gala.

Jennie Cataldo is an award-winning radio and podcast producer. She is the creator of Accompany Studios, a radio and podcast production company based in San Francisco, California. Accompany Studios uses music, creative audio editing and sound design to produce audio stories that sing.

Jennie has produced a variety of audio content, including commercial and public radio programs, documentaries, short form series, specials and podcasts. The range of subjects in which she has produced programs includes history, music, culture, health, science, and technology. Her productions have aired on national and international networks. She has worked with celebrity host talent such as Dan Aykroyd, Susan Sarandon, and Reid Hoffman. Jennie has conducted hundreds of interviews with critically acclaimed recording artists, authors, critics, historians, entrepreneurs and academic experts. She works with clients such as the University of California at Berkeley, the United States Library of Congress, and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
 

Jennie’s work has been recognized yearly at the International Radio Festival since 2015, where she has also served as a Grand Jury member and presenter. Jennie also serves on the New York Festivals Radio Awards Advisory Board.

Jennie’s interests include music history, cultural criticism and analysis, literature, narrative nonfiction, and record collecting. She studied Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts at San Francisco State University, where she graduated with honors and received a BA in 2012.

John Catlett is a life-long radio broadcaster, having been introduced to the medium as an undergraduate volunteer at WPRB-FM at Princeton University in 1960. He completed his studies with an MBA in marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. After early experience at King Broadcasting Company in the Pacific Northwest and Time-Life Broadcast in New York City, he was tapped to manage CBS-owned WBBM-FM in Chicago just as the potential of FM radio was beginning to see its earliest realization. In 1972, he was transferred by CBS to take over WCBS-FM in New York City, where he installed the first major-market all-oldies format in July of 1972. Without any significant promotion support, the station suddenly became the first FM station to break into the top ten rated stations in the market, with a #5 ranking overall, and only six stations nationwide--AM or FM--had larger cumulative audiences. The oldies format survives to this day at WCBS-FM, with strong ratings.

Jack Chalmers is a Senior Editor in the Audio team at HarperCollins Publishers. He oversees the audio content for William Collins, 4th Estate, and Collins Reference. He has worked with authors such as David Attenborough, Elizabeth Day, David Cameron, and many more. His production of Life on Earth by David Attenborough won a Gold – NonFiction Audiobook of the Year at the New York Radio Festival Awards in 2018.

Ms. Eeva Chang Mei Hsiang is a Singaporean media executive, broadcaster, talk-show host, producer, actress, educator, and a thinker.  Ms Eeva is the current chairwoman of Rediffusion - an iconic radio station boasting 70 years of history and also the founder of Eeva Productions and Eduplus Language Centre.

People addressed her as the “Godmother of talent show in Southeast Asia, language visualisation expert, advocator of the power of the mind.” Her ideals and works have had great influence on Singapore's broadcast and media industry.

She is the first Mandarin TEDx speaker in Singapore.  In 2016, she shared about three-dimensional language visualisation on the TEDx stage, by her language guidance, it been able to transcend national boundaries. She also served as the Speaker Coach for TEDxPickeringStreet from 2016-2018.

She has won the Golden Bell Award for best social radio programme at the beginning of her professional career. She was also later awarded the ASEAN Literature Choice Awards for her essay collection. Recently, Ms Eeva also won the Best Narration Gold Award in New York Festivals World's Best Radio Programs.

Sam is an Associate Professor at Birmingham City University in the United Kingdom. He is the Course Leader for the MA in Media Production and teaches a range of undergraduate and postgraduate audio production classes for the College of English and Media. Before joining academia, he worked in the New Zealand and United Kingdom commercial radio industries. Sam is a Trustee of the Charles Parker Archive Trust and is a member of the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research, where he investigates development radio, documentary production and popular music studies. Sam has written chapters and articles about popular music and radio production for various publications, and his book, Music Documentaries for Radio, was published by Routledge in 2021. He continues to work as a radio freelancer, producing music documentaries for networks in the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

Jax Coombes is a Radio Producer with over ten years’ experience working at BBC Radio 6 Music making award-winning documentaries including a Palme D’Or in 2015 for John Grant’s Songs From A Dark Place, a documentary exploring the music, magic, and rise of Icelandic music.

Radio Mitre is the Nº 1 radio station of Argentina. It has great quality in its sound and promotions. There is one guy who is responsible for writing these promotions and monitor its editing and coordinate its airing. He is in charge of maintaining the highest quality standards in music and institutional jingles; he is the director of special reports; he is the Artistic Producer of the whole broadcast... He is Juan Pablo Córdoba. He studied Social Communication (UBA - University of Buenos Aires) and Multimedia Production (EMBA), and he is a vital part of Radio Mitre since 2004.

Francis Currie is an International Radio Consultant and Partner in Currie Nordén, the specialist radio research company.

Francis provides independent expert support to radio stations & digital media companies in competitive markets around the world. If you want help with any aspect of your radio station’s research, programming, marketing or digital activity he can help.

A former market-leading Programmer himself, he specialises in turning around under-performing stations, developing market-leading Morning Shows and building strong brands. He is also an experienced trainer and certified coach.

From research and strategy to action plans and dealing with the day-to-day challenges of running a radio station, he can work with your team to get the results you want.

Nicholas Davis has worked in radio, television and print for the past three decades covering everything from current affairs to the arts. He has won many awards for his journalism, including a 2006 Gabriel Award. For the past 24 years Nicholas has worked at CBC as a reporter and producer -- most notably as Senior Producer for Metro Morning, the number one morning show in Toronto. He’s currently the Executive Director, Engagement & Inclusion.  He was previously  Manager of Program Development for CBC, where he was responsible for the ongoing development of local programming in radio, television and online.

Andrika De Lanerolle is an award-winning producer. She has been a New York Festivals Jury Member since 2016. 

Across her 13 years of experience, Andrika has produced several award-winning programs and documentaries including “St. John’s: In Through the Narrows,” a finalist at the 2016 New York Festivals Radio Awards. She also produced “Two Steps Forward: Indigenous and Disabled in Saskatchewan,” a finalist for a 2017 RTDNA award. 

She is currently the senior producer of “NOW with Dave Brown,” a daily morning news program airing live on AMI-audio and AMI-tv in Canada.  

Outside of producing, you can catch her discussing her favourite albums, what she had for lunch and her opinions on the latest Hollywood flicks. 

Dr. Evelyn Dörr studied Theatre, Dance and Music in Berlin. Since 2001 she has worked as a radio director and writer. Her radio drama features have been nominated for prestigious European and American radio awards (Prix Italia, PRIX EUROPA, New York Festivals, Prix Marulic and Grand Prix Nova) and have been arranged by German theaters (Deutsches Theater Berlin) as theatre plays. She is the founder of the Edition Akustische Bühne In this edition also appeared "The Man in the Moon - A Radio Ballet with Charlie Chaplin (2002/2008)" and the audio film "The Poetic Prophet, Director's Cut" - A Fictional Autobiography of the Poet Oscar Wilde (for a woman in 14 voices) 2003/ 2021. 

Pat Duggins is News Director at Alabama Public Radio, an international award-winning journalist, and a published author. He’s recognized globally for covering 103 NASA Space Shuttle missions, the Challenger and Columbia accidents, and the construction of the International Space Station. Duggins spent 14 years covering NASA for NPR, and helped pioneer the network's earliest use of the internet to deliver domestic news stories.

