Communication Department Chair Brad Bond Featured at Hot Pod Summit in Los Angeles
Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication Brad Bond, PhD, was a featured presenter at the 2022 Hot Pod Summit held on November 3 at KCRW in Los Angeles. The exclusive business summit brought together key industry decision-makers and leading voices in podcasting for a full day of interactive dialogues.
Dr. Bond joined The Verge’s Ariel Shapiro onstage for a session titled, "Why Your Favorite Podcaster Feels Like a Friend." The session focused on Dr. Bond’s research investigating audiences’ parasocial relationships with media personae.
As defined by Dr. Bond, “Parasocial relationships are one-sided social and emotional bonds that audiences develop with celebrities and fictional characters, such that people we only know from media seem like friends.” Bond was invited to speak on the unique affordances of audio media to create and alter parasocial relationships between podcasters and listeners.
Dr. Bond also shared the value of academic voices at industry events. "Connecting my scholarly research to the media industry through presentation, consulting, and networking opportunities is incredibly important to me,” said Bond. “Industry decision-makers and creatives can transform our academic research into actionable steps to better the media landscape, and we as academics can learn so much from understanding the perspectives and experiences of those working in the industry. Events like the Hot Pod Summit that invite scholars to be part of the conversation are vital to building these relationships and I was beyond pleased to be a part of that."
The exclusive summit was a precursor to The Verge’s On Air Fest held throughout Los Angeles on November 4 and 5. Other panelists at the Hot Pod Summit included Tommy Vietor, Founder of Crooked Media; Julie McNamara, Head of Talk Studios at Spotify; and Sarah Penna, Head of Creator Partnerships at Patreon.
For more information about Dr. Bond’s research, visit www.bradleyjbond.com.