Archives for September 2010

I'm one of the assistant editors at 5 live. I'm planning a 5 live family season which we'll be running at the beginning of December. As part of that we want you to tell us what state 'the family' is in, in 2010.

We want to know if you spend a lot of time together or do you rarely see each other? Do you get on well together, or have you drifted apart or had a big falling out? And if you have a problem do you ask your family or your friends for help first?

We'd also like to know whether you blame your parents for anything. And do you have a family hero - someone who's done something amazing which you want to tell us about? We want to hear from you.

We've put together a survey which we'd like you to fill in. It's running on the 5 live website over the next few weeks, it doesn't take long to fill in and we'll use the information you give us to set the agenda for our coverage. So please take a few minutes to tell us about your family.

Related links

You and Your Family Questionnaire

Each week, a specialist in a business subject joins us in the studio for 5 live's On The Money to answer your business questions. Lloyd Davis is founder of The Tuttle Club, London's Social Media Café. He's been answering your questions about how best to use social media for your business.

I'm interested in using social media as advertising, but posting on Facebook and Twitter for people to take part in prize draw resulted in about 5 signups! What is the key to getting initial traction? - Rob, via text

The real keys are patience and persistence - this is not necessarily a space in which you can expect immediate results from strangers. Get to know a few more people, find out what they really need and see if you can provide some of it for them. Overall, remember that social media is not simply an advertising platform, it's a way of building business relationships.

We only occasionally have interesting things to 'broadcast' to customers. Are we going to get any followers if we just broadcast very occasional announcements e.g. every month? - Ben via email

You're probably not going to get many people interested in this sort of thing unless they have a very good reason for wanting the information you're sharing (it helps them to do something that they want to do). I'd suggest you take a critical look at what you think is "interesting" - often we don't actually ask people what it is that they're interested in and when they finally get to tell us the answers can be surprising. Ask a few customers what they want from you.

How to I make full use of social media to attract potential employees? - Thomas, via Twitter

Do good work and talk about it, a lot. Be yourself and act with integrity and then use these media to show what it is that you do to as many people as possible and enter into conversation with those people about what motivates them.

How can a small Accountancy firm use Twitter or Facebook? - Peter, Taunton via text

If you want to get more local clients, it may be that you focus on establishing your identity and what differentiates you from other local firms. Searching for local small businesses in these social spaces who might be prospective clients can pay off as long as you approach them with care - treat it like a local chamber of commerce networking event or similar. You go to introduce yourself and make connections, gradually build awareness and trust among the local community. Always think about what the real-world equivalent is for what you're doing. When we don't get immediate feedback, sometimes we have a tendency to treat people online in ways that we'd never dream of if they were standing in front of us.

Have you used social networks successfully in your business? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Related links

On the Money 26/09/10 - see a photo of Lloyd in the 5 live studio

Perfect Path - Lloyd's blog

Tuttle Club - social media "club" co-created by Lloyd

@lloyddavis - Lloyd on Twitter

On The Money goes out on 5 live between 8 and 9pm every Sunday night

Each week on 5 live's On The Money, Declan Curry sends me to do a Sunday shift in a business that doesn't follow a typical 9-5. This week I spent the afternoon powering the nation at the National Grid.

In front of the National Grid

Here's my report from this week's programme.

Do you have suggestions for other Sunday shifts? If so, please leave a comment below.

On The Money goes out between 8 - 9pm on Sunday nights on 5 live.

Related links

On the Money

National Grid

Jo Tongue, the producer of 606, writes:

Six weeks into the season and the new 606 partnership between Mark Chapman and Robbie Savage is settling down nicely - even if the ribbing between them is not. I think the current chart on one-upmanship lies in Chappers' favour but with Robbie's competitive spirit, be in no doubt that he'll soon be back on level terms.

It's been a hectic start to the season, not just on the pitch and on the phones, but also sorting out the logistics for the programme. So far Robbie has presented from Pride Park, Elland Road, BBC Radio Manchester and BBC Radio Sheffield - that's on top of captaining Derby until 5pm every Saturday.