Within a year and a half of re-organizing the APR newsroom, Duggins and his team were generously honored with the National Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence alongside NBC-TV, CBS Radio, and the AP. He and the APR news team have won 147 journalism awards under his leadership--one third of which are at the national or international level. APR is also the first radio news operation to be honored with the "John Seigenthaler Prize for Courage in Journalism" from RFK Human Rights, in addition to the 50th annual Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Radio.

Duggins’ first book on NASA came out in 2007, and the second in 2010. His second book, "Trailblazing Mars," came out in paperback in 2017.

 

Elaine Dunseath is an award winning radio producer at BBC Northern Ireland. A journalist for 15 years at the organisation, she has a background which includes researching and producing television current affairs investigations and television news.  She has a particular interest in highlighting the plight of society’s most vulnerable and helping those who often don’t have a platform to be heard. In June 2019, she and reporter Declan Harvey won bronze at the New York Festivals Radio Awards Social Issues category for ‘Did A Serial Killer Murder My Sister?’ which explored how alcoholism can often mean domestic abuse victims go unnoticed. Her most recent documentary is ‘Silent No More: Fermanagh’s Abused Children’ which showed how one person speaking out has forced a rural community to confront how widespread child sexual abuse was allowed to go on for years. 

Kaushik Dutta is a versatile Media Content Professional with over 10 years of experience in Radio, Digital Media, Television and Advertising. Kaushik currently heads the programing and digital for the Desi Channel 89.1 Radio 4 of the Channel 4 Radio network in the UAE. Kaushik has been credited with successful brand and content integrations on Radio and Digital for Brands like Vodafone, Jio, TATA AIG, Emirates NDB, Unilever, Landmark Group, Apparel Group, Sandvik, Monsanto,  Joyalukkas, Air Arabia and many more.  He has also won numerous Radio, Marketing and Advertising awards like Golden Mikes, IRF and ACEF. Kaushik is two time winner at the New York Radio Festival, the biggest radio award in the world. Kaushik has worked with organisations like Radio Mirchi, Radio City, TVF, NDTV and Gulf News (UAE). He also consults with various brands on media planning and content integration. He has many awarded and acclaimed campaigns under his name like “Abki Baar Dedo Akhbaar”, “Direct From Kisaan” and “Musical Republic of India”.

Padraic is now Head of Operations of Clare FM and Group Programme Director of Clare FM & Tipp FM. 

Over the past few years Padraic has directed & edited several documentaries including, “Vincent Hanley Cominatcha” the life story of one of Ireland’s greatest presenters, Vincent Hanley.

“Bullets & Ballads in the Banner County”.  2018 he produced “Top of the World” the story of a local Clare man becoming the first Clare man to climb Mount Everest.  It received a bronze award at the New York International Festival Radio Program Awards for The World’s Best Radio Programs in the Human-Interest category.

In 2019 Padraic and his colleague Gavin Grace produced “The Rescue” the story of Jim Warny a local Clare man that travelled to Thailand to aid in the rescue of the Wild Boar Soccer Team.  The documentary received a Gold award at the New York International Festival Radio Program and a silver award in the IMRO awards.

Over the years Padraic has produced several imagining packages for Clare and Tipp FM. 

Strong production and programming content remains Padraic’s passion in life.

Michael Freedman was a 35-year radio executive, broadcast journalist, university administrator and professor. He had served with distinction as general manager of CBS Radio Network News, vice president and managing editor for the Broadcast Division of United Press International, leadership press secretary to the Democratic Whip of the United States House of Representatives, vice president and professor of journalism at The George Washington University.  In addition, Freedman served as executive producer of the acclaimed public broadcasting series The Kalb Report, This Just In!, and GW Presents American Jazz (in collaboration with the legendary Tony Bennett). Over the course of his career, Freedman and his teams have earned more than 85 honors for broadcast excellence including 14 Edward R. Murrow awards from RTNDA, five Gold World Medals and a Grand Award in New York Festivals International Radio Awards, and the 2023 New York Festivals Lifetime Achievement Award.

A Grand Jury member since 2009 and recipient of the New York Radio Festivals United Nations Silver Medal (UNHCR) 2008 - The Stolen Generation, SBS Radio - Alchemy. 
Executive Producer and Leader in radio, podcasts, TV and digital media production, having played a lead role in establishing the SBS PopAsia brand from a start-up radio show on SBS Australia into a 24/7 Digital Radio Station, TV Show and digital content hub. Over 25 years Maddy has built significant relationships with audience, industry and community stakeholders, focusing on diversity, music and culture. As an Asian Pop subject matter expert (artists, companies + media) Maddy has negotiated interviews and access to artists as talent for radio shows, podcasts and performance. 

International Broadcast Consultant VALERIE GELLER is president of Geller Media International. She works with top broadcasters in radio, TV, internet throughout the world, and has consulted on several award winning documentary films. As a content and story consultant, trainer and seminar leader, Using proven methods she developed over years of working in 35 countries with over 500 radio and television stations, Geller coaches and trains on air personalities, programmers, producers and broadcast news journalists to become more Powerful Communicators Geller has worked with some of the top personalities in the world. to get, keep and grow their audiences using the proven POWERFUL COMMUNICATOR techniques - Geller, a former program director (WABC, New York) and News Director (K101, San Francisco) has been training broadcasters since 1991. Her clients in Europe have included LBC, The BBC, Australia's ABC Sweden's MTG,among others.

Slobodan Govorcin, holds B.A. in dramaturgy. He is Editor in Drama and fiction Department with the Public media institution RTV Vojvodina in Serbia. He has been a jury member of international radio drama festivals for several times now. He also served as a selector for national amateur theatre festivals and for the festival of monodrama for children. As the author of radio dramas he won awards at the Prix ex Aequo in Slovakia and at the Festival of Best Radio Shows in New York. He was preselected at Prix Europa in Berlin, Prix Nova in Bucharest, HearNow in Kansas and UK radio drama festival in Herne Bay.

Lena Olofgörs, Producer at Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company,  since 1998.

I received gold 2015 in the category Educational

Sunny and Shay are multi-award winning Radio and TV presenters at BBC WM 95.6FM and BBC Radio London from Channel 4's BAFTA nominated 'The Family' they delighted us as members of the Grewal’s whose antics were followed daily– their Punjabi wedding became a major part of the series and gave its non Asian viewers an insight into the build up to a British Asian wedding!

Since the success of the show they have gone on to host awards across the country, voice over large scale media campaigns, host TV shows and worked extensively with the BBC Asian Network.

They were the first high profile British Asians to join local radio and present a daily mainstream radio show on BBC WM 95.6FM from Monday to Thursday and spend the weekends from Friday to Sunday on BBC Radio London and have regularly featured in the Top 101 most Influential Asians in the UK.

Sunny and Shay are multi-award winning Radio and TV presenters at BBC WM 95.6FM and BBC Radio London from Channel 4's BAFTA nominated 'The Family' they delighted us as members of the Grewal’s whose antics were followed daily– their Punjabi wedding became a major part of the series and gave its non Asian viewers an insight into the build up to a British Asian wedding!

