The End of the Road?

April 2012

Well, here we are at the end of our journey.  How time flies when you're having fun.

My work based learning has been an absolute pleasure to undertake and has taught me some very valuable lessons and skills that I'm sure will be utilised in my future career.
These include (but are not limited to):

• Planning, delivering and evaluating events
• Communication 
• Research techniques
• Acting as ambassador for The BBC
• Editing
• Interviewing techniques
• Interpersonal and organisational skills
• Time management skills...........

• ..............and finally, working with children 

I have also recently undertaken training to operate the BBC Big Screen in Clayton Square, Liverpool and Exchange Square in Manchester.  This comprised a three day training course at Media City in Salford covering the following:

• Editorial compliance
• Health and safety
• Technical set up and operation

I am happy to say that I am still volunteering at BBC Radio Merseyside as Up For Arts Researcher and continue my employment as a duty manager at The Citadel Arts Centre.  I would love to further develop a career in broadcasting and this experience has opened up many possibilities which I intend to pursue fully.

I'm also thrilled to report that we have secured funding for Up For Arts until 2013. (Due in part I'm sure to my hard work and diligence compiling the end of year report!)

Finally, I would like to thank you for taking the time to join me on my journey of work-based learning.

It's been emotional.

                                                                       

The BBC Bus goes to Sankey

March 2012

Today we held a promotional event for Roger Phillips' forthcoming outside broadcast in Sankey.  As discussed in an earlier blog, we have already successfully held one of these events in Ainsdale last month.  The purpose of today was to raise awareness of the event to ensure that the forthcoming event was well attended.  The BBC Bus was taken to Sankey and parked in a central location for the day.

The primary objective was to engage with members of the public and to invite them along.
Many passing members of the public were curious about why the bus was there and ventured aboard to talk with us.  We also had promotional merchandise on board the bus which was generously distributed to members of the public.

We also visited (on foot) a number local churches, shops and community centres who were very interested and agreed to display promotional posters within their premises.

Overall I feel that today was very successful having generated a lot of interest and awareness.

I developed my interpersonal and communication skills by engaging with members of the public and local businesses.  It was  essential to be enthusiastic about the event and also to be able to accurately answer  specific questions regarding the event when asked.

Pictured below - The BBC Bus

Roger Phillips goes to Ainsdale

February 2012

Today saw the first of a series of Roger Phillips' outside broadcasts.  This is a recent initiative to attract new listeners from areas where our listener figures are low. Today's event was broadcast from Ainsale Methodist Church.

I was responsible for distributing BBC Radio Merseyside merchandise, photography and speaking with members of the public.  During the event, Roger's producer asked me if I would also assume responsibility for monitoring and distributing any email communications received from listeners in response to the show.

I had to manage my time effectively so that I could complete all tasks whilst regularly monitoring the BBC email account for incoming emails.  Also I had to answer questions from potential new listeners so I had to ensure that I was knowledgeable of the different programming slots and presenters.  Memory  and interpersonal were put to the test.  In addition my time managment was crucial in ensuring we had a quick turnaround following completion of the event (packing photography and merchandising material and assiting with technical duties).

Overall, I feel it was a very beneficial day as we sucessfully raised our profile and gained a few new listeners along the way.

I later received an email from both Roger Phillips and Mick Ord the Managing Editor, thanking me for my help and assistance during the day.

Valentine's Event at The Walker Art Gallery

February 2012

As Valentine's Day was just around the corner, Helen tasked me with sourcing a Valentine themed guest.  I was aware that The Walker Art Gallery were hosting a card making event and I duly ventured there with the BBC Radio Merseyside flash microphone.  I had arranged to meet with the event organiser to complete a brief interview and hoped to speak with a few members of the public also.

The event was well attended and I had to consider where would be most suitable for me to complete the interviews.  I have learned that ambient noise can be both positive and negative in terms of interviewing and recording.  Also it is sometimes difficult to gauge whether a room is too 'echoey' and also to be aware of people in the vicinity (people wheeling away trollies of crockery, crying children, etc.)  Therefore I opted to move slightly away from 'the hub' of the activities and into an adjacent gallery space where myself and the organiser completed a brief interview.
I then moved into the event space and asked a few parents and their children if it would be ok to ask them a few questions.  People were very keen to be interviewed, especially the children! 

It was of paramount importance that permission was sought from the children's parent or guardian before approachng a child and this was a primary consideration for me due to safeguarding issues.

