I wrote a little something about what I got up to yesterday, and I thought I'd share it with you... So here it is!
ON THE ISLAND AT METRO RADIO
I was one of the
lucky ones to get a place on the ‘How To Get Into Radio’ workshop at Metro
Radio in Newcastle, after seeing the opportunity on GoThinkBig. I live in
Cumbria, so I made a special trip over to Geordieland on the 22nd
May for the workshop, and it didn’t disappoint.
So, when I arrived
at Metro Radio I stood for a while in the reception area. There was an obvious
gathering of the other people who were going to the workshop, but I didn’t
introduce myself then. I stood and observed my surroundings for the ten minutes
while we waited, not wanting to dive straight into a conversation about
university with strangers! Especially seeing as I don’t go to university and I am
not going to, so what would I have had to add to the conversation?
I looked round when I heard my name spoken suddenly by the receptionist, but alas, it was a different Zoë she was talking about - one that worked there. Not long after that we were collected and all piled into the lift to the second floor. A couple of jokes were exchanged to fill the somewhat awkward silence; “this is the most people we’ve ever had in this lift” and “I should do one of those fifty things you should do in an elevator”, the latter of which I thought sounded far too American. After all, we were smack bang in the middle of Newcastle.
When all ten of us escaped the lift - eight workshop attendees, the member of staff escorting us and an overwhelmed delivery man with some boxes - we were faced with a corridor that led to the offices. The office was massive, bigger than the office at CFM Radio and the soundproof studios were lined up along the back wall looking very snazzy and hi-tech! I spotted Micky who I’d worked with in news when I did work experience with CFM Radio, but I didn’t particularly want to yell “Hello!” across the sprawling office! In fact, I hadn’t even said anything yet, still a bit nervous and taking it all in.
I silently cursed
myself for rushing to get something to eat before I arrived, because before the
workshop got underway we were presented with the Holy Grail of sandwich
displays, complete with crisps and some delicious looking cakes (which I
unfortunately ended up on the opposite end of the table to). And so began the routine of passing around
disposable plates and napkins emblazoned with the catering company’s logo,
politely taking only a small amount of crisps and longingly eying up the tuna
and cucumber sandwiches that were just that little bit too far away.
Then came the inevitable - the ‘what brings you here’ conversations. I immediately dreaded somebody asking me - it seemed like everyone here was of university stock, or was planning on going. What was I supposed to say? I was the odd one out. I was alright when Justin, the Head of News got there and began the workshop, asking us all to introduce ourselves officially. “My name’s Zoë and I’ve not gone to university” I said. “I finished my A Levels last summer and I’m trying to get into media in a different, non-degree way. I’ve done some work experience with CFM and I’m involved with the local radio.” That’s what I said; well, words to that effect anyway. I didn’t mention my book and self-publishing and all that - I suppose it wasn’t really relevant.
I didn’t say much
else during the workshop, preferring to sit and listen, observe and soak it all
in. I wrote plenty of notes as Justin went through his very cleverly animated
slideshow. Actually, there was some really fantastic animation; everything was
all there on the first slide in little bubbles of tiny writing, which it zoomed
into and then back out again and into a different part. I do like a bit of
PowerPoint, so that fascinated me and I had to remember to pay attention to the
‘how to get into radio’ tips! There were loads! Some I was already familiar with,
either through previous work experience and advice, transferable skills from my
attempts to get my writing career off the ground and a little bit of common
sense as well. I did learn some valuable things though, things specific to
applications for jobs in radio, and things I just hadn’t heard before. Things
like sending audio samples in - record yourself reading a news bulletin instead
of doing an interview so there’s more of you,
sending about three to four minutes of audio and putting the best stuff at the
beginning to keep them listening, as well as sending small attachments with
emails so as not to clog up their inbox and make your email a prime target for
deletion! Justin recommended doing a short CV, not too flashy or dense with
text and two A4 pages at most. Another interesting idea was to get in touch
with radio stations about your ideas for a story or feature, because if it’s
interesting and you’re enthusiastic, there’s a good chance you’ll be invited
for a chat. And that’s your ‘foot in the door’ so to speak, which is where it
all begins.
That was the basic
message of the workshop I think - keep going, keep trying, don’t get
disheartened if people say no, get your name out there, get experience and be
yourself. It all sounds easy when you put it like that, doesn’t it?
Well, I was really
quite inspired by the whole thing. Justin told us about where he started in
hospital radio, his lucky break and his experiences at Capital and Magic FM.
Then we were shown around the place - various studios for various things, loads
of people working away at all the desks and we even popped in to see the
presenter who was currently broadcasting live. Well, obviously he wasn’t
actually speaking to however many million people at the time, he was playing a
nice bit of Bruno Mars, so he gave us some advice from his twenty years in
radio. It was quite surreal and even a bit comical when he suddenly turned away
mid-sentence, popped his headphones on and spoke into the microphone about Olly
Murs before introducing the next song (not actually an Olly Murs song, but hey
ho), then he turned back to us as though nothing had happened! One of the girls
who attended the workshop was astounded and asked “Was that live?” to which he
replied “Well I hope so, otherwise I’ll be in trouble!”
We walked back to the room to retrieve our belongings after that. I was still looking round, taking everything in and I bumped into a large pillar, which was both embarrassing and painful. I prayed no-one saw, which they didn’t appear to have, so I surreptitiously rubbed my shoulder and pretended I had an itch. Back in the room, we picked our stuff up and Justin invited us to eat more of the sandwiches (I finally got that tuna one I had been after!), as there was still enough to feed a primary school. Yes, I know the word ‘army’ traditionally belongs in that saying, but I think a swarm of small children can be far more terrifying than armed soldiers in certain situations!
Anyway, then we all piled into the lift again and back down we went. And then it was over. It was a good day - fab tips, nice people, beautiful sunshine and I got a free pen as well. That might not sound like much to most people, but to writers pens are like magic wands that connect our brains to the real world, so I like to have a nice one. It’s a good clicky biro that fits in the spine of a spiral-bound notebook without sticking out too much, so I was particularly happy. I learnt a few things, took lots of notes and now I’ve got a few ideas I need to follow up after being inspired by Justin and everyone else at Metro Radio, one of the ideas being the thing I’ve just this second finished writing!
