Hello Hello Bloggers!
Well once again another day at the brilliant Absolute is over, and once again the time has flown by. No pictures today, due to me literally not having a free minute (Well, apart from my hour lunch break) so hopefully in this entry I won't waffle on and on and on and on and.... like I have in the past two :)
SO ANYWAY
Another 5.45am wake up, and drive to the station. It was cold and dark, but the train was half empty so it was all good. After sleeping through the majority of the journey I arrived in a sunny, blue skied London. If you read the papers, or watch the news, chances are you know about the strikes that were due to take place today. I was quite worried it would cause disruption to my walk to Absolute, as I walk past many of Londons landmarks... To my surprise the "Protest" I walked past consisted of 5 people holding signs. They gave me a leaflet. They seemed friendly. I read their leaflet, then stuffed it in my pocket. It's probably still there.
So anyway I got to the Absolute, and sorted the post. Easy enough, though quite awkward when people walk in to get their post and I haven't sorted it yet. It didn't take to long, and then Adam on reception gave me a schedule of what I would be doing over the next two weeks. I had meetings with people from Scheduling, Programming and Communications as well as chances to sit in with Christian on the breakfast show, and Geoff on drive... Though not till next week... Damn.
We were then given a list of meetings we had to make tea and coffee for. The first was at 10.45... 15 minutes before our meeting with Eric from Scheduling. It was only 10 so I decided to stock up the fridges and to clean up the Zoo.
So nothing of note happened there. Time came to get the "Meeting" tray together, with coffee, teabags sugar etc and take it to the meeting. Then came our meeting with Eric from Scheduling. Like everyone else at Absolute, he was an incredibly nice guy, who was very modest about how far he had come and what he'd achieved. He had wanted to become a Presenter or Producer in his teenage years. Like me, he had started on a media based university course, and had tried to get experience anywhere he could.
His first dose of work experience was at BBC Radio 1Xtra, where he became more of a studio assistant than work experience person. Then, through an agency, he was told of an opening at Absolute. He applied and got it. He admitted Scheduling wasn't the most glamours part of radio, but for a commercial station it was one of the most important departments. It was his job, along with his team, to make sure adverts were played in the right place, and didn't clash. For example, Sky and Virgin wouldn't ever be in the same ad break. Basically, he sorted when and where the adverts would be played.
A real unsung hero, and he also admitted still interviewing people and recording his own content in his own time, just because he loved doing it. He gave me good advice. His advice, summed up was "Make a nuisance of yourself" always ask questions and don't let anyone forget you. Get in the way basically. O and just as a side notes, hes good friends with Ed Sheeran and Reggie Yates. Standard.
After getting his contact details, I made my way to floor one to see Gregg (The breakfast producer... See my last blog "Day Two") as he had told me in passing that he had a job for me... I ran to him like an excited puppy expecting another trip to Tesco to pick up more weird food items.... Alas no. He had something completely different in mind. Christian O'Connells breakfast show had an annual event called the "Beer and Cake" festival. He opened a spreadsheet, which had a list of names and their contact details. My job was to go on Christian's facebook, and fill in whether they were a friend of his or not. If they weren't I had to find them, and add them. If I couldn't find them I just left it. Ones who were already friends got a Green colour, the ones where a friend request had been sent got an orange and ones I couldn't find got a red.
Half way through I was summoned to reception (Absolute has a PA system throughout the building) Whenever there is something to celebrate, Alcohol is delivered to the station and sent to each floor. For some reason no delivery had been made for today, so me and Adam had to go to Tesco Metro to get beer and wine. It was in celebration of the start of Absolute 70's. Money was given to us from the finance department and off we went to get the goods. Unfortunately I do not like beer (I'm a cider man) and wine is too higher class for the likes of me. Once we returned, we had to put the beers in the fridges, which were stuffed with soft drinks. So the soft drinks were removed to make way.
MY FIRST LESSON WAS LEARNT
Don't put Red Wine in the fridge... for some reason people frown upon it.
A band was coming into the zoo to do a live session. I did not know the band, and can't for the life of me remember their name. It was my job to clear the room of chairs, xmas decorations and other junk, so the room was free for the session guys to set up. Turns out it was all in vein as the band didn't turn up, due to protests causing havoc throughout London.
