Mind The Gap

Many of you would heard the story about a lady with the wonderful speaking voice who was sacked by London Underground. OK, perhaps she was unwise to "have a dig" but to sack her?

Smacks of the same sort of management thinking I wrote about a few weeks ago.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Facebook Ban (2)

Flipchart Fairytales has posted a beautiful post about the subject I raised last week.

Did you hear about this? Kent County Council have banned their *32000 employees from using the social utility Facebook.

Employers are great at disciplining staff aren't they? If they spent as much time getting people to "buy-in" to the culture (I know it isn't easy in the public sector) of their organization, valued them more their staff just might do a better and more committed job. Perhaps then they wouldn't feel the need to spend time at Facebook or going outside for a fag.

This sort of thing is so typical of British management. Minimalist, narrow-minded, old-fashioned and unnecessary.

What are the seven [7] best things you did this past year?

From James Higham........and these are mine

1] Bought a new computer and started blogging.
2] Agreed to trek in Feb 2007 for Breast Cancer Campaign (see my other blog)
3] Got involved in Blogpower with many of you.
4] Moved up the "meedja" ladder.
5] Didn't get another 3 points on my licence.
6] Had a fantastic weekend in Bordeaux in October and survived the Pyrennes in June!
7] Glad I didn't go to the World Cup.

Tags:
Eastcliffe Richard
Frances Oapen
Dr Simon Moores
Lucy Mail/Ramsgate Tourettes
Julia Buckley

Sashinka
Stephen Pollard
Tim Worstall
JohnnyB
Ellee Seymour
Barrybeelzebub
Pillage Idiot
Peter Wells' Coffin End Blog
Men are better than women
Onyx Stone
Chase me
Michelle Malkin
Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe
Gates of Vienna
Bel is thinking
The Spine
Strumpette
Petite Anglaise

Broadcaster dies in car crash

(From the BBC News website)Talksport phone-in host Mike Dickin, known to listeners as "The King", has died in a car crash.

The presenter, who was in his 60s, was involved in a six car pile-up on the A30 on Monday. He was airlifted to hospital but was pronounced dead.

Dickin started his broadcasting career at BBC Radio Oxford in the 1970s, where he was the first presenter on the air.

He also broadcast on Radio 4 and LBC, and won an award for his coverage of the Lockerbie disaster in 1988.

The presenter, who broadcast from his home studio in Bodmin Moor, was known for his passionate, outspoken views.

Listeners dubbed him Britain's angriest man, but he was also known as "The King" because of his supposed resemblance to Henry VIII.

Last month, BBC's The World at One presenter Nick Clarke passed away from cancer.

Clarke presented The World at One, the BBC's flagship politics programme, for 12 years, taking the reins in February 1994. He resumed his work this summer after a nine-month absence to fight a soft tissue sarcoma, a cancer that cost him his left leg.

That's two great "radio voices" we've lost in recent weeks.

Top Tips for Sports Broadcasting on Radio (3)

As you'll be likely to work for long stretches at a time, ensure that

1. You've had a good night's sleep beforehand, and

2. Eat properly.

Remember, you are a performer. Think and act like such.

Top Tips for Sports Broadcasting on Radio (2)

Earlier I mentioned that having a great voice for radio is important. Well, there are many great radio voices out there. The best "voices" are those that talk with variety, enthusiasm and clarity.

More information can be found at the British Voice Association - BVA

(This article has been reproduced on my Masaai trek Blog)

Top Tips for Sports Broadcasting on Radio

Earlier today, I paid a visit to Sussex. No BBC TV haven't moved from London W12. Just my latest outing for BBC Radio Kent earlier today. Not Gillingham FC but Margate FC who were playing at Horsham.

Sports presenting on radio, as many of you know, is one of my great passions. It's fun and particuarly great when your broadcasting about your own team! It may sound easy but let me assure you that to be reasonably good at it, you'll need these qualities and characteristics:

The ability to write scripts under pressure.

Prepare in good time - and get there in good time!

Research the match you're covering.

Understand what's at stake.

Listen to and carry out instructions from your producer/anchor/editor.

Ensure all technical equipment is in good working order.

Understand the laws of libel, and how they relate to journalists.

Be tactful

Don't engage in polemical arguments.

Have a great "radio voice"


........and that's just for starters


BTW, for those of you who are wondering what the score was, then pay a visit here.

October Sunshine

A quite brilliant day today. I've already dropped a note here about todays marching over Hampstead Heath.

Tomorrow(correct, I'm having a day off) shall be spent circumnavigating various parts of the Darenth valley in North Kent. Later on, I'm being presented with some sponsorship money by some kind souls from England's garden. That'll put me past the 2K mark.

The day will be spent with Lord & Lady Pay. One of them shares my passion for da 'Gate

How to make it as a public speaker

Flushed with success from last night's London Corinthians meeting, I was asked afterwards by a couple of new members as to how one becomes a professional public speaker.

1. Learn how to speak. Joining London Corinthians or other Toastmaster International clubs is a first great stepping stone. After a period of time, you can join the PSA

2. Get a website

3. Learn how to market yourself. My colleague at the PSA, Graham Jones , has some great advice.

4. Start blogging!

What can we ban next?

I totally agree with Alan Stevens comments below. How pathetic can you get? Have we sunk to such depths that a TV company has to change it's output to ensure that "old" Tom & Jerry cartoons don't depict smoking. What's going to be banned next?

TV Presenters with green ties?

Drinking?

Corporate golf days in Surrey?


After a tough decision-making process, I have decided to award the MediaMug trophy this week to Ofcom. They have upheld a complaint from a viewer about Tom And Jerry cartoons on the TV Channel Boomerang. The complainant did not like the fact that Tom (the cat) was seen smoking. The regulator said : "We recognise that these are historic cartoons, mostly produced in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, at a time when smoking was more generally accepted. The smoking usually appears in a stylised manner and it is frequently not condoned, but the level for editorial justification required for the inclusion of smoking in such cartoons is necessarily high." So there you are. We all know smoking is bad for you, and that kids should be discouraged from taking it up. However, images of cartoom characters beating each other senseless with clubs and baseball bats and blowing each other up is acceptable, but smoking isn't. Hmm.


"This information originally appeared in "The MediaCoach", a free ezine produced by Alan Stevens, and available at http://www.mediacoach.co.uk"