Mark also has 5 live Sport and Football Focus commitments so getting the two of them, and Darren Fletcher who is always at our 5.30 game - together on the right lines by 6.06pm means my stress levels at 6.05pm are probably a little like Arsene Wenger's were in the 95th minute last Saturday. I do try not to shove the production team about though...

Last Saturday Robbie was playing away at Barnsley (I say "playing" - he was actually on the bench). There was a lot of traffic between the ground and BBC Radio Sheffield. Cue Robbie abandoning his car and running through the streets of Sheffield to the radio studio to get on air by 6.06. He needed the exercise anyway.

Robbie always warms down and has a debrief with his teammates after games, then changes and heads to the studio. His attire has ranged from club tracksuit to crisp white shirt, trousers, shoes and a jacket. It's only radio but he likes to make the effort.

Once we're into the show, it's two hours of madness as the calls start piling in and Robbie and Mark take listeners - and each other - to task. Mark and Robbie have brought a different edge to the show this season. They're both sharp and quick-witted, so the gallery is always an entertaining place to be. Hopefully, it's the same in cars and houses around the country.

I'm writing this in the 5 live igloo in Gateshead. We're just outside the spectacular Sage, and there's a Great North Run event happening around us, before tomorrow's race. Basically, loads of people, bright sunshine, and a great atmosphere. I just saw the legendary Haile Gabrselassie wandering around.

We've got people trying out presenting and commentary, and some of them are really good. One guy was so convincing as he described a Torres goal that I involuntarily did the silent clenched fist thing. Rachel Burden, Jacqui Oatley and George Riley are around to offer advice, but I think they're sneakily discouraging the more promising ones.

Watch our video to find out more about Septemberfest and the igloo.

Earlier on, we did Fighting Talk in front of hundreds of people in the Sage, with the whole thing streamed online. 5 live Weekend Breakfast is also here, with Phil at Gateshead Harriers this morning, and Rachel doing the Great North Run preview tomorrow. From 9am, we'll have full coverage of the race itself.

We're heading back home tomorrow, and we've had a great time. Unfortunately, I might have to go in the van again.

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I'll be getting here in a van, while almost everyone else takes the train. The vehicle was carrying all the stuff we need to get the Septemberfest shows streaming online, and I naively assumed somebody else would load it, and deal with the manual labour. I honestly don't know why I thought that.

Six hours of service stations, some mild road rage and BBC local radio. We just missed our old friend Helen Blaby's show on BBC Northants, because we drove through the area too early, but I did get an insight into Hallsy's motorway dietary regime. A scotch egg, crisps, a samosa, a giant Aero, a pack of Skittles, and three sandwiches.

Got to the Centre for Life, which is one of our main venues, and saw plenty of 5 live logos and banners. At first, I thought we were only second on the bill, but the Ladyboys of Bangkok are actually performing next door.

When we do events like this, we no longer just turn up with mobile radio studios. If you've got Alan Shearer with a live audience in his hometown, it's well worth getting a few cameras in and allowing people to watch as well as listen. But it's not just a few cameras. It's a whole van-load of heavy equipment, and in technical terms, there's more that can go wrong.

Our brilliant video producer Guy rigged up all the equipment, dealt with the technical issues, and then directed the camerawork during the shows. He only swore once all day.

Shearer was in for an hour and a half, and answered questions from the audience honestly and openly. I genuinely thought it was brilliant. I'm from London, and I think it might be too big to have local heroes, but this guy is definitely one.

Once or twice, I forgot I was supposed to be concentrating on my camera, because I found myself listening to what he had to say. I was also totally distracted by the updates from the Liverpool game. When Steaua equalised, I felt the familiar fury. But Guy gently reminded me of my real responsibilities.

Before Alan Shearer, Richard Bacon did his show here, and we also had a 'Meet the Commentators' programme, which was live on BBC Radio Newcastle and here on the 5 live website. Later on, there was Livfest from the Souter Lighthouse, and just now, Kermode and Mayo back in the Centre for Life. Bit disappointed Peter Beardsley didn't turn up. He's a big fan of the weekly film slot.

