The Podcast & Portable Media Expo today announced that Grape Radio and Leo Laporte, right, are the 2006 recipients of the conference’s “Podcast of the Year” and “Person of the Year in Podcasting” awards, respectively. Winners will be recognized at a special reception next Friday, September 29, 2006 at 5 p.m. at the Ontario Marriott.

Grape Radio, Podcast of the Year, was launched in January 2005, and provides wine enthusiasts with interviews, wine news, and industry trends. People involved in its creation inclulde Brian Clark, Co-Host; Eric Anderson, Co-Host/Editor; and Michael Geoghegan, creator. The 2005 “Podcast of the Year” recipient was Eat Feed.

Leo Laporte, Person of the Year in Podcasting, hosts and produces several podcasts, including This Week in Tech (TWiT), Security Now!, Inside the Net, The Daily Giz Wiz, and FLOSS Weekly.

“The magic of podcasting is that it gives everyone a chance to be heard,” Laporte said. “It’s not about any one person, or any dozen podcasts, it’s about the birth of a new medium that gives us all a voice.”

Laporte will also deliver one of the keynote addresses at the Expo next Friday morning.

The 2005 “Person of the Year” recipient was Doug Kaye of the IT Conversations Network (now part of GigaVox Media).

Winners receive $1,000 cash, a Marantz PMD670 portable digital recorder courtesy of Marantz Professional, and Super.fi 5 Pro earphones courtesy of Ultimate Ears.

The Podcast & Portable Media Expo will take place Sept. 29-30 at the Ontario Convention center.