Who was it that said 'don't work with children or animals'?  Following my experiences today I would be very much inclined to agree.  Ok, so there were no animals but my communication skills were certainly tested.  It is difficult enough getting an adult to answer my question with the actual question first (ie, 'what is your name?'....'my name is Nat.') but the children were a whole new ball game altogether.  I had to adapt my style very much and consider how they were likely to respond if I asked them to talk about something specific from the days event.  Thankfully (after a few minutes of trial and error) it worked a treat!

When it came to editing, my technical skills were challenged as I had not previously worked with more than three audio files - I had a total of ten from todays event.  With a few questions and a little perseverence, I completed the edit and managed to learn a few 'tricks' on the Radioman software that I will certainly retain for use at a later date.

I think that should I ever be required to interview children again, I have developed efficient communication methods to get the results I need, first time.  Also I am thrilled to have gained some new skills on the BBC's editing software and hopefully these will benefit me in editing future bulletins.

The interview and the edit were a roaring successs and even featured on Simon Hoban's drive time show the following week as part of his Valentine's day show.

Media Trust Sessions

January 2012

We regularly hold activities and events in the performance space at BBC Radio Merseyside.  These can be anything from photography lessons to Christmas card making.

As part of January's themed month which was 'volunteeer month' we asked a representative from The Media Trust to host two sessions teaching local voluntary arts and crafts groups how to prepare press releases, and maximise the potential of social networking.

I contacted local arts and crafts groups and invited them along to the event. Obviously it was necessary to promote the potential benefits of the course in order to gain people's interest.  This certainly developed my communication skills as the target audience was diverse, ranging from professional organisers to O.A.P.s running a local knitting club. This meant I had to alter my 'sales pitch' accordingly.

On the day of the first event, I was tasked with introducing the event and explaining health and safety issues.  Again, my communication and interpersonal skills were put to the test.  Also as the performance space at BBC Radio Merseyside is a public space, it was important to ensure that members of the public entering the building did not disturb the event.  It was necessary to advise members of the public entering the building that an event was in progress.  This seemed of no concern to one particular gentleman who had been visiting the BBC shop and attempted to disrupt the event.  It took all of my persuasive, interpersonal and communication skills to get him to leave the building, much to the admiration of my colleagues.

Here and Now at The Citadel

January 2012

At The Citadel this evening was 1970s psychedelic rock band Here and Now.  This event had proved to be very popular and was a sell-out event.  During my duty-management experiences at The Citadel I have learned that certain genres of music often attract a certain type of audience.  I have learned that is necessary to consider this when preparing to duty manage as it important to inform staff of any potential problems they might encounter and to put procedures in place to deal with these should they arise.

Throughout the evening I was present in the auditorium, overseeing the general running of the event and maintaing radiio contact with other staff.  There were two incidents where it was necesary to remove patrons from the building, however all staff were especially vigilant.  The safety of both staff and patrons is paramount at every event and some events such as this prove to be more of a challenge than others.

Whilst I found duty-managing this event to be quite a challenge, it taught me a number of lessons.
It helped to further develop my observation skills as it was imperative that I was vigilant at all times and able to respond to problems quickly and efficiently.  Also I developed my communication skills as it was important that I was able to communicate clearly to staff to advise them of any change to procedures or threats to general safety.

Up For Arts End of Year Report

December 2011

The Up For Arts project is funded by Voluntary Arts England and Liverpool Primary Care Trust.  As is the case for many organisations in this current climate, funding is regularly being withdrawn and therefore it is essential that we demonstrate the fantastic work that Up For Arts has achieved during 2011 in order to try to secure funding for another year.

Laraine Winning who heads the project at Voluntary Arts England had requested that we begin to compile all of our achievements during 2011 in the form of an end of year report highlighting our successes.

Fortunately my organisation skills were up to scratch and we consequently we had full details of all monthly events held during 2011, including feedback forms, photographs and case study examples.

In order to ensure that the report was detailed but punchy, I sought to discuss the more successful of our events (where we had received excellent feedback and had photographic evidence of the success of the event).  The compilation of the report was a particularly lengthy process and involved a lot of liaising with both Laraine and Helen.

Ensuring that you are organised is vital when compiling reports such as this.  It was necessary to be able to access all information 'at the drop of a hat' and to have full knowledge of the dates, locations and type of events held.  My time management skills were also put to the test as the report was required within a tight timescale (as is often the case for these things).

With collaboration from both Helen and Laraine, the report was duly finalised and forwarded to the relevant parties for their consideration.  Watch this space for news regarding whether funding has been successful...