Got a couple of days of work left, so I'll be back here when it's all done. So far, so good.

Related links

Septemberfest

Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre

Kermode and Mayo podcast

On Wednesday when I appeared on Victoria Derbyshire's programme there were lots more questions than I was able to answer on air. So in this post I'll try to talk in a bit more detail about some of the main points you raised, including comments added to the blog.

There were a lot of questions about how we use audience contributions, whether from text, Twitter, email or Facebook. The main concern was that some of the issues we talk about are too trivial and therefore uninteresting. The first thing I'd say is that one of the most distinctive features of 5 live is our two-way relationship with our audience. We want to hear from people about their views, concerns and questions. But beyond that 5 live is a station with light and shade and many of the wittiest comments you hear on air come from our listeners. To get these contributions, you have to ask the right question and that's where the challenge comes. We often get this right but I'd be the first to accept that sometimes we don't.

It tends to work best if there's a clear reason for asking that question that day and if I, as a listener, care about the answer - either because it tells me something I didn't know, it makes me think or it makes me laugh. To an extent it's subjective but those are the contributions we try to use on air and we'll keep on working to try to make sure others don't slip through.

There were a few questions about political balance. Impartiality is central to what the BBC, including 5 live, stands for, and we work hard to make sure we have a fair balance of views and opinions from across the political spectrum. We do this by thinking daily about how we are covering individual subjects or stories and making sure we have a wide range of contributors - for every Kevin Maguire there's an Iain Dale.

There was also a question was about our use of BBC foreign correspondents. We do use them extensively - for instance the pieces this week by Aleem Maqbool on the floods in Pakistan. We try to highlight the most important international stories, the stories which have a direct relevance to Britain and those stories which give you a real insight into life around the world. We do not have a predominantly international agenda but instead try to cover the international stories which matter most to our audience. The BBC's network of foreign correspondents is vital to how we do this.

A few other answers to specific questions:

Gabby Logan will be leaving her lunchtime programme in the spring. The demands of a five-day-a-week show alongside her sport commitments are proving too great to sustain in the long-term. I fully understand this and I'd like to thank Gabby for the great job she's done on establishing the new lunchtime programme. I'll let you know her replacement as soon as I can but there's no decision yet.

We don't have a specific books slot at the moment in the daytime schedule though we do of course talk about individual books and interview their authors a great deal. I certainly wouldn't rule out finding a specific place to talk about books again at some point in the future and I'd be keen to know more about what people would like to hear. The rain clearly disrupted our plans for the coverage of the US Open Final. In the circumstances I thought John Inverdale and the team did a great job and we brought forward the start of Up All Night.

The issue of whether we over-apologise for swearing on air even late at night was raised. This is a very subjective area - what is completely acceptable to one person is offensive to another. I think we can be a little more lenient late at night but these are individual judgments depending on exactly what language is used in what context.

I often get asked about the timings of our news and sport bulletins on the hour and half-hour. Mostly it's about why we don't keep to time but on this occasion it was a concern that we too often cut things short for the news. I do think it is important that listeners know exactly when they can hear the news and sport and I know many people tune in at those specific points. We have to be very flexible around live news and sport events and sometimes around specific interviews but I think these things should be the exception rather than the norm. Again though it's a subject I'm keen to hear more views on.

Related Posts

Questions for the Controller - your questions for Adrian

Related Links

Adrian Van Klaveren takes listeners' questions - listen to the controller's interview with Victoria Derbyshire

Victoria Derbyshire - listen to seven days of programmes

Pope Benedict XVI in Edinburgh

I don't know the collective noun for Cardinals but I intend to find out. In Edinburgh, on the first day of Pope Benedict's state visit to Britain, three Cardinals and an Archbishop shared the pavements of Princes Street with countless schoolchildren, teachers, parents, pipers and - inevitably - journalists, as dawn broke over the city.

Hours before his arrival on a cold sunny day, thousands began lining the streets between the airport and Holyrood Palace where Pope Benedict would be greeted by the Queen. Twenty-eight years earlier his predecessor Pope John Paul was here in the UK. I saw him at a youth mass in Ninian Park, Cardiff - a day I remember vividly and happily. I also saw him in Liverpool making the journey between the city's two cathedrals along Hope Street.