I then returned to my station to continue the "facebook" stalking and then have a late lunch break (It had gone 2) Once I returned, Gregg asked me to look through the people that Christian had as a friend already and find "funny" pictures of them, so that the breakfast show could make fun of them in the next few shows. Extremely slow due to facebook constantly crashing.
Apart from gate crashing a meeting with a jug of hot water and teabags, I continued the facebook stalk until half 5.
Through the day I met more people, including the head of communications, a person who worked in the music department, and a guy who had started with work experience but now worked at Absolute on the Drive show.
Today may have seemed boring written down, but believe me it was fun. The little jobs are never dull to me, as I just remember where I am and who I'm doing them for. It seems that half the building began their radio careers with work experience, which bodes well for me :)
Till tomorrowwww
Colin
(Twitter: ColinJByrne)
Wednesday 30 November 2011
Tuesday 29 November 2011
Day Two - Frozen Yorkshires
Sup Blog land,
My second and first full day of absolute is complete. Its incredible how fast it has gone. You are never left with nothing to do. There are always small tasks asked of you. Some tasks can take literally 4 hours to complete.
There is a list of tasks that work experience people have to do each day. There is also a white board, where staff members can right any other task that they can't be bothered to do. That is where we come in.
First things first, I got to Absolute fine at 9.30am. Good start. But you may remember yesterday I mentioned the other work experience person. A girl called Nicola, who spent more time texting on her phone and on facebook than actually making the most of her experience. Well I found out why she seemed so disinterested. Turns out she didn't even want to be there. Unfair for a would be work experience person who loves radio, but I guess in radio its not what you know, its who you know.
ANYWAY MY SECOND DAY...
The post is our first task. Obviously Absolute get a lot of post, but its our job to sort it into the right pigeon holes, make sure letters addressed to people who no longer work there are returned and Junk is thrown away. Nicola got to absolute before me, so she got that job. Adam, on reception had a task for me. He wanted me to create a soundcloud account and upload random jingles for a "hot shot" absolute producer living in LA. Pretty fancy. He wanted ME to do it because his computer on reception had certain programs blocked, so it was down to me to go to floor one (where I'm based) and sort it out. Unfortunately every computer has an owner at Absolute, so us work experience have to use them when their owner isn't there. There were only 4 computers not in use, that weren't also locked. They were the breakfast shows ones. As I got there at 9.30, and the breakfast show finishes at 10am, I had half an hour to upload the clips to soundcloud, using one of the breakfast show crews computers. I did it in time, which made Adam happy.
The board had more tasks for us to (Including filling water coolers up with plastic cups and filling up the different Jars in the Zoo) We filled the cups up, then I filled up the fridge in reception with coke, diet coke etc, whilst Nicola continued the paperwork she hadn't finish yesterday. Once that was done, I returned to Floor one. All the computers were being used, so I went to Adam to ask if there were any other tasks.
Apparently there was post to sort in the mail room, so I went there. Its pretty simple, look at the name on the letter, then put it in their pigeon hole. Problem is, sometimes the letters only say things like "Head of Communications" or "Head of Sales" which is a pain in the a hole. Whilst I searched for names on letters, many different members of staff came down to collect their post. Everyone was friendly and offered help if I couldn't find someone. TURNS OUT the whole pile I was looking through was people who no longer worked at Absolute. Brilliant.... That meant I had to put stickers on saying "Return to sender" EPIC
Here are some pictures of famous names on Pigeon Holes.
My second and first full day of absolute is complete. Its incredible how fast it has gone. You are never left with nothing to do. There are always small tasks asked of you. Some tasks can take literally 4 hours to complete.
There is a list of tasks that work experience people have to do each day. There is also a white board, where staff members can right any other task that they can't be bothered to do. That is where we come in.
First things first, I got to Absolute fine at 9.30am. Good start. But you may remember yesterday I mentioned the other work experience person. A girl called Nicola, who spent more time texting on her phone and on facebook than actually making the most of her experience. Well I found out why she seemed so disinterested. Turns out she didn't even want to be there. Unfair for a would be work experience person who loves radio, but I guess in radio its not what you know, its who you know.
ANYWAY MY SECOND DAY...