Since the success of the show they have gone on to host awards across the country, voice over large scale media campaigns, host TV shows and worked extensively with the BBC Asian Network.

They were the first high profile British Asians to join local radio and present a daily mainstream radio show on BBC WM 95.6FM from Monday to Thursday and spend the weekends from Friday to Sunday on BBC Radio London and have regularly featured in the Top 101 most Influential Asians in the UK.

With over 24 years’ experience in the advertising, radio, movie content and newspaper industries Viplove has been at the forefront of  creating and curating multiplatform content, client led brand solutions, radio programming and music management.

A post graduate in English Literature, Viplove has been writing for newspaper and publications on films and film music since an early age, paving his way to advertising industry where he started heading a team of copywriters in no time.

Started his radio career in 2001, he has launched 29 radio stations across India, hired and trained many talents who went on to winning many international accolades.

With an intention to create a positive and meaningful impact on the radio industry of India, he is in the process of launching a podcast for radio professionals who are not finding radio as a challenging medium any more.

Phil Guyan is CEO of CBA New Zealand – a creative media production house providing everything from short-form programmettes, to award winning podcasts and long-form live programming on New Zealand’s leading commercial radio network. CBA is a charitable trust, formed to share the heart of the Christian faith in mainstream media, so their programming is thoughtful, inspirational, and designed to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Phil and his team have won 20 New York Festivals awards over the past decade for a diverse range of work. They’ve also won prestigious awards the UK, Australia and New Zealand. CBA’s work has extended to supporting media professionals through chaplaincy, media training, advocacy, and providing scholarships to young people starting out in their media careers. Phil has headed up CBA for 27 years.

Joel Hammer Senior Journalist, BBC Sport. I am an award winning senior journalist, presenter and radio producer for BBC Sport and BBC World Service. I specialise in stories that go beyond the field of play, where sport meets culture, politics and society

Cathie has worked for various Radio and Television companies internationally including those in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.

This award winning broadcaster has been extensively involved on both sides of the microphone

Scripting, performing and producing a wide range of programmes for television, radio, and live performance, has given Cathie the opportunity to work with professional musicians and actors in various countries, and with young people both in entertainment and education. More recently she has specialized in researching and producing historical entertainments.

Cathie has had a long association with NEW York Festivals almost since its beginning days.

Her website is www.cathieharrop.com

Saiam Hasan is a seasoned media professional with a 12-year journey, weaving magic in the realms of Creative Writing, Production, Voice Artistry, and independent Music. Saiam's career has taken him from the heart of frontline radio stations to the vibrant world of independent artistry in India and the United Arab Emirates, where his unique style seamlessly blends words and sounds.

Two of his original musical creations, "Aye Sajni" and "Nodey – Krishna," serve as distinct signatures of Saiam's artistic prowess. With nearly 12 years in the audio industry, Saiam has significantly raised the bar in terms of creative and sound standards. His virtuosity in the field has been recognized with prestigious awards, including 6 New York Radio Awards and national honors such as ACEF and Golden Mikes, adorning his career with a tapestry of well-deserved accolades.

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Bob Hecht is the producer and host of The Joys of Jazz Podcast (thejoysofjazz.com), a program dedicated to educating the public about the timeless giants of ‘America’s Classical Music.’ The show won a Silver Medal in the Music Podcast category of the 2019 NYF Radio Awards. His previous broadcast radio version of The Joys of Jazz also medaled in 2015. His work as a jazz content producer and host dates back to the 1960’s.

Mike Hogan is a multi award winning radio producer and presenter based in Dublin, Ireland. Mike specialises in Entertainment Breakfast, Hot Talk shows and Documentaries. He has been very successful in each style. He currently produces The Colm and Lucy Breakfast Show on Classic Hits. and founded MikeUpMedia.com.  When he produced The PJ and Jim Show,  the programme has claimed gold in the Irish IMRO radio awards for two years running. Mike lives and breathes radio. He started his obsession at 15 years of age by purchasing a transmitter and aerial and broadcasting from his parents’ garden shed. He knows good radio when he hears it and is excited to listen to the best in the world by judging the New York Radio Awards. 

Paul Hollins

Paul Hollins is a versatile broadcaster, insightful writer, and innovative business owner whose influence in the media industry is both broad and impactful. His broadcasting career has seen him become a familiar voice on some of the UK's most prominent radio stations, including Capital FM, Heart, and Smooth Radio. His engaging style and natural rapport with listeners have made him a distinguished figure in the radio landscape.

At the helm of Blue Revolution and Radio Express, Paul has propelled these businesses to international acclaim, providing services to a distinguished roster of the world's most notable radio stations and brands. His leadership has expanded the reach of Blue Revolution into the burgeoning world of digital media, with the production of popular podcasts that cater to diverse audiences and showcase his company's adaptability and creative prowess.

As an author, Paul has offered his rich knowledge of the industry through books like "Hang The DJ?" and "Essential Media Law." His expertise extends to journalism, contributing articles for RetroPop Magazine and previously for Music Power Magazine, which speaks to his multifaceted talent and ability to engage with readers on various platforms.

Paul's skills as a communicator are not limited to broadcasting and writing. He has conducted interviews with A-list celebrities, including Elton John and the Spice Girls, revealing his talent for drawing out intriguing and personal narratives. His dynamic presence is equally evident in live hosting and captivating on-stage performances. Additionally, his voice has brought life to campaigns for major brands such as Cadbury and Currys/PC World and has narrated a best-selling documentary series, highlighting his versatility as a voice artist.

Paul Hollins's career is a testament to his creative flair and professional dedication, making him a notable and influential figure in the world of media.

Matt has worked in the radio industry for more than three decades, and in 2018 founded Trisonic, a specialist audio creative and media agency based in London.   Trisonic creates and promotes the use of audio in all its forms.

Matt was a pioneer in the field of radio commercial production, has extensive experience in creating editorial audio content and radio programme management.   He is a highly skilled radio copywriter, audio producer and director in his own right, and also co-founded Spiteful Puppet Entertainment, whose audio dramas have scooped numerous accolades from the BBC and New York Festivals.

Will Jackson has worked in the UK audio sector for thirty years, including BBC and commercial radio. He's Communications Manager for WorldDAB, the global industry forum for DAB digital radio. He also serves as a Trustee for the Radio Academy, the UK radio and audio industry charity, dedicated to the promotion of excellence in UK radio and audio. Prior to this, Will was Managing Director of AudioUK, the trade body for audio and radio production companies. While there, he was a Director of the UK Government's Audio Content Fund, and worked to create the industry's Audio and Radio Emergency Fund in response to the pandemic. 

Judith Kampfner has spent thirty years working as a drama and documentary producer at Australian Broadcasting, BBC, and WNYC. In 2019 after training as a coach at NYU, she set up a company coaching creatives on their work process, self-marketing, and career development. At Jude Coaching she also helps clients create and design multi episodic projects and then pitches them to podcast agents or production companies. 

Her own work has spanned a range of formats from live sports commentary to science and especially arts and culture features. She's written audio dramas, hosted and narrated shows, and is an Executive Producer for other independent companies.

