17/02/2020 Pilot week 1

Ahead of time for the first pilot, I worked with Profidencial to script up a number of idents for the station. We also came up with a loose social media plan we could follow for the real shows. Before the pilot, I was tasked mainly with coming up with the station name. I did end up carrying out a sort of market research and we came up with the name Atlas London. I also helped design a potential logo for the station. It didn’t end up getting used however, as it wasn’t as adaptable as the logo we decided on.

24/02/2020 Pilot week 2

For the second pilot, I worked closely with Stephen to carefully curate the speech show with the chosen theme. Our main aim was to focus down on each topic we were going to cover for the pilot. We also made a decision about the type of sound beds to use for the show. We ended up talking mainly about international cinema so me, Stephen and Charity came up with an idea for a package summing up our idea. We three decided on a rough structure for the package and what clips from what movies we could include.

In the meantime, I had created 8 new idents for the station. Callum had already made a few ahead of time for the first pilot so I followed those examples as an indicator for how I could edit the new ones. I tried to make sure we had some diverse voices but Sara and Charity had already helped sourcing voices. So I used those files to make these 8 idents.

For the main show, Stephen and I came up with a solid plan for the main show next week. I helped Stephen with fleshing out the segments for the show. We had to really establish the hook for each topic we chose to talk about, and how and why we were talking about them. We also had to really ensure us that they stayed in line with the station’s concept. Stephen also thought up the guests we could to invite to the station and together we curated specific questions for each segment. I helped with research as well for guests for this show.

Chloe had also come up with the idea to post our interactive social media questions ahead of time for the launch show on our personal pages. This way we would have had the responses ready in time for the chosen segments. I wasn’t able to get responses for the music show questions, but I did get some responses to my polls.

02/03/2020 Launch show

Ahead of time, I put together more idents. I did make more of an effort to get more diverse accents as well as make more specific idents for the news and The collective. We worked together on the running order for the show as well. During the show itself and for the pre recorded interviews, I made sure to work and adapt the questions we had ahead of time to the answers the interviewees gave. Stephen did work closely with me during the live show to keep me informed on any changes we’d made in case of missed times.

Again Stephen and I curated a specific plan for the next show following the chosen theme. We came up with a list of potential guests as well as curated the questions for them. In the meantime, I worked on the idents we already had as I had to boost the levels on them.

09/03/2020 Show two

For the show Stephen and I worked again to build a comprehensive plan to ensure the show went smoothly. We further tried to develop the hook for each segment and topic of the show. We worked together on developing questions for the guests on our show as well.

Ahead of time I also worked even further on really developing a script for the whole show. I really tried to incorporate Stephen’s show notes on each segment to ensure that I really set up and ended each segment properly.

16/03/2020 Third and final live show

Chloe came up with the idea of creating some food related idents to fit in with the food theme for the week so I made some dry idents that could work. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to script food specific idents ahead of time so I settled on using sound effects with the raw idents we already had.

Again I worked with Stephen to really curate the show to ensure it really worked. We weren’t able to get all our intended guests on air as on of the main ones fell through but we had put together a list of questions ahead of time for that interview.

As we wouldn’t be able to do the last show we will be working on the running order for the last show.

23/03/2020 Plan for show number four

For what would have been the final show, Stephen and I worked together on The Collective’s running order again. We came up with the segments we could have talked about and ensured it stuck with the station’s brand as usual. We both worked on sourcing guests for each segment as well. I came up with the idea of exploring the Day of the Dead festival and sourced the guest for that as well. We both developed each segment to really ensure we were not just talking about generic topics. We further developed this in the questions we chose to ask the guests as well. I also came up with the idea of having Doug Specht in studio as our voodoo expert as he is knowledgeable about different cultures and would be able to inform us on the topic. We also tried to ensure we had a range of ages in our chosen guests.

When the structure of the running order was complete, I worked on my script, using Stephen’s script notes. I tried to ensure that each section was set up properly and wrapped up nicely.

Critical reflection of my role throughout the project

• What did I set out to achieve and how did this change over time

At the start of the project, I set out to be the head of marketing for the station. This meant my main role would have been to ensure that every product of the station stuck with the branding of the station and the station’s mission statement. Therefore, I had to ensure the station’s idents, it’s social media presence, and it’s online presence in general reflected the station’s aims and themes. Over time, I had to move away from this role however. This was because I had to focus more on presenting on The Collective and ensure that show worked with the station’s themes. I did still try and assist Ozzy and Profidencial where I could but my focus was on The Collective.

As the presenter on The Collective, I set out to try and give my best in delivering the planned shows. Over time, I learned to become more flexible when plans change, and I ended up working hand in hand with the producer of the show to ensure we produced the best and most relevant show we could.

• Critique of my work; to what extent did my contribution meet the needs of the station? What worked and what didn’t work? What would I do differently?

As the head of marketing, I wasn’t able to do as much as I would have like in terms of marketing the station. At the very start, I did help with coming up with the name of the station, and creating a hypothetical social plan we could have worked on. Finally coming up with a station name was a huge step forward in terms of developing our ideas for the station as we could therefore start making idents and a logo, etc. However, as the head of the team. I could have done better in helping out my team members where they needed help. With a little more direction / guidelines, I believe our social media presence could have been improved on to really ensure creative and interactive social media pages. The same can be said for our website.

As the presenter on The Collective, I could have worked on my methods of presentation. I could have added a little more character into my delivery of some of the segments, and worked better on controlling my nerves when things went wrong. Being the presenter on one of the shows for Atlas did help the station out a bit in my opinion. I really worked with Stephen to ensure that the whole show stuck with Atlas’s theme. We worked really hard on tailoring the show’s segments to the station’s theme and ensuring that the guests we contacted could give us the cultural content we needed. We also tried to adhere to every bit of feedback we got and ensure the scripts for the show worked and set up each segment and wrapped them up properly.

For the audience participation parts in The Collective could have been greatly improved on. We could have asked our questions ahead of time for the show and that way gotten better and more varied responses rather than making them up. We also could have been able figure out what worked and what didn’t with the questions we came up with. We also could have ensured some of the guests we had on the show had a more cultural point of view as opposed to a generic stand point. We also could have worked to vary the age range of our guests.

• What did I learn about my role, what was challenging, and what will I take forwards as learning for the workplace?

As head of marketing, I learned that I could have done better as the head of a team. There are logistics that should be laid out ahead of time to ensure a project goes smoothly and successfully. The challenging part was trying to balance one demanding role with another. I wasn’t able to properly balance my role as head of the team and as the presenter. Going forward, I know I can be the head of a team, I just have to really work on how I communicate with my team members to ensure we all have the same goals and meet them.

As a presenter, the most challenging part for me was trying to fit my natural personality into a scripted environment. I can do it but I do have to work on taking directions from my producer, and not freak out when mistakes happen. Moving forward into the workplace, I learned that I am probably more fit for speech show presenting and that I do alright interviewing guests of all ages.

• What did I learn about setting up a pop up station, and what would I do differently next time?

A lot goes into setting up a pop up station. The main thing I learned (influenced by my chosen roles) is that when producing output for a pop up station, we need to always ensure that the content we produce always sticks to the station’s branding and mission statement. From the chosen music, to the guests we get on, we need to ensure we find a way to vary the content we come up with to keep them fresh and exciting. We are in charge of ensuring every part of the stations works properly and even when it doesn’t work properly, how to get them working again.

Next time I think when setting up roles, I would try and play to everyone’s strengths with assigned tasks. I would also try and properly balance my chosen tasks, and therefore, work to achieve the best possible products I can.