Different Popes - one a superstar with charisma to burn, the other an elderly, shy man. Different times - Catholicism in Britain riding a wave of confidence under John Paul, now on the defensive after huge failings over the abuse of children.

We didn't know in 1982 what John Paul would help achieve by the end of that decade in Europe. And we don't know yet what shape the world will take under Benedict. The next few days might give us a glimpse.

5 live Breakfast comes live from Twickenham on Friday morning as the Pope holds a service for school children and teachers. Later in the day 5 live will have full coverage of his meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury and address to MP's in Westminster.

Shelagh Fogarty presents 5 live Breakfast with Nick Campbell every weekday morning from 6am.

Related Links

5 live Breakfast - listen to a week's worth of programmes

Papal Visit - full coverage on BBC News Online

Alan Shearer scores his last goal as a professional footballer

We're getting ready to head to the North East for Septemberfest, our annual festival. There'll be an Alan Shearer night on 5 live Sport, Kermode and Mayo with a live audience, coverage of the Great North Run, and loads more. We're broadcasting from Newcastle and Gateshead from Thursday 16 to Sunday 19 September.

Most people will be going by train, but I have the privilege of a six-hour journey in a van. I'm not even allowed to choose the music.

5 live's Commissioning Editor, Jonathan Wall, writes:

"We want to create something special, both for the people of the Newcastle/Gateshead area and for all 5 live listeners. We have built on what we did in our inaugural festival in Hull last year. Hopefully, 8,000 people will be coming to the igloo over the two days, trying their hand at presenting or commentating. I think Fighting Talk in front of 1,200 people in the wonderful Sage Theatre will be a remarkable event, and there will be some very powerful broadcasts in various locations by news programmes. We have been planning this one for nearly a year and there is a great sense of anticipation from everyone at the station. It means a lot to us to get out and meet people who listen to 5 live - whether it's in the igloo or at one of the live shows."

Go to the website for more details, and information on how to get involved. We're all really looking forward to it.

Related links

5 live Septemberfest

BBC Tyne

Newcastle Chronicle

Hasit Shah is a senior producer at BBC Radio 5 live

Adrian Van Klaveren

Adrian Van Klaveren, the controller of 5 live and 5 live sports extra, will on Victoria Derbyshire's programme tomorrow to talk about Septemberfest, our move to Salford and the station in general. He'll also be taking questions from listeners.

If you have a question you can send an email now or text during the programme. You can also leave a comment here. Obviously there won't be time to answer every question but Adrian will write a follow-up blog post after Septemberfest.

UPDATE

You can listen to all of Victoria's interview with Adrian Van Klaveren below:

Related Links

Victoria Derbyshire - more about the programme and links to iPlayer

I think my flying career may be over before it's begun. When they asked me if I wanted to be trained as cabin crew for Thomson Airways, I thought it sounded like fun.

There's far more too it than serving cups of coffee and selling the duty free. Real crew have to know how to deal with everything from putting out a fire on board to calming nervous flyers.

And if you think that safety demonstration looks easy, watch what happens when I try it.

The Thomson crew said there was hope for me yet, but given my John Sargeant-esque scores for some of the exercises, I think it'll be a while before I'm actually greeting passengers.

Rowan Bridge is a reporter for 5 live

In the late summer, as the days begin to noticeably shorten, I find myself looking west from the office here at Television Centre. West to the other end of the Uxbridge Road and the offices of Transworld Publishing. The reason? The new Terry Pratchett novel normally appears at this time of year. Calling it a herald of autumn is almost certainly gilding the lily, but there you are.

Friends of mine who know about my "bad habit" mock me for getting on the tube at the end of August to go and collect my reading copy of the latest Discworld book, but I've being doing it for so long it's probably a standing joke in the press office at Transworld. Of course, the flip side of them knowing you're a fan means that when you ask for a half hour long interview slot they take you seriously.

My conversation with the Discworld creator aired on Saturday's edition of Up All Night. Here are the video highlights.

