Continuous Drive

Back safely in Canterbury now and more or less taking it easy after the rather eventful happenings of the last week or so. Oddly enough it was actually the Bakerloo Line that was screwed due to strikes at Kenton station and the Met Line was working with no problems whatsoever.

On returning I discovered a lovely surprise in my Facebook inbox from none other
than Paul Chantler who came across my recent post about the stations he controlled (well in his case "controlled" seems too strong a word), enhanced shall I say, throughout the 90s, and the jingles that he commisioned for them.
I'm definitely going to buy his book on Basic Radio Journalism although I hear that him and Peter Stewart are working on another updated version and there's rumours that another book in the same style as ERS will be published pretty soon from a different author.
The way I look at it, more and more people at the top are realising that individuals are put off wanting to get into radio because of attitudes and ego, and they're trying to make it accessible which it obviously is, if you've got the passion.

It's just that when you're working with someone who think's they're better than everyone else, you're afraid to suggest any opposing opinions because they just
won't have any of it.
But to be honest, the thing to remember is that those with the big egos are the ones who are really scared of potential consequences because they're not prepared for them.
I've also started to understand that there's nothing wrong with getting annoyed with people who use words such as "afraid" and "fear" when they don't really mean them by definition.
It's been a major aim of mine never to use those two words or anything similar in the
final link of any radio show I've done, as it downbeats the otherwise uptempo nature of the programme.

Anyway, overzealousness had marred what could have been an otherwise nice team relationship for Smoke Radio last year that only came to place at the end of the year with SO4S although the attitudes were reflected by how quite a lot of people felt at the awards and who they were given to.
I know it was meant to be light hearted and I was really pleased with my dedication award, but when I collected it, Ricky asked if I wanted to make a speech and I responded rather ironically with "the less said, the better".
However at least Ricky was prepared to ask me questions about programming decisions he wasn't sure about before making them, and my major aim is to ensure that the team spirit continues as I really don't think that certain members of the comittee, especially programming are aware of how important it is.

And that's not a snide remark, it's just that I've now realised that I'm probably a better people person than I thought I was. That and how I've used radio to get to know individuals and then later on get to know about them as people, which has been a crucial part of my time at University.
And another excuse to use a song quote, John Legend clearly states
"We're just ordinary people"
I want to get that across to those in charge next year so I can start to wean off, although there's no way I'm going to leave altogether.
It just makes you even more of a miserable bastard.

Once again the C-word is vital in any industry: Communication.