Her BBC podcasts are available at 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/search?q=Judith+Kampfner

https://judekampfner.com/

Ben Katz is a podcast producer most recently known for the mini-series ‘The Long-Distance Con’ on the New Yorker Radio Hour podcast which won a silver New York Radio Award and was a finalist for two Webby awards and an ASME Ellie award in 2019. ‘The Long-Distance Con’ was also featured on Refinery29 as one of most anticipated 2018 podcasts. Ben is also a video producer who has produced work for This American Life, Radiolab, Snap Judgement, Startalk Live, The Foo Fighters, Motion City Soundtrack, Dr. John and Miranda July.

Aaron Kearney (OAM) is a multi-award-winning broadcaster, photojournalist, sports commentator, five-time New York Festival award winner, AIPS Sports Award Silver Medallist and Prodi Journalist of the Year.

He’s won a Walkley Award for emergency broadcasting and forged a career across newspapers, television, radio and social with Fairfax, Channel Seven Australia, the ABC and others.

He’s currently the Director of AKS Media International, ABC’s Pacific Disaster Preparedness Broadcast Unit Lead and host of “Pacific Prepared”.

Aaron is in demand across the globe for his experience in broadcasting, commentary, storytelling and innovation, working for the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, the BBC World Service and universities and corporations on five continents.

An inaugural Summer Fellow at Reuters Institute for Journalism at the University of Oxford, he holds a Masters Degree and Graduate Certificate from Griffith University, specialising in broadcast for development. He designed and produced the world’s first Pacific indigenous language live broadcast of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, co-produced Papua New Guinea’s historic coverage of the 2015 Pacific Games and has mentored female journalists from six countries at several international events, including the Commonwealth Games.

In 2020, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to broadcasting.

Further information:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-kearney-oam-28772767/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Kearney

James Keen is Managing Director for Tindle Radio’s Channel Island stations – Island FM in Guernsey, Channel 103 in Jersey and newly-launched Soleil Radio which broadcasts to all of the Channel Islands. Channel 103 and Island FM deliver the highest and second highest weekly reach percentages in the British Isles respectively.

As Managing Director, James Keen leads both the commercial and content sides of the businesses. Prior to joining Tindle, James was Managing Editor for Global’s Heart stations in the east of England before which he worked for GCap Media, UKRD Group and Turner Broadcasting Systems.

Greg Kelly is the Executive Producer of the CBC Radio Program IDEAS. Before that, he was Editor of the Radio Netherlands Program The State We're In and Senior Producer and co-creator of American Public Media's The Story. Greg's documentaries in both radio and television have won multiple international awards and honours. Unlike most of his peers, he does not have his own podcast.

Kathy Lam is a graduate of Columbia University, with a master’s degree in Arts Administration. She joined Radio Television Hong Kong as a Producer and Presenter upon graduation. She has been named a ‘Top 10 Most Favourite English Presenters’ in Hong Kong, and her programmes are voted as ‘Top 10 Most Favourite English Programmes’. Her programme ‘Madly Musical’, which discusses the mental states of various composers, was awarded a Bronze prize at New York Festivals® (Information/Documentary: Culture and the Arts category) in 2017.

Ivan is the Head of Content at Radio Express in the US and Blue Revolution in the UK.
He is the executive producer of the Official World Chart, the UK Chart (UK's Official Airplay Chart), The Kim Wilde 80s Show and the international version of the Joe Elliott Show, distributed worldwide by Radio Express. 

STEVE LEVINE BIOGRAPHY 2019
Starting as a tape-op at CBS studios in 1975, Steve progressed to in-house engineer
and worked with many new wave, punk & pop acts including The Clash, The Jags,
The Vibrators, XTC & Sailor.
Beach Boy, Bruce Johnson was to play an important part in Steve's early career,
culminating with Steve producing an album for the Beach Boys several years later.
Steve produced all of Culture Club’s classic hits and the bands’ three multi-platinum
albums.
Artist collaborations include Honeyz, China Crisis, Gary Moore, Ziggy Marley,
Louise, The Creatures, The Angelic Upstarts, Lemmy & Motorhead, David Grant,
Jimmy The Hoover, Westworld, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Mis-teeq, 911.
Steve has collected a number of prestigious industry awards including a Brit Award,
Musicweek Award and a Grammy for his work with Deniece Williams.
He has appeared on many radio and TV programes, is a regular guest presenter of
the newspaper review on BBC weekend Breakfast and on BBC’s 6 Music with his
own show.
His radio production company produces original high quality radio content, in
particular, The Record Producers, a series for BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music.
Steve has won a SONY Radio Award and most recently 2 Gold Awards at the New
York Radio Festival.
He has also presented The Record Producers Live with special guests.
Busy producing new acts, recently XamVolo , Space, and a remix project for the
legendary Millie Jackson entitled “Exposed” for ACE records.
He is currently in the studio working with games producer MILKY TEA on the
soundtrack to a new exciting game HYPERBRAWL currently exclusive to the new
Apple Arcade platform .........more news soon ......and more tracks for
Electronic project Pretty Robotic.
Steve is a Director of PRS for music, a member of the MU, PPL,
and a LIPA Companion and recently elected to the new Liverpool Region Music
Council

He started his career as a presenter on a variety of radio stations across the UK, such as: Plymouth Sound, Gemini FM and GWR FM.

He has also hosted programmes on Capital 95.8 in London and The Capital Network – broadcasting to many major radio markets such as: London, Birmingham and Manchester.

Before moving into a Programming role, he spent the last six years co-hosting Capital Breakfast in South Wales.  The show won the coveted ‘Best Breakfast Show’ at the Arqiva Radio Awards, both in 2014 and 2016, whilst securing two extra nominations on top of that.

·      A Radio professional with over 12 years of experience in Radio

·      Programming & Production (Music & Product) I have launched 13 new stations where 9 new stations in Maharashtra, 1 in Rajasthan, 1 in Gujarat and 2 in Punjab. Where I have also hired a completely new team, groomed them and raised them to current performances.

·      My Ideas won awards on national and international platforms.

·      Track record of Creating & executing content ideas for- On air programs to enhance listenership, New Promos for shows and Stationality, On Air Special Shows & Celebrity Management, Contests & Game Shows

·      An effective leader with excellent communication, negotiation and relationship building skills

Rosario Lufrano has a degree in Journalism. She began her career at the start of democracy in 1983. She has been involved in producing and hosting various programs on Radio Belgrano, Mitre, Continental, American, National and Rivadavia. On Radio Rivadavia, Lufrano currently hosts "I Say What I think." Among the documentaries which aired on that program were "30 Years Of Democracy: Everybody’s Story” which won the Gold at the New York Festivals and “Human Trafficking: Merchants of Innocence" which was awarded the Ondas award, the highest award given by Cadena Ser in Spain, in the presence of Pope Francisco. On television, she was the creator of Public TV whose programming received 6 Martin Fierro and TV Fund Gold, the most important distinctions in Argentina and by hosting the program "Telefe Noticias" she claimed a Marin Fierro.

