This isn’t training..... This is Fast Train training (said in obligatory sexy M&S advert voice)

TV and radio training, it’s so expensive, isn’t it?  Just glancing at some of the courses I’d love to do on the BBC Academy website reveals prices of about £750 for a Radio features course.  On the Creative  Skillset website there is a Cannon XF305 camera course for just under £500. All a bit expensive for a freelancer just starting out with no money to his name.

Guess I’ll have continue without any extra training and just hope I get employed, at some point, by someone who is willing to foot the cost......right?

Well, no. You see there are these wonderful events, a few each year, called Fast Train. The BBC, Creative Skillset (the main industry body for training and funding), ITV and others work together to deliver a day of workshops and lectures for freelancers and it’s all free. Yep, completely and utterly free.    

How could I resist such an opportunity?

I eagerly selected the workshops I wanted. Not an easy task, I have the same problem in restaurants when trying to pick between three delicious sounding options on the menu, I just want them all. My choice was helped by the fact that some workshops had already sold out (note to self, book earlier next time) and I made my selection. I worked out I could fit in four workshops and the networking drinks at the end (very important that.... I’d barely left a gap in my schedule for lunch, and the food  and drink would be much needed by that point, and of course the chance to mingle with others in my industry is always worthwhile).

So on Tuesday morning I set off to Salford’s MediaCity. After last week’s Greater Manchester Road debacle (see “Foot in the door” blog from earlier this week) I was leaving no chances and left my house insanely early, arriving at my destination a good two and a half hours before my first  workshop.

But this at least gave me time to grab a coffee, say hello to Simon Wright (one of the people who run the BBC Production Talent Pool I am on), and take a quick jaunt in time and space.

Not only did I get to meet the TARDIS (yes ”meet”, it’s sentient you know) but before my first workshop I even won a raffle. My Prize? A Golden Ticket awarding me a £1500 training bursary through Creative Skillset. My day was off to an amazing start.

I went to my first workshop with a smile on my face and a coffee in my hand.

Now, obviously, you’re never going to learn as much on a 2 hour workshop as you would do on a full two day course, but you can get enough that you come away feeling you have learnt stuff you hadn’t known before.

My first workshop was an introduction to Pro-Tools, the industry standard audio editing package. For audio editing, I have always used Adobe Audition in the past but knowing that so much of the industry used Pro-Tools I have wanted to learn how to use it for a long time. unfortunately it tends to be another of those expensive courses.  So this was a workshop I jumped at the second I saw it. It was a chance to learn the basic tools in the programme so that if I was plonked at a desk in a job and told to edit something with it, I wouldn’t make a fool out of myself. 

Next, onto “Social Media and Second Screens”.  As well as professional interest here, I also had a hobbyist interest as I run the Twitter account of a local amateur theatre society and help with the Twitter account of my town’s volunteer-run theatre. Some good advice was imparted on finding your audience where they already are not trying to get them to come to your preferred platform.

Leaving me even less time to eat in my short lunch, I squeezed in doing a presenting screen test for the BBC academy. Who knows, one day it may be me introducing that clip of Anthea Turner getting her hair cooked extra crispy on the BBC health and safety training videos. 

In a Pitching workshop, one task we had to do was each read out a section of JFK’s presidential inaugural address. Being the eager amateur actor that I am, I did it in full American accent. No one else did.

Finally, I attended “Working with Radio Indies” which confirmed much of the advice I had gotten from indie people at last week’s Foot In The Door event, mainly that they want ideas and the best thing to do is just pitch them some. So I’ll be working on some ideas later today to send along to the helpful and friendly guys I met running this workshop.

.. I’m really pleased I went along to this event and I’m certainly eagerly awaiting the next one. In the meantime, I’m going to get shopping for a course on the Creative Skillsset website to spend my Golden ticket on. 

Foot in the door

“Getting your foot in the door” is a bit of a funny phrase if you think about it. It’s generally considered the goal when starting out in media. But the origins of the phrase relate to door stop sellers blocking the closing of a potential customer’s door with their foot. It’s quite aggressive really and I’m sure the people who couldn’t close their door were often quite annoyed.

