Press Credentials for the Press Credentials: What Fanatics Fest Taught Me About Access
My podcast got me a seat.
Press Credentials for the Press Credentials: What Fanatics Fest Taught Me About Access
My podcast got me a seat.
I spent three days at Fanatics Fest in NYC as credentialed press — and I got that credential because of a podcast I started talking about a 2017 panel.
On How I Got There
Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation has been building for six years — a Top 20 Women’s Empowerment Podcast, Top 5% of over 4 million podcasts worldwide. That track record is what opened the door to Fanatics Fest as press. Not a pitch deck. Not a cold email. The body of work did the talking.
“Press credentials get you only so far. Sometimes you need press credentials for the press credentials.”
On What I Chose
LeBron James is what drew me there — Mind The Game, his conversation with Tyrese Haliburton on the mental side of the sport.
But once inside, I made my own calls about where my time went. A Seat At The Table: The Future of Women’s Sports Ownership — Taylor Rooks, Tom Brady, Lindsey Vonn, Candace Parker, Serena Williams, James Harden — overlapped with The Shop.
I chose the room built around women with a stake in sports ownership, without hesitation.
On the Table Within the Table
Even with press credentials in hand, spaces like the 40/40 Club and the CNBC Sport x Boardroom activations required additional access on top of what I already had. Layered exclusivity, inside an event that otherwise skewed toward kids and families.
Here’s what I kept coming back to: 40/40 is Jay-Z’s club. Jay is 50+. So is the CEO of Roc Nation. The most exclusive table in the building was built and run by people my age.
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On Why This Matters for Podcasters
If you’re building a podcast and wondering whether the numbers matter — they do. Not because a big audience is the goal in itself, but because consistency and credibility compound.
My podcast is the credential. It’s the thing that gets me past the first door. What I do once I’m through it — which rooms I choose, which conversations I prioritize — that’s still on me.
It’s also why I stream my own panel-style conversations every Thursday on WOC Live — the same energy I felt watching Fanatics Fest panels unfold live, I try to bring to my own audience weekly, on YouTube.
“We’re not asking for a seat. We’re already qualified for the room.”
Build the thing. Let it open doors you can’t yet see. Then choose wisely once you’re through them.
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About the Author
Deneen L. Garrett is a Cultural Alchemist; Speaker, Writer, Podcaster. WOC Live is the live extension of Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation — a Top 20 Women’s Empowerment Podcast · Top 5% of 4M+ podcasts worldwide · YouTube U.S. Top 1% · Global Top 8.5% · 160K+ combined monthly reach. Watch WOC Live streams every Thursday at 1PM ET on YouTube → youtube.com/@DeneenLGarrett.
Follow Deneen: deneenlgarrett.com