broadcasting to both valleys at once
What happened at the meeting?
We split into three groups to discuss three main issues: training, music, and words.
Training
The plan is to run some training for new volunteers, although some of the training will be useful for people who have been around for longer. One idea was a ‘helicopter eye’ overview of what is entailed in a broadcast: what is actually involved, what jobs need to be done, timescales.
Another approach might be more in-depth training in certain areas, like mixing, driving a desk, creating running sheets, reception duties. All these would be useful skills for volunteers to learn or consolidate on in the run-up to Musicathon.
Peer learning would be good but also there may be scope for involving students from Leeds Met. Volunteers might visit the Met to get an idea of what a university is like, if they haven’t visited one before. We talked about accreditation, and finished by discussing the idea of a poll on the website where possible trainees could suggest things they really want to learn about.
Music
We talked about the Fab broadcasts coming up and the idea of finding new young bands to showcase in possible Live elfm events. The next Fab is this Sunday 4th Oct.
Words
Elfm has a new recruit in myself, Peter Spafford. I’ve been knocking about in Leeds for years as a writer and have worked with Heads Together a lot in the past. My job is to develop the spoken word side of the radio station: poetry, radio drama, features, as well as anything else you can suggest…
This Saturday 3rd Oct, myself and Paddy are attending the Leeds Lieder Festival and will record a programme for the Fab broadcast the next day. Lieder is the German word for song, and the festival features a range of songs, or combinations of word and music, that do not fall into the usual categories. Listen in between 1 and 2 on Sunday or visit the Leeds Lieder Festival website and go to a few gigs.
We’re doing a Halloween Saturday broadcast on Oct 31st, in which writers, local people, storytellers will present tales of the supernatural and scary! Do be in touch with me if you want to contribute. But we also discussed lots of word-related ideas for the future, including a book group which could tie in with local libraries, collaboration with local Literature Festivals, and work in schools producing radio drama with primary age children.
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