I was one of the original employees at Radio Clyde in Glasgow joining the station in November 1973. Through the 80s and 90s, I was Production Controller for Radio Clyde when the station won "Sony Station of the Year" 3 times and was nominated twice. I was also the producer on two Sony Award-winning shows for Best Rock and Pop Programme - Hue and Cry (1989) and The Big Day C1 (1991). I have 10 New York Radio World Medals as producer or co-producer. Among the other career highlights was the innovatory series of 17 annual open-air Kelvingrove Free Music Festivals which provided to launch pad for many local bands performing original music. I have always had an interest in aviation and have produced three critically acclaimed aviation documentaries. Doing the Continental – An hour-long examination of Continental’s first brush with Chapter 11 made in 1985/86 and featuring Continental pilots and crew, the FAA, and an exclusive interview with Phil Bakes. Britannia 300 Alph

Angie Man was Senior Programme Officer,  RTHK. 

She joined RTHK in 2008 as a multimedia editor, managing webpage content and social media. Additionally, Angie worked closely with presenters producing radio shows, podcasts and managing special projects for Radio 3 RTHK. She was also responsible for producing radio shows to broadcast on TV.

Angie was also a journalist and web editor for local Chinese newspapers.

I am working as Head Client Solutions for Network18.

 I am majorly responsible for designing campaigns and events for big clients and Branding awareness for our network pan India.

 With almost 14 years in media ,I have served 9+ years with television Anchoring various celebrity talk shows in ETV & Star news while 4 years in radio With 94.3 MY FM - Dainik Bhaskar Group, where I was responsible for programming for Rajasthan and my focus had always been working towards gender sensitivity which is need of hour in our country and thus time to time I did such campaigns some of which like BOL & save girl child are recognised on national level as well.

·         I am winner of laadli media award for my work in the field of “gender sensitivity” in year 12-13 & 13-14 the campaigns were around saving girl child and respect women hood.

·         My name has been in list for top 100 successful women of Jaipur ( Rajasthan) for my work in media organised by a leading NGO of city in June 2015

·         I have also  Won “Women of eminence” award in 2014, given by Education Minister for exemplary work in media.

Liliana Manna is a journalist who graduated in 1972 from the School of Journalism of the city of Buenos Aires and 1974 from the Institute of Radio Education. She was the first woman in Argentina radio to be named a writer-broadcaster in the News Service of Radio Belgrano and served as producer on various radio and television programs. In 7 opportunities, Manna was awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze trophies at the New York Festivals. The last occasion was in 2014 where she won the Gold for Best Documentary for “30 Years of Democracy: Everybody’s Story.” Also in 2014 she won the Ondas Award, awarded by the Cadena Ser Spain, for best documentary radio program in the world “Human Trafficking: Merchants of Innocence” which on December 3rd was delivered in a special audience with Pope Francisco. Other international awards have included: (with journalist Nelson Castro) the "King of Spain" International Award. First distinction achieved by Argentine journalist radio special prize

Nick McCabe-Lokos is the executive producer of Front Burner, a daily podcast from CBC News. Prior to that he ran a series of award winning radio programs including Quirks & Quarks, Q and Day 6. Before working in radio he was a television news producer and print reporter.

SIOBHAN MCHUGH is a narrative podcast producer, podcast consultant, critic, award-winning author and academic, whose storytelling podcasts have won seven gold awards at New York Festivals. Siobhán’s collaborations include The Greatest Menace, about a ‘gay prison’ experiment:  described as ‘Australia’s S-Town’, it has won 17 major awards. 

She partnered with Melbourne’s The Age newspaper on hit podcasts Phoebe’s Fall, Wrong Skin, and The Last Voyage of The Pong Su and she co-hosts Heart of Artness, about transcultural aspects of contemporary Aboriginal art in Australia. Siobhán’s book, The Power of Podcasting: telling stories through sound (2022), unpacks the art of making narrative podcasts and analyses the history of podcasting as a vibrant medium that foments creativity and expression.

Siobhan’s book has been mentioned by the Oprah Winfrey Network and hailed as ‘the most in-depth guide to the best audio storytelling around the world’, by Marc Fennell, creator, Stuff The British Stole. Siobhan has appeared at podcast industry events alongside Dana Chivvis, producer of Serial, and Kara Swisher, host extraordinaire. She is Associate Professor (honorary) of Journalism at University of Wollongong and continues to teach and research podcasting in global settings.

Tony McShane is an award winning producer who has been making programmes with Bauer Media for over 7 years, producing the legendary Night Owls phone in show which has been on the air for over 40 years. The show has taken home 2 GOLD NY awards whilst Tony has been the producer. He is multi skilled having worked both on-air and off air with over 14 years’ experience in commercial radio. Tony also produces shows for Pride Radio which is the leading LGBT+ station in the UK.

Oleg Medvedev has more than 25 years of experience in the radio industry as News Director, Executive Director of Radio-7, General Director and General Producer of Melody and Finam FM radio stations in Moscow, Russia. Expert in media project management, journalist, producer, writer, business consultant.

Florencia Melgar Hourcade is a Uruguayan – Australian investigative journalist with almost 20 years of experience working across platforms in Latin America and Australia.

In Uruguay she published a number of investigative works, being “Sabotage to the Truth” the longest investigation, edited by Planeta publishing. The book brought to light new information on a cold case from the dictatorship involving the murders of two members of Parliament. The investigation led the Prosecutor to reopen the case that remains open in 2017.

She worked for Uruguay’s public television. She was also a media adviser for organisations like the United Nations for Development Program in Uruguay, the Canadian Embassy in Montevideo and the Spanish Government cultural affairs’ “Cervantes Institute” in Sydney.

In 2013 Florencia did an investigation published as “The Other 9/11”, a report that brought to light documents and testimonies of the participation of Australia’s intelligence in Augusto Pinochet’s coup in the 1973’s coup in Chile. The story also disclosed that a former Chilean intelligence official, who had escaped Chile after being prosecuted by Chile’s courts for torture and murder, was hiding in Australia. This investigation triggered the first extradition request from Latin America to Australia for a case of human rights.

This experience of collaborative investigations has allowed Florencia to identify the main opportunities and challenges of doing investigative journalism across cultures and across borders and led her to do a PhD by research that was completed in October 2019.

Simon Moorhead produced the award-winning feature films Mirrormask, written by Neil Gaiman & directed by Dave McKean and Luna, written & directed by Dave McKean.  (Best British Feature Film at Raindance 2014)

Simon has been associated with many award-winning TV projects including A Different Drummer, Jigsaw, Threads, The Life and Loves of a She Devil, The Bill, BT Global Challenge, Widowmaker & the ITV series Chimera.

After Luna, Simon took the decision to move full time into producing audio drama, live theatre and publishing

In 2017, Simon produced, directed & created the sound design for ‘The Boleyn Brothers’, the story of the West Ham ‘Pals’ battalion during WW1. The production won Best Audio Drama Podcast at the International Radio Awards in New York in July 2019.

During 2018/19 Simon commissioned, produced & created the sound design for over 21hrs. of original audio drama for The Other 1% and commissioned a further 6 hours’ worth of scripts that are ready to go into production.

Eduardo "Lalo" Morino is an Argentine based voice actor, broadcast journalist, scriptwriter and a professor. He's been working in the global Media Industry for the past 28 years.

Since 2000, he's been part of Radio Mitre, the leading radio station of Argentina, as a service journalist, voice talent, and radio host. Currently, Eduardo's hosting "Overnight, weekend edition" (narrative, music & news) and has been part of teams widely recognized by the industry and audiences all over the world (King of Spain Award, New York Festivals, Martin Fierro, among others).