The post is our first task. Obviously Absolute get a lot of post, but its our job to sort it into the right pigeon holes, make sure letters addressed to people who no longer work there are returned and Junk is thrown away. Nicola got to absolute before me, so she got that job. Adam, on reception had a task for me. He wanted me to create a soundcloud account and upload random jingles for a "hot shot" absolute producer living in LA. Pretty fancy. He wanted ME to do it because his computer on reception had certain programs blocked, so it was down to me to go to floor one (where I'm based) and sort it out. Unfortunately every computer has an owner at Absolute, so us work experience have to use them when their owner isn't there. There were only 4 computers not in use, that weren't also locked. They were the breakfast shows ones. As I got there at 9.30, and the breakfast show finishes at 10am, I had half an hour to upload the clips to soundcloud, using one of the breakfast show crews computers. I did it in time, which made Adam happy.
The board had more tasks for us to (Including filling water coolers up with plastic cups and filling up the different Jars in the Zoo) We filled the cups up, then I filled up the fridge in reception with coke, diet coke etc, whilst Nicola continued the paperwork she hadn't finish yesterday. Once that was done, I returned to Floor one. All the computers were being used, so I went to Adam to ask if there were any other tasks.
Apparently there was post to sort in the mail room, so I went there. Its pretty simple, look at the name on the letter, then put it in their pigeon hole. Problem is, sometimes the letters only say things like "Head of Communications" or "Head of Sales" which is a pain in the a hole. Whilst I searched for names on letters, many different members of staff came down to collect their post. Everyone was friendly and offered help if I couldn't find someone. TURNS OUT the whole pile I was looking through was people who no longer worked at Absolute. Brilliant.... That meant I had to put stickers on saying "Return to sender" EPIC
Here are some pictures of famous names on Pigeon Holes.
Something told me that Mr Ronnie Wood didn't hang about whilst at Absolute. His Pigeon hole was filled with packages, some from America. The highlight of my time in the Post Room was a letter addressed to Richard Branson. (The amount of post still addressed to Virgin Radio was unreal) It had a sticker on it saying "Unpaid postage" and was held together by staples. I opened it, and it was a leaflet about Virgin Broadband. The sender had covered the thing in "annotations" highlighting how racist Virgin was and that they didn't want to sign up to their broadband. Weird.
Back on Floor One, I got back to the paper work I had started the day before. Basically it is a program that records whenever the Mic fader is opened on Studio A's desk. We had to listen to each one, to make sure the On air DJ had advertised the right sponsor. We then had to write down the exact time it was said. Sometimes the DJ wouldn't so we would put a cross. This took HOURS as you have to listen through every link to check they mentioned it.
THEN THE MOST EXCITING PART OF THE DAY
Whilst we were typing away, Gregg, the Breakfast Show Producer came over to us and asked if one of us could do him a favour. As I was the "Radio Enthusiast" of the two , I jump in to say I would. I was given a list of food items, and £15. My task... Simple. Go buy them. Easy... or so I thought.
The list was as follows:
- A packet of Pepperoni Sausage slices
- A block of Cheddar Cheese
- Soda Biscuits or Ryvita
- A packet of Yorkshires Pudding
- A bag of Sherbert.
Gregg also wanted the receipts. At first I thought it was some sort of trick... as I had been warned by Mr Shakeshaft of how Work Experience people can be picked on by staff at a company. But according to Adam they do it every now and then as a "Weird" taste segment.
So of I went into Cold grey London in search of a tesco. Luckily in London you can find about 5 supermarkets on one street. So I found a Tesco, where I bought the pepperoni, A block of Cheddar (OVER 3 QUID WHAT A RIP OFF) and some Ryvita, as I didn't have a clue what Soda biscuits were. For some reason they didn't have Yorkshires... SO I went in search of a bigger supermarket. On Good ol Oxford street I found a Sainsburys Central (??????) which is just a normal sainsburys with central stuck on the end. I found Yorkshires (Aunt Bessie's on sale!) so all was good.
BUT a problem... Where the hell do they sell bags of sherbert? I didn't know... so I found a newsagent and bought 3 packets of Dip Dabs... Good enough.
