How my events have evolved since 2022
On July 15th 2022, I hosted my first Podcast Mixer.
It was such an experiment that it wasn’t even called a “Podcast Mixer.” It was called something else.
Based on the encouragement from multiple people that attended that event, I rushed to host another Podcast Mixer. I reached out to my friend, Stew, and then we soon had an event scheduled on the calendar. Boom!
That night with Stew and friends was so special. Someone told me that they stayed up late that night writing because they were inspired from the event. It felt like I was on to something… I had fun. I was quirky. I was playful. I felt alive!
So, I wanted to keep hosting more Podcast Mixers.
The momentum for my then-monthly events was growing organically. I kept things very grassroots. I never posted an RSVP link on social media or anything like that. It was curated and invite-only. I was working remotely at the time and these events were so generative for me socially, at the event and beyond. I noticed that when you invite people to events, you get invited to more events too.
Early 2023
Going into 2023, my then perceived limiting factor was finding a high-profile and interesting speaker to build a custom event around… and for them to come to an apartment in Brooklyn. I got lucky and produced Podcast Mixers with legends like Mari Andrew, Katherine Morgan Schafler, and Steve Schlafman to name a few.
In the summer of 2023, a new format emerged unexpectedly. A planned speaker had a family emergency and I scrambled to figure something out. A new “short story” Podcast Mixer format emerged. This new format opened up a lot of possibilities. Instead of trying to get an event scheduled with one inspiring speaker, I could instead pick a topic, invite people to the event, and then ask a few people already planning to attend to speak. This made it easier for me to host these events, and host them more frequently. And so I did!
At one point, I was hosting Podcast Mixers effectively weekly.
Early 2024
Going into 2024, this pace felt unsustainable, and I was feeling a lot of momentum though too. Around this time, it also felt like there was a proliferation of other in-person event focused community builders in New York.
So in March 2024, I decided to host a mini-conference for these community builders and creators. It was the gathering that I needed and wanted, and I couldn’t find it elsewhere. This event called “C3” turned into a vortex event for me. It became a specific focus and North Star for me in 2024. I ended up hosting 4 C3 mini conferences in 2024. It led to the community and connection that I was seeking.
A New Format
In the summer of 2024, I stumbled into a new Podcast Mixer event format called a Hot Pod. This “record a podcast as a group and then eat dinner” event worked well. It was easier to produce too, mostly because the event was limited to around 10 people. It also allowed me to participate at the event, compared to being on “host mode” at a ~20 person Podcast Mixer.
End of 2024 and Early 2025
Towards the end of 2024 and heading into 2025, I was looking for a new spark. As you can likely pick up on from this post, hosting events and related experiments has been a helpful way for me to find or pursue a “life spark.” So I decided to see if I could experiment and grow with the proven mini-conference format!
In March 2025, I partnered with Terry Rice on a mini-conference and have also hosted two topic-focused mini conferences since then. Once again, these events are events that I wish existed and ones that I can’t find elsewhere. While a collective momentum and North Star may not have emerged like it did with C3, I keep learning something new each time and people say great things about the events.
Here is a timeline of my events and experiments:
It’s been an incredible journey of hosting 75+ Podcast Mixers and related events over the last 3 years. I wanted to write this post to reflect, process, and document my journey (so far). Thank you to everyone who has participated or attended one of these events. “You are awesome” :)
Event questions on my mind now:
what feels impactful?
where do I have natural tailwinds and momentum?
what events would I want to attend, that I could host?
what events have product-market-fit in 2025?
NYC Events - my NYC Gatherings calendar is updated!
New Podcast Episode
Speaking of events and mini-conferences, this episode on Standing Out was recorded at my recent Build Your Business or Brand mini conference with Phil and Xandie.
In this episode, you will learn about how Phil has focused on delivering a measurable difference compared to his peers. He learned about this by talking to prior customers, current clients, and prospective clients… which is brilliant! You will learn about how Xandie got started with her consulting business by texting someone she used to work with.
To hosting events,
@David Nebinski your events are amazing! This guy knows what he’s talking about.
You are so cool. I am so impressed by your ability to come up with ideas and execute on them so consistently. Keep up the amazing work!! Can’t wait for my next David event