He is the institutional voice of La100FM and Golf Channel Latin America, and he works as Voice Actor and Voice Talent in various fiction, commercial and documentary productions (DirecTV, MTV, Tenaris University-Techint Group, and others).

He is a full professor at ISER (Instituto Superior de Enseñanza Radiofónica) and an independent media & comunication consultant.

Eduardo strongly believes that Radio can empower ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

Leslie Mullen is an award-winning media producer with extensive experience in multiple formats, including photojournalism, documentary video, radio, podcasts, television, and stage performances. Demonstrated success in communicating complex scientific concepts to diverse audiences. Proven ability to orchestrate high-profile events and collaborate effectively with teams to achieve project goals. Adept at streamlining processes and improving efficiency to deliver high-quality productions within budget and timeline constraints. Developed projects for NASA, PBS, and The National Geographic Channel, as well as many other platforms.

Previously, she was the writer, producer and host of the NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory podcast “On a Mission.” A science photojournalist for over 20 years, she also is a documentary filmmaker and was previously the producer for Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “StarTalk” podcast.

Mary O’Connell has been making documentaries for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for three decades.  But she got her start in radio, reading obituaries on-air, following the newscast.  (You’ve got to start somewhere).  Since then she has tackled subject matter as diverse as:  “Phallus in Wonderland:  A Cultural History of the Penis”, “In the Shadow of Charm City”, a devastating portrait of the legacy historical racism has left on the city of Baltimore and “Playdoh’s Republic: Children as Natural Philosophers”.  In the process she has garnered over 25 awards and distinctions, including over a dozen from the New York Radio Festivals, a Major Armstrong Award, a B’nai B’rith and accolades from the RTNDA and Canadian Association of Journalists.  Mary is also a mentor and editor – in her spare time.  

Helena O’Toole is an experienced and award-winning producer based in Dublin, Ireland. Helena currently works for Classic Hits and is the producer of the multi award-winning Niall Boylan Show. She produced a winning entry which took home Gold in the 2017 New York Festivals International Radio Awards for Best Regularly Scheduled talk show.

In 1979 she began her work in Radio Education, has produced more than 60 series, experimenting with all kinds of genres and formats.

She has worked for the public radio and commercial radio service, and is a trainer in the field of radio throughout the country.

She has been sworn in several radio competitions in Mexico and abroad. She has received national and international awards for her work in radio and theater.

Since 1991 she became involved in the performing arts by participating in more than 60 national and international festivals

I have eighteen years of multifaceted experience in audio pre and post production, and also have more than fourteen years of experience in Radio industry.  In these years my work has been recognized and were awarded from not only the world’s best Radio awards “New York Festivals” but also from the India Radio Forum, Golden Mikes Awards and ACEF. Out of them two were from the individual Sound Design Category.  All the show jingles and Rj Intros are produced by me.

I have also been instrumental in sound designs for TVC and dubbings for discovery in Hindi language.My broad skill encompass strong dubbing direction, music composing, arranging, recording,  Mixing & Mastering.  

Started my radio career in 2002 as a DJ with a renowned radio station in Delhi, moved on to become the Program director with Radio City91.1FM, Mumbai in 2009. Have been part of the Radio city family ever since. I now work in the capacity of Vice President & Programming director-west for Radio City. I head 11 markets including mumbai and Regional head- Audacity, creative solutions.

In all close to 22 years of experience in my favourite forever- Radio!

Amir Payam is an award-winning documentarian and broadcast journalist with BBC World Service. Currently based in Washington DC, Amir created and produced Chamedan (The Suitcase), a seasonal TV/Radio show focused on the Iranian diaspora. In 2014, The New York International Radio Festival awarded its World Silver Medal to Chamedan putting in its "World's Best Documentaries in 2013".

Amir initially showed interest in documentary making in 1992 when did a short doc on a leprosy village in the northwest of Iran

His last work, Chamedan 5th season aired in Jan 2022, is inspired by BLM and it includes 9 profiling documentaries featuring the lives and activism of Afro-Persians, an Iranian-American indigenous activist, and a Japanese-Persian actress who was once an orphan in the streets of Tehran.

HELEN QUIGLEY (Production Director, B7 Media) has more than nearly twenty years’ experience in producing audio for broadcast. 

As an audio drama producer for B7 Media, her credits include Theatre of the Damned - inspired by a true story about the birth of the Grand Guignol in 1920s Paris; The Space Race; Greenborne - a post-Covid radio soap opera; the Audible psychological thriller series The Effect; and for BBC Radio 4 the courtroom drama Barred and a modern dramatisation of the ancient Indian poem Mahabharata Now. Helen has also produced numerous audiobooks, including Marriage Bureau, Scimitar into Stanley and comic artist Dave Gibbon’s autobiography, Confabulation.

Other producer credits include national network radio promos for the BBC’s flagship TV programming, including Blue Planet II, Industry, Line of Duty, The Apprentice and Wild Isles and mastering for Fresh Air Production’s The Big Steal and Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place app.

Previously she was a Continuity Announcer and Producer for Comedy Central UK and in 2006 was also responsible for producing of the UK’s first branded comedy podcasts; Robin Ince’s Show and Tell and Utter Shambles.

In 2023, B7 Media launched Audioteria, a new purchase platform for the distribution of independently made audio drama.

 Indira Rangarajan, National Content Director, Mirchi, is a multiplatform content specialist with over 20 years’ experience in advertising, media & entertainment. She has been associated with Mirchi for over 15 years and has been instrumental in ushering in a new era of audio-video content and celebrity shows. She now handles digital content with Mirchi developing mobile friendly content formats which include podcasts, web-radio and video originals. This former creative director for leading advertising agencies like Ogilvy and Mather is extremely vociferous about women’s issues and strives to promote mental health awareness.

Australian writer and independent radio feature maker following a long creative career at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a highly-regarded producer and presenter across a range of innovative, specialist programs, including The Listening Room and Into the Music. She has collaborated with composers, performers, writers, sound artists and musicians to create unique radio works for these shows and mentored emerging radio creators and artists in residence.

Recipient of international and national awards, including New York Radio Festivals Silver and Bronze awards, the Australian Human Rights & Equal Opportunities Commission Radio Award and the United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Prize for Radio.

Mariana has a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Sciences, graduated from the University of Buenos Aires.
She’s been Head of Marketing at Radio Mitre for the past three and a half years, working for all its brands and products. She´s been in the business for more than 15 years in marketing and communication areas in large companies (Citibank, British American Tobacco, Cencosud) and advertising agencies (J. Walter Thompson).

After almost 30 years travelling round the world attempting to entertain the British Armed Forces I decided to leave my job as Head of BFBS Radio UK to give myself a new challenge.  I'm now in the process of writing the book that all of us think is in us somewhere, and I'm hoping that I'm not one of those for whom that book should have remained buried!  

Of course, I haven't left radio behind - who could?!  I was very lucky to be offered a place at a very special radio station, Care Radio.  The station has been set up to surprise, delight and inform care workers across the UK.  From top flight surgeons in the NHS to unpaid carers caring for a relative at home and all points in between in the private care sector, these extraordinary people now have their own station, and one that I'm proud to call home as a presenter and producer.  I'm very lucky to be able to choose what I do with my time, and am only selecting projects that make me happy and fulfilled.  Having the honour to serve as a judge on the New York Radio Awards Grand Jury for a third year is one of those experiences.