So I arrived back at the station. I delivered the goods. He seemed satisfied. He also said he may have other tasks for me, So i'm gonna make sure this "Relationship" blooms. First small tasks, next step Lead Presenter. (See ya later Christian)
I still haven't spoken to Christian O'Connell. He is always the first to leave from the breakfast team. They all sit on the sofas and just talk for about an hour after their show. It came apparent that their exactly the same on air as off air, as they just sat there talking about anything. Christian, Ritchie his co presenter( & Ex Bournemouth Student) and his producers.
I knew they were the heroes without voices on radio, but I have realised today just how much a producer is the core of a show. The amount of time they spend on their shows is incredible. It is clear they love the industry, just as much as us students at Bournemouth. An example. The breakfast show starts at 6 am. Gregg was still at his desk when I left at 5.30 and didn't look like finishing any time soon.
As before we had to get Tea/Coffee ready for meetings in the Boardroom. Here is a picture of the main board room.
The picture doesn't really do it justice. It is awesome. We also got biscuits etc ready. We also stocked up tea/coffee etc in the Zoo for the other staff. There are biscuits galore at Absolute, so I helped my self. I never turn down a good Bourbon :D (We are allowed to have the biscuits before you ask)
Once all that was done we continued with the "Live Reads" (The paperwork where we listen to the links) and just about finished them before 5.30.
Its incredible how fast the time goes. But it is just incredible being in that building. Sure there are dull tasks, like picking up dirty mugs and plates from around the building, but its worth it just to be able to watch professionals do their job. Every single person there is willing to help, and everyone is friendly.
We wait and see what day 3 brings. I have some more pictures with captions so take a look :)
Until tomorrow dear readers
Toddle Bye
Colin
The LED sign to Studio C, where live bands play.
Signed guitars hanging up in "The Zoo" bands include the Killers and Muse. (And of course the Table football)
The Big screen in "The Zoo" showing clips of past bands who have played live sets at Absolute
A sofa in "The Zoo" to the right of it is an Xbox and 42 inch TV, with sky + (GOOD TIMES) There is a box of those pillows, so I plan to get one before the end of my 4 weeks.
The Basement. Where most of the digital stations are broadcast from (Absolute 60's,70's, 80's etc) There are about 5 studios to the right of the picture. Supposedly that corridor is haunted.
A painting on the wall in the basement. According to Adam, Slash came in and wanted the picture. Absolute refused, so he picked up a marker and drew a beard and moustache on it. If its true that...is... AWESOME
And finally a nice picture of the London Eye at night :D
Monday 28 November 2011
Day One - Southener in London
Hi Blog Readers
After a 12 hour day, I have arrived home after my first day of Absolute Radio.
Today started oddly well. No problems, all smooth. After a trip to Sainsburys for supplies (Drinks and Food) I made my way to the station. I am a train novice, so buying a "season ticket" for a train was like a whole new world for me. But it was easy. It took about a minute, and there I was waiting at a cold train station with 16 year old college students. Awesome.
The journey was fine. I listened to my Ipod, I ate a ready made sainsburys sausage and egg bap, and kept falling asleep. It cradled me to sleep at times. Weird. I had been warned that Waterloo was a nightmare to conquer. Clearly I am a genius, as I found it easy. I walked out the exit and that was it. I was in London (Of Course before that I spent 30p to empty the tank)
Equipped with my handy London A-Z I made my way to absolute. It took 15 minutes and took me past all the landmarks. The London Eye, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus were all amongst my sighting. I arrived at Absolute. The reception area was quite frankly, awesome. It had two weird shaped sofas, colourful wallpaper and a huge TV showing how many people were listening online, and where.
I approached the reception, expecting to be greeted by Kerry, the receptionist who I had been in contact with. Imagine my shock when I found a guy, not much older than me sitting there. Luckily he was expecting me.
First things first I had a short interview with him. He asked about previous experience and what my favourite music was and my picture was taken. Apparently they send an email out to everyone at Absolute when someone new starts work experience, with there name, picture etc so they know who they are.
Turns out the guy on reception, Adam, had done work experience at Absolute, and now was called back every now and then to cover on reception. He then showed me the whole of absolute. An unbelievably huge place with 6 floors and a basement. The top floor contained nothing really. A couple of chairs, tables a sofa and old Absolute Signs. Sometimes meetings are done there, and whenever there's a staff party, people sleep on the floor there. Jetset lifestyle!
