99.8 FM KCC Live

So over the last three weeks, I have been delivering the Big Live Drive on a Wednesday and Thursday afternoon and been having a great time in doing so. That's 6 hours a week (plus prep time), which equates to over 18 hours ALREADY! Awesome...

There is a lot to be said for being 'chucked in the deep end' and having to deal with problems and get comfortable with both physical and metaphorical surroundings. Using the equipment is an ongoing learning process with under-runs and over-runs from the show before my own (still) confusing me!

Today, I came in and started seguing (sorting out the link from one sound file to another - cueing effectively) in the radio studio rather than the office and once I had finished, all the music just stopped dead and I couldn't get it to come back on.. I yelled out of the door "THE MUSIC HAS STOPPED!!" and both my contemporaries Dan Spelman and Shaun rushed in with me frantically trying to fill the silence on the microphone. In retrospect, I think I did a good job making it sound under control and it really illustrated teamwork with the other two trying to communicate without talking while fixing the problem. It transpired that because I had been seguing in the studio, I had stopped Myriad (the software) from using two of the four carts (where a sound file is cued) because it was still in 'SegEdit' mode. Once I switch this off, it all made sense.

I have learnt that the best debates for my show (I always have a debate as a running theme if I can) are the simple ones. I have been known to cause chaos in the office and with my listeners by posing silly questions such as:

"Custard Creams or Bourbons?"

"Chicken Kievs: Yes or no?" and today,

"Hat hair: Cool or uncool?"

As daft as they are, the simple debates seem to be the most effective and make for a great show full of fun, laughter and general chaos. The result I was going for!

http://youtu.be/bvgIPpgblgI

On another topic, our news guy has not been in the last three times I have been in to run a show and so I have compiled and delivered the news using the IRN resource and MS Word. I use the news resource to find stories and typically pick two general stories, two sport and two entertainment. Sometimes they include sound bites, which I have to drop into Myriad and deliver at the right time while speaking over a News Feed bed (background music). It's really great experience and I have worked out that I have a different voice for the news!

Drivetime carnage

I'm still buzzing.

Today, I was let loose in the studio at KCC live with the help of my esteemed colleague Mike to deliver the drivetime show for three hours from 3 PM through to 6. I learnt skills in presentation and delivery and one thing that sticks in my mind was the phrase"Sell them to sizzle, not the sausage". Genius.

I got the hang of the broadcasting hardware pretty quickly and although I'm still getting to grips with the software, I have it mostly down and can use the basic functionality.

Tomorrow, I will be going in a little earlier so that I can edit all of the segue-ways throughout the show so that it all runs a little smoother. Today, Mike did this for me and showed me how. It's doesn't look particularly difficult as it is just a case of moving the the start of one audio file so that it crosses with the previous rather than letting each audio file run out. It's a very simple process and I look forward to giving it a whirl tomorrow before I commence the show at 3 PM.

I have a feeling that Mike will leave me to it pretty much tomorrow though I particularly enjoyed the co-host experience for the banter! All part of the job! I also began learning how to use the social networking tools and even had some responses from the public, which was able to drive some of the show. It was interesting to see that the response was much greater when talking about particularly silly things. For example, I asked my audience what they were having for tea tonight and got a few responses. I then asked what they were driving home in and got even fewer. But, as soon as I asked the question "Chicken Kiev's… Yes or no?" The public went mad and I got several responses in no time!

Had a great time and thoroughly look forward to tomorrow.

Great news at KCC

So today, I was invited over to KCC radio to have a meeting with Christine. Christine advise me that following the feedback she receives from the rest of the team that she would like to invite me to present the drivetime radio show twice a week going forward! This is very exciting as the drivetime show is the most listened to show on this (real) FM station!

There will be three of us that present the drivetime show across the week from Monday through to Saturday and my two days have been agreed as Wednesday and Thursday. My slots will be from 3 PM to 6 PM each week twice a week.

Very excited… Proper FM station with a busy slot that gets listened to by real people in their real cars on their real way home etc… REALLY!

Christine asked myself, Mike and Claire to come up with a recurring theme for our drivetime shows.

I start tomorrow with the help of Mike and I imagine he'll give me a hand on Thursday as well. Incidentally, the following week I will be conducting the show alone (possibly with a co-presenter) as the beginning of my own delivery of the drivetime show at KCC.

Very excited!