Luckily the phrase has evolved somewhat since its inception. Most people in the media don’t want to close the door on people if they can help it, many try to actively help with advice, and most people trying to start out, if they want to get anywhere, don’t take the aggressive approach.

Last week I attended the Radio Academy’s “Foot in the door” event at the Radio festival in Salford, Just across from Media City UK. It was well worth the stress of getting there (a bit of road in Greater Manchester that should have taken 10 minuets to drive took an hour and a half. Crazy)

For those that haven’t heard of the event, the format is that those just starting out in the industry get a chance to move from table of guest speakers to table of guest speakers to ply them for advice. It’s basically speed dating but instead of a date you get advice.

The tables are themed on topics to kick off the conversation; “How do I get on air”, “Freelancing in Radio”, “What is station branding?”, with two to four relevant speakers on each. You don’t have their undivided attention of course; There are 5 other delegates to a table. Not every table may be relevant to your career ambitions. I personally don’t have much interest in working on the news teams at a radio station but I still found my time on the table about journalism interesting, if only to learn more about the other areas of the industry I hope to forge my career in.

Networking is one of the key necessities of getting into the media industry. I’ve been to a few networking events this year, some organised by the BBC for those on the Talent Pool scheme, others structured like a show where speakers are interviewed on stage. The format of “Foot in the door” has been particularly useful for getting the directed advice individuals are seeking. I picked up lots of useful tips that will hopefully  help me along my path, met some really interesting people who, one day, I may get the chance to work with and I even ran into a few of my old university tutors so got the nostalgic factor in there as well.

If you’re looking to get into radio I’d seriously recommend going to this event next year. It’s one of the more affordable elements of the Radio Festival (only £24 for Radio Academy members, some of the other events at the festival can be eye-watering at hundreds of pounds a ticket)

If you didn't make it this year but wish you had perhaps I can help by paraphrasing the advice I personally found most useful from it.

• Don’t stop making content – Always have something you’ve just done and something you’re working on so you have stuff you can talk about with potential employers.
• Best way to approach independent companies is with ideas. Pitch them something, if they like it you may just find you’ve got yourself a job.
• Don’t be pushy, don’t make the first thing you e-mail a company a plee for a job. Ask if you can meet for coffee because you would appreciate their advice. Coffee is king in media land.

Best.Movember.Attempt.Ever

Do you NaNoWriMo?

......or to give it its full name National Novel Writing Month. It is an annual event taking place every November to encourage those writers who always procrastinate; those who maybe start but never get around to finishing a whole novel.... which describes me quite well.

The idea is to write a whole novel in a month, just hammer it out without worry about editing or tweaking as you go. Just get the story down; beginning, middle and end (editing can come in December) 50,000 words is the target. The theory is that with thousands of people joining in and doing the same this will spur you on. There are online communities and even organised writing meetings in local coffee shops throughout the month to encourage you.

I’ve known about this event for the last few years but have always wimped out of giving it a try. “You don’t have the time” I told myself “With your full time Job, acting hobby and actually spending time with your fiancée you’ll be lucky to get 5,000 words down in a month, let alone 50,000”.

It was a poor excuse really. People who get novels published are people who find the time to write no matter how busy they are. Even if it’s just that half an hour a day before bed, or the 10 minutes between breakfast and leaving for work.

As I’ve previously stated on here I promised myself that 2012 would be the year I would try to achieve my creative aims, A career in the media is the main thrust of that but my passion for writing is also a part of it. It’s why I started this blog.

So I’m giving NaNoWriMo a go. I’m a day behind already as I didn’t really get inspired to take part this year until I saw others I knew on twitter mention it, but I’ve already got my first 1000 words down.

It would be great to make it to the 50,000 word mark. Great to finish my first novel in the space of one month, but even if I don’t, even if I only make it to 20,000 words by the 30^th November I’ll still be a lot further along in a novel than I ever have before and that in itself has to be worth taking part for.

Plus given the choice between this or a certain other November event, one that requires the growing of above the top lip facial hair, I know which I’d prefer.