The next floor was all the big boss offices and meeting rooms. A place I will rarely go apparently. The 4th floor contained more offices. It is where all sales are delt with.
Floor three is where "The magic happens" Well if your a radio fan anyway. It contained the huge Studio A (where all the main absolute shows are presented) the two news studios and production studio C, where live bands play. I took a sly picture of Studio A which you can see at the bottom of this entry :) It also contained something called the "ZOO" This is basically a kitchen area, but more fancy. The zoo contained sofas, tables and chairs, a huge screen showing past bands who had been at Absolute, a Bar area with Tea and Coffee making facilities, a fridge and a microwave. And of course a Table football and an XBOX! AWESOME. Also on that floor was a huge boardroom, which contained a huge screen, awesome carpet, lighting and wallpaper and loads of signed stuff on the walls.
This is the floor where bands play. When bands come in the whole of the Zoo area is cleared, and bands play their set. Seeing that happen would be awesome so fingers crossed someone big will come in at some point in the next month!
The second floor contained more offices, and a CD Library. Artists record labels send out sample CD's to Radio Stations, so they can play them. Most of the Absolutes music is networked, meaning the CD's are rarely used. CD's are kept at absolute for 2 weeks, then they are either thrown away or staff can take them for free. AWESOME.
The first floor was the main floor, where shows are discussed and planned, and producers sit and plan the next days show. It also contains the work experience team, and is where I will be based for most of the week
The bottom floor was reception and the post room, where all mail to the station goes. There is also a hallway, which is basically a shrine to the old "Virgin Radio" days, with CD's, posters and awards all stacked on shelves.
Throughout the building Guitar's cover the walls. These guitars have all been given to the station from bands, and are all signed, with plaques saying who there from. More Awesome.
ENOUGH OF THE BORING STUFF
So my first day... I was introduced to the other girl on Work Experience. Her name was Nicola, and was odd. She seem to have little enthusiasm, and couldn't wait to leave at the end. She was also weird in the sense that she would just walk off and leave me on my own, not knowing what to do. She was on her third week, and I guess she must have just had enough of the early starts and work load.
O I was given a handbook with information about tasks to do. They are tedious. We are basically Absolutes Bitch, We have to clean the Zoo, collect dirty plates and cups from around the building (You would not believe the amount of mugs littered around) and clean them, deliver messages, fill out paper work and other dull things. We had to listen to clips from past shows and make sure the presenters had mentioned sponsors, collect post and more. Sure it was hard work. But it was awesome.
facebook every 10 minutes. What really struck me was how friendly the atmosphere was. Everyone was friendly, upbeat, and more importantly looked liked they loved their jobs. I spoke to one guy, who had received the email about me. He saw one of the bands I liked, and said how he had seen them live recently... AT THE SAME GIG AS ME. Turns out he has connections with loads of bands, and is good friends with a band called Young Guns. He used to work for a frigging record company. He was also extremely friendly, and even though he was working was more than happy to chat.
I also got a chance to see Christian O'Connell (Though not talk to... small steps) I did however get a chance to speak to Ritchie Firth. The co-presenter on the Christian O'Connell show, and a past DJ of 2CR FM in Bournemouth (Now Heart) who had studied at Bournemouth University and I who I had job shadowed 4 years previous. He didn't recognise me... let down. But he was still very friendly and asked about Sean Street... who I've never met.
The third floor entrance goes straight past the main studio, so I'm going to wave at whoever is in the studio whenever I go past... Slowly get into the presenters good books. O I forgot to say, We also have to make tea for meetings. Its not as hard as it seems. Just fill a flask with hot water, then put a selection of teas in a little jug, along with coffee, cups, biscuits and spoons. Pretty standard.
OOO But the most awesome part. Through out the building there are fridges. They all contain a selection of soft drinks, including Coke, Diet Coke, Fanta and 7UP. These are always filled, and staff are allowed to take as many as they want as often as they like. So cool.
The first day flew by, thanks to paper work and stuff.
Tomorrow is my first full day, which means an epicly early start. Ah wellll. Its been good so far, and its only been day one! Below are some pictures I took of London, and One of the absolute main studio. My phone ran out of battery before I could take anymore! Tomorrow I will be taking my charger so more Photos Tomorrow.