Jamie Ryan, a BBC radio producer and journalist from the UK.

Nicolás Harry Salvarrey is an Argentinian radio journalist, producer and works as a co-host in Perros de la Calle, Urbana Play 104.3. He also writes about beer, food and lifestyle as a freelancer.

An astute media professional with an insightful & cross cultural work experience of more than 18 years, comprising of Radio, Television, Digital Marketing & Events. Expertise in revenue optimization through branded content and creative client solutions.

Previously, Vice President, Radio City (Dainik Jagran)

Abhishek Sharrma is one of India’s most applauded Audio Programmers. His work saluting the Indian forces, shows on polio awareness, menstrual hygiene, organ donation and more are awarded at the New York festivals, India Radio Forum, Golden Mikes, ACEF and Radio Duniya awards. His recent work is for the Art of Living Radio that was set up, launched worldwide during the pandemic by the Global ambassador of peace Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. An expert with branded content, Abhishek currently head Bhopuwala and provides top class audio solutions to Radio Stations/Podcasters/other businesses worldwide.

Helen is an awarding winning producer/director and has been a judge with the New York Radio Festival since 2013. She runs Athena Media, in Ireland, a digital and broadcast storytelling agency, and Athena Media has previously won the Grand Award, six Gold, 2 Silver and a Bronze for its work at the New York Radio Festival. Athena Media has also been a multiple awardee at both the Celtic Media Festival Awards and the Irish Radio Awards. Helen is a graduate of UCD, DCU and was a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University at the International Affairs Centre. She has worked as a news reporter with the Irish Times, a current affairs producer with RTE and she was editor news and current affairs at BBC Northern Ireland before taking up the post as Head of RTE Radio. RTE is Ireland's public broadcasting service. She ran RTE Radio for five years, launching RTE Lyric fm and leading the digital transformation before taking the sabbatical at Harvard University and post that she set up Athena Media. Athena Media creates award winning podcasts and runs Podcasting Ireland. Some of its recent work includes a new transmedia project called Mother's Blood, Sister Songs www.mothersbloodsistersongs.com exploring the intricate relationship between Ireland and Iceland, through story and song. Helen sits on the board of Arts Council Ireland and is a member of the Royal Irish Academy's Social Sciences Committee. 

Des Shaw is Co-founder and Director of Ten Alps Radio, a multi-format independent radio production company based in London, England. Des has over 35 years experience programming radio stations and producing multi-format projects for clients including the BBC, Austereo, Sky, BP, Orange, O2, Capital Radio, Xfm, Channel 4, Absolute Radio, SiriusXM and Universal Music. Ten Alps Radio has won numerous international broadcast awards for projects featuring a diverse range of presenters including Johnny Depp, Bono, Antonio Banderas, Susan Sarandon, Jerry Hall, Cameron Crowe, Tony Visconti, Deborah Harry, John Sebastian and Anthony Daniels. Ten Alps is now re-branded as Zinc Media.

Award winning producer, Peter started out at the BBC as a producer for the highly acclaimed programme Outlook and is now founder of C60Media. Production has taken Peter around the world for stories in South East Asia, Central Europe, America and Africa. Recently, Peter returned from The Arctic circle reporting on The Polar Silk Road for BBC World Service. 

Mikyung Shin is the executive producer at Busan English Broadcasting Foundation(BeFm), the one and only English Radio Broadcasting in Busan, South Korea.

She has been a dedicated member of the broadcasting field since 1996, at first as a host for various shows across television and the radio in TBC, UBC and TBN in South Korea

She began her tenure at BeFM as a producer, in charge of programs spanning various genres, from news to entertainment.

Mikyung has also created many radio documentaries on multiple issues. She has received the Gold Award at the 2018 New York Festival International Radio Program Award.

Theo SHUM is currently the executive producer and the programme host of two radio programmes broadcasting 6 days a week on Radio 1, RTHK.  He possesses experience across multiple platforms: from a TV journalist to a web broadcast manager and now a radio producer.  Theo is interested particularly in cross media productions and his innovations gained him awards in International Digital Emmy Awards, AIB International Media Excellence Award, and etc.

Theo has been teaching Broadcasting in Hong Kong Baptist University since 2011; aiming at nurturing new talents in this rapid changing and converging media environment.

Lou is Vice President, Music Programming at SiriusXM Radio. He has been on the air and in management of radio stations across America, as well as hosting syndicated shows. At SiriusXM, he builds and oversees channels in various genres and hosts a weekly talk show about pop music.

Fyona Smith is the Managing Editor at Today FM for Bauer Media Audio Ireland, leading talent development and content strategy for Today FM’s Music and Entertainment portfolio.

An industry leader in the Irish and Australian audio markets, Fyona has held national roles in driving Audio Innovation, content creation and industry practices, with a focus on premium live content and podcasts.

Before joining Bauer Media, Fyona was the Head of Radio & Podcasting at AFTRS, developing industry training at a national and international level. 

Earlier in her career Fyona was the National Network Music Director at Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) Triple M Regional, where she was responsible for the music strategy for 34+ stations and delivering specialised shows.

Fyona is an award-winning radio programmer and has been a New York Festival Grand Jury Member for five years.

Jennifer Stayton holds a Master’s Degree in Radio-Television-Film from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. She has worked in radio for over 25 years. Since 2004, she has been the local host of National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” on KUT 90.5 FM in Austin, Texas.

Ken Sweeney is the Showbiz Editor for The Irish Sun and has been an independent radio documentary maker working with RTE Radio in Ireland. His first doc, an RTE Radio Doc One One, 'Michael Jackson's Irish Driver' won an Irish PPI Radio Award and was a finalist in the New York Festivals in 2014. Since then his music docs on artists including influential Scottish band The Blue Nile have aired on RTE Radio, BBC Radio 6 Music, and CBC. His latest RTE music doc 'REM Out Of Athens' won Silver at the 2018 New York Festivals. An ex-musician, he is a regular contributor to Irish radio as Irish Showbiz Writer 2016 and 2018 at the Irish Newspaper awards ENDS.

Responsible for the production of over 200 professional sports broadcasts per year Documentary Producer/Writer: programs include: Kraftwork: 25 Years of Patriots Ownership Rough Injustice: the Story of the 1976 New England Patriots Too Many Memories: the Bruins-Canadiens Rivalry All In: the Cam Neely Story Call to the Hall: the Willie McGinest Story Gil & Gino Behind the Mic Hail McHale: the Kevin McHale Story Number 33: the Larry Bird Story

Choon-ping Teoh is the Associate Director for Programme Quality Control at Rediffusion and also the Soundscaping Engineer at Eeva Productions. Ping managed to clinch the Best Sound Gold Award for his international debut with the New York Festivals World's Best Radio Programs.

Ping graduated with a Bachelor of Audio Production at SAE Institute Perth, Australia in 2013.