Until tomorrow...
Stay cool
Colin
After a 12 hour day, I have arrived home after my first day of Absolute Radio.
Today started oddly well. No problems, all smooth. After a trip to Sainsburys for supplies (Drinks and Food) I made my way to the station. I am a train novice, so buying a "season ticket" for a train was like a whole new world for me. But it was easy. It took about a minute, and there I was waiting at a cold train station with 16 year old college students. Awesome.
The journey was fine. I listened to my Ipod, I ate a ready made sainsburys sausage and egg bap, and kept falling asleep. It cradled me to sleep at times. Weird. I had been warned that Waterloo was a nightmare to conquer. Clearly I am a genius, as I found it easy. I walked out the exit and that was it. I was in London (Of Course before that I spent 30p to empty the tank)
Equipped with my handy London A-Z I made my way to absolute. It took 15 minutes and took me past all the landmarks. The London Eye, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus were all amongst my sighting. I arrived at Absolute. The reception area was quite frankly, awesome. It had two weird shaped sofas, colourful wallpaper and a huge TV showing how many people were listening online, and where.
I approached the reception, expecting to be greeted by Kerry, the receptionist who I had been in contact with. Imagine my shock when I found a guy, not much older than me sitting there. Luckily he was expecting me.
First things first I had a short interview with him. He asked about previous experience and what my favourite music was and my picture was taken. Apparently they send an email out to everyone at Absolute when someone new starts work experience, with there name, picture etc so they know who they are.
Turns out the guy on reception, Adam, had done work experience at Absolute, and now was called back every now and then to cover on reception. He then showed me the whole of absolute. An unbelievably huge place with 6 floors and a basement. The top floor contained nothing really. A couple of chairs, tables a sofa and old Absolute Signs. Sometimes meetings are done there, and whenever there's a staff party, people sleep on the floor there. Jetset lifestyle!
The next floor was all the big boss offices and meeting rooms. A place I will rarely go apparently. The 4th floor contained more offices. It is where all sales are delt with.
Floor three is where "The magic happens" Well if your a radio fan anyway. It contained the huge Studio A (where all the main absolute shows are presented) the two news studios and production studio C, where live bands play. I took a sly picture of Studio A which you can see at the bottom of this entry :) It also contained something called the "ZOO" This is basically a kitchen area, but more fancy. The zoo contained sofas, tables and chairs, a huge screen showing past bands who had been at Absolute, a Bar area with Tea and Coffee making facilities, a fridge and a microwave. And of course a Table football and an XBOX! AWESOME. Also on that floor was a huge boardroom, which contained a huge screen, awesome carpet, lighting and wallpaper and loads of signed stuff on the walls.
This is the floor where bands play. When bands come in the whole of the Zoo area is cleared, and bands play their set. Seeing that happen would be awesome so fingers crossed someone big will come in at some point in the next month!
The second floor contained more offices, and a CD Library. Artists record labels send out sample CD's to Radio Stations, so they can play them. Most of the Absolutes music is networked, meaning the CD's are rarely used. CD's are kept at absolute for 2 weeks, then they are either thrown away or staff can take them for free. AWESOME.
The first floor was the main floor, where shows are discussed and planned, and producers sit and plan the next days show. It also contains the work experience team, and is where I will be based for most of the week
The bottom floor was reception and the post room, where all mail to the station goes. There is also a hallway, which is basically a shrine to the old "Virgin Radio" days, with CD's, posters and awards all stacked on shelves.
Throughout the building Guitar's cover the walls. These guitars have all been given to the station from bands, and are all signed, with plaques saying who there from. More Awesome.
ENOUGH OF THE BORING STUFF
So my first day... I was introduced to the other girl on Work Experience. Her name was Nicola, and was odd. She seem to have little enthusiasm, and couldn't wait to leave at the end. She was also weird in the sense that she would just walk off and leave me on my own, not knowing what to do. She was on her third week, and I guess she must have just had enough of the early starts and work load.