Alison Toomey is a Producer/Director/Co-founder at Real Films TV & Radio Production Company in Ireland. Real Films TV/Radio Production Company & Radio work has been awarded six IFTA nominations (Irish Film & Television Awards) and has won three IFTA s. Alison's radio work has won a Gold Medal at the New York Festivals 'World’s Best Radio Programs' in the 'Best International Educational Documentary' category and achieved two finalist certificates. Real Films specialize in producing high-end documentaries in Film, Television and Radio. Alison Toomey has been a Grand Jury member at the New York Festivals 'World’s Best Radio Programs' International Radio awards festival for the last five years. You can listen to Alison's work on https://soundcloud.com/alison-toomey-ireland “Being a Grand Jury Member for the World’s Best Radio Awards is now part of my working calendar. I absolutely love it! I get to listen to radio producers work from all over the world. I always learn so much

Mark Travis has over 20 years of experience in the music industry as a writer, producer, broadcaster, lecturer, and audio engineer. He is currently Managing Consultant of Media Production to the New York Philharmonic. Since 2011, he had been the Associate Director of Media Production for the New York Philharmonic and was Director of Media Production.  He produced the orchestra's broadcasts since 2003. Mark has also served as a writer and producer for Chicago’s WFMT Radio Network where he wrote and produced over 800 nationally syndicated programs--notably the Bucksbaum Family Lyric Opera of Chicago broadcasts. As a freelance producer, he has produced English-language broadcasts for the Berlin Philharmonic, The Suisse Romande Orchestra, the Bavarian State Opera, the Bavarian Radio Symphony, and the Milwaukee Symphony. Mr. Travis also has an extensive discography as a music-producer that ranges from recordings by the New York Philharmonic to recordings by William Warfield, Jenny Lin, Jeffrey Siegel, Susan Merdinger, Maria-Luisa Rayan-Forero and the Chicago Chorale for Deutsche Grammophon, Naxos

Juan Villalba is director of Radio U of the National University of Cuyo, one of the largest public universities in Argentina. He has more than twenty-five years of experience in the media and radio is his main love. He understands that radio is a stage where literature, theater and music are mixed. In his professional career, he has received numerous awards. He was a four-time finalist at the New York Radio Festival. In 2018 he won the Silver Award with his documentary "Grandma". In addition, he won two Martín Fierro Awards, the most important award for the media in his country.

Stephanie Welch is Senior Producer at the nonprofit Bioneers, and since 2004, has produced its award-winning syndicated program Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature. She is also a filmmaker. Welch directed and produced the recently released documentary film A Dangerous Idea: Eugenics, Genetics and the American Dream.

Will is one of BBC network radio’s youngest producers. Having secured several programme commissions for Asian Network he is now one of the creative leads at the forefront of redesigning the network for a new generation of listeners. He has presented and produced in commercial stations as well as across the BBC. His work in both entertainment and documentary radio has seen him win Sony Radio Awards, New York Radio Awards, Gillards, two nominations for the Radio Academy’s Producer of the Year and, in each of the last three years, he been named as one of the Radio Academy’s 30 under 30. 

Megan Williams is a Canadian Rome-based foreign correspondent, writer, and radio documentary producer who can be heard regularly on CBC, Deutsche Welle, PRI-BBC's The World and other outlets around the world. Megan has reported from throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe. International recognition for her work includes numerous N Y Festivals awards including two Golds; a James Beard Award for best radio broadcast, a Gabriel Award and second place in Prix Italia for Works on Music. For the past several years, Megan has headed the jury and co-produced the Italian Golden Globe film awards. She is the author of the story collection Saving Rome.

Andrew Wright started his career in the radio and television industry working in some of the world's most dangerous locations as a news sound recordist. He spent 10 years as a broadcaster and latterly programme producer where he developed his production and media management expertise working with programmers, advertisers, official regulators, and talented broadcasters. His company. Wright Communicators, now helps broadcasters develop content, and businesses communicate their brand, marketing and training messages. Andrew’s diverse and valuable experience has also led him to become a leading trainer in creative, personal communication, technical and management disciplines as well as soft skills development. Areas of specialty, past, and present. TV and Radio Broadcaster Broadcasting resources Manager Commercial Copy Writer Professional trainer. (Advert and promotional writing, Digital production, talent development, Core skill development, Business skills.) Company Man

I describe myself as a Creative Artist and Content producer because  my work is divided between Radio, Fine Art and Music and Web Content creation.

I have  produced and presented  two hours of radio on the Arts  for over 20 years on my show Arts Canvass on Bay FM 99.9 in Byron Bay in Australia. I have also written and  produced  a number of radio documentaries including ‘Memories of Sarajevo which won me the Bronze medal  from New York Festivals World’s Best Radio .

I founded the website  The Narratives Library which contains hundreds of authors,  reading from their own work for just 5 minutes which was awarded the Hermes Gold Award for Web Design.

I am also a  professional Fine Artist and  songwriter and composer and my music  has been used in hundreds of T.V shows and documentary films.

I originally trained as an  independent filmmaker and still make   short films for competitions and performances.

I consider it a privilege and a joy to be on the judging panel as the range of wonderful  work produced by presenters from all over the world is such an inspiration.

Iris is an award-winning broadcaster with decades of experience in launching, refreshing and sustaining programs, and a passion for mentoring the next generation of storytellers. She is inspired every day by the creativity and dedication of her colleagues at CBC and at other public broadcasters around the world.

Carole Zimmer is the host of the podcast “Now What?” about big life decisions, transitions and how you navigate all those curves in the road. She worked at Bloomberg Multimedia as a digital video and television producer as well as a radio reporter for 15 years and is the recipient of numerous awards including the Edward R. Murrow award for her radio documentary “Stalking a Silent Killer.” Before joining Bloomberg, Ms. Zimmer worked at NPR and the CBS and NBC radio networks. She has been a contributor to the New York Times, Washington Post, Harper’s and other publications.

Sue Zizza is a transmedia producer, director, writer, and sound designer. Sue is the owner of both SueMedia Productions, a full service audio production company, and also Radio Waves Studios, a premiere audio facility capturing and producing sound for all media: Audiobooks, TV, Film,VR. Etc.

Sue has produced award winning audio fiction for public radio, audiobooks, and podcasts for more than 3 decades. Her work has been honored by The Audies (9 nominations, two wins); The Gabriel’s; The International Festival of New York; The National Federation of Community Broadcasters; and the Communicator Awards. In 2021 Sue received the Norman Corwin Award for Excellence in Audio Theater for her many achievements in producing audio fiction. Sue’s sound clients have also included: Cleo TV, PBS, Audible, Blackstone, Macmillan Audio, and USA Networks Scy-FiChannel.

From 1996 -2008 she served as the Executive Director of the National Audio Theatre Festivals (NATF) – an audio arts training organization.  In 2013 Sue co-founded with NATF, the HEAR Now Festival.

When she’s not producing and directing, Sue specializes in and manual SFX (Foley) effects for audio productions, film, television and the stage. Sue also teaches audio arts and sound production at New York University’s Kanbar Institute for Film and Television at the Tisch School of the Arts.

With an early introduction to music and storytelling by his older siblings, Tim was intrigued by rhythm and the spoken word from an early age. As an award winning radio programmer, Tim is an active audio ambasador and media mentor. Innovation and creativity drive Tim's unique training, coaching and mentoring of media professionals. A lover of all things retro, Tim loves reading, social tennis and travelling.