O I was given a handbook with information about tasks to do. They are tedious. We are basically Absolutes Bitch, We have to clean the Zoo, collect dirty plates and cups from around the building (You would not believe the amount of mugs littered around) and clean them, deliver messages, fill out paper work and other dull things. We had to listen to clips from past shows and make sure the presenters had mentioned sponsors, collect post and more. Sure it was hard work. But it was awesome.
facebook every 10 minutes. What really struck me was how friendly the atmosphere was. Everyone was friendly, upbeat, and more importantly looked liked they loved their jobs. I spoke to one guy, who had received the email about me. He saw one of the bands I liked, and said how he had seen them live recently... AT THE SAME GIG AS ME. Turns out he has connections with loads of bands, and is good friends with a band called Young Guns. He used to work for a frigging record company. He was also extremely friendly, and even though he was working was more than happy to chat.
I also got a chance to see Christian O'Connell (Though not talk to... small steps) I did however get a chance to speak to Ritchie Firth. The co-presenter on the Christian O'Connell show, and a past DJ of 2CR FM in Bournemouth (Now Heart) who had studied at Bournemouth University and I who I had job shadowed 4 years previous. He didn't recognise me... let down. But he was still very friendly and asked about Sean Street... who I've never met.
The third floor entrance goes straight past the main studio, so I'm going to wave at whoever is in the studio whenever I go past... Slowly get into the presenters good books. O I forgot to say, We also have to make tea for meetings. Its not as hard as it seems. Just fill a flask with hot water, then put a selection of teas in a little jug, along with coffee, cups, biscuits and spoons. Pretty standard.
OOO But the most awesome part. Through out the building there are fridges. They all contain a selection of soft drinks, including Coke, Diet Coke, Fanta and 7UP. These are always filled, and staff are allowed to take as many as they want as often as they like. So cool.
The first day flew by, thanks to paper work and stuff.
Tomorrow is my first full day, which means an epicly early start. Ah wellll. Its been good so far, and its only been day one! Below are some pictures I took of London, and One of the absolute main studio. My phone ran out of battery before I could take anymore! Tomorrow I will be taking my charger so more Photos Tomorrow.
Until tomorrow...
Stay cool
Colin
Sunday 27 November 2011
The Night before
Hello, Welcome to the Blog.
I've never done a blog before so apologies if this one is ABSOLUTE rubbish. Well actually that is a lie. This is my fourth. The first I made a few months back, in the hope I would be able to create an online diary which would make me look professional to any would be employers. Needless to say I posted once then never again. The second and third were created in the past few days. Unfortunately Word Press and Tumblr I too complicated for a simpleton like me.
Anyway, I'm Colin, a student studying Radio Production. The point of this blog is to post daily entries, that include images, videos and other nonsense. Why? Because from November 28th - December 23rd, I will be taking part in work experience at none other than Absolute Radio in London. For those who are not clicked on to radio goings on, they used to be called Virgin Radio. They are national, through Digital and MW, but are also on FM in the London area.
Needless to say this is pretty incredible, considering my class has much more talented radio people than myself.
Well anyway, I will be posting pictures, videos and "diary" entries daily. That's if I actually make it there. For the first week I will be travelling up by train, and walking from Waterloo to Absolute. Crazy Stuff. Luckily I will have my handy London A-Z. I will look like such a tourist. Not good.
Anyway this is just an introductory post, so I will talk to you after my first day :D
Colin
I've never done a blog before so apologies if this one is ABSOLUTE rubbish. Well actually that is a lie. This is my fourth. The first I made a few months back, in the hope I would be able to create an online diary which would make me look professional to any would be employers. Needless to say I posted once then never again. The second and third were created in the past few days. Unfortunately Word Press and Tumblr I too complicated for a simpleton like me.
Anyway, I'm Colin, a student studying Radio Production. The point of this blog is to post daily entries, that include images, videos and other nonsense. Why? Because from November 28th - December 23rd, I will be taking part in work experience at none other than Absolute Radio in London. For those who are not clicked on to radio goings on, they used to be called Virgin Radio. They are national, through Digital and MW, but are also on FM in the London area.
Needless to say this is pretty incredible, considering my class has much more talented radio people than myself.
Well anyway, I will be posting pictures, videos and "diary" entries daily. That's if I actually make it there. For the first week I will be travelling up by train, and walking from Waterloo to Absolute. Crazy Stuff. Luckily I will have my handy London A-Z. I will look like such a tourist. Not good.
Anyway this is just an introductory post, so I will talk to you after my first day :D
Colin
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