An interview with Sir Terry has the potential - if you're under briefed or make the cardinal error of saying you've not read the book(s) - of going very badly wrong. Something certain afternoon DJs from other stations have discovered to their cost in the past. It's not that he's prickly, far from it; it's just that this is a man whose work is read and enjoyed by millions. Not affording him the same respect as you would a Rushdie or a Murakami because he's "just a fantasy author" is rude, and Sir Terry doesn't do rude. I suspect the fact that he was a journalist himself plays into this as well; not doing the research is letting the side down.

None of this explains why I make my annual pilgrimage out to Ealing. I make it because I like the books, and knowing that there's a new one sets my palms itching. I have a problem with delayed gratification, you see. Not having the thing snuggled up with its fellows on the two shelves that groan with the hardbacks and the paperbacks, some signed, some not, the cookbook, the maps, the stamp collection and the diaries offends the completist in me.

Sir Terry's new novel

That's not to say that I read them once and shuffle them into a kind of literary suspended animation. The Discworld is a series that I return to: picking one or other of them up and ripping through. It doesn't matter that these are books I've read and re-read; there are always corners and turns of phrase in any book that you forget between visits. That's part of the pleasure of revisiting them.

Of course, from a series as big as this, 38 books and counting, you have your favourites. I personally think he hit his stride around 'Wyrd Sisters' in '88. Before that the books are more obviously parodying bad fantasy novels, and let's be honest here (we're amongst friends if you've read this far) there's a lot of bad fantasy out there.

The Discworld started out as one thing but has, over the course of the last 27 years, become something else entirely. It's not just a realm for literary mischief; it's also the place where Sir Terry explores ideas about identity, society and politics. The fact that he uses magic and characters with odd names in almost recognisable versions of places we might have found here, on our Earth, a couple of hundred years ago is neither here nor there (after all it worked for Dickens - Mr Gradgrind anyone?)

Let's not think about the past - time to welcome the now. Tiffany Aching is officially a proper witch. I know because Granny Weatherwax has said so. If that sentence leaves you bewildered there is a simple solution, pop down the library and ask a librarian to point you in the right direction. If you're very lucky you'll find a large hand which feels a little like a worn leather glove thrust into yours as you are led towards the long shelves. And remember; not 'monkey', but 'ape'. I'd keep a banana handy, just in case. Ook indeed.

Adam Rosser is a broadcast journalist at 5 live. Up All Night is broadcast every night from 1am.

• Up All Night website - see what's coming up and listen to the last seven programmes

Related Links

Terry Pratchett - the author's official website

Terry Pratchett message board - fan forum

Discworld Monthly - newsletter for Pratchett fans

Photo: Liverpool John Moores University

The eagle-eyed among of you may have noticed that the description of this blog in the right-hand column has changed slightly.

As well as announcements about 5 live there are now more entries here about specific programmes, for example Richard Bacon's broadcasts from Edinburgh or Shelagh Fogarty's post about this morning's Breakfast from a school in East London.

While you can still expect contributions from 5 live's controller Adrian Van Klaveren and the management team I wanted to make it clearer that the blog has a broader remit than that. In short the blog should embody the spirit and tone of 5 live and be a place where listeners can engage with the people who work here.

Since I started as Interactive Editor at 5 live two weeks ago I've read a lot of the comments on this blog. I appreciate that it's frustrating when comments aren't acknowledged, questions not answered and people who you've got used to seeing writing posts disappear after a while. I can't guarantee that I'll meet all your expectations but I will endeavour to make sure no one is left in the lurch from now on.

That said the tone of some comments here can be uncivil and I don't think it's fair to expect BBC staff to spend their time responding to impolite remarks. It's inevitable that not everything on 5 live will appeal to every listener but the blog is not a constructive place to air repetitive grievances about our output. I'm not saying we aren't open to criticism, especially when it's measured and well argued, but I do genuinely think that the majority of people who read this blog regularly are put off commenting when they see a lot of negative or particularly aggressive comments.

I hope you appreciate our effort to reinvigorate the blog and I'd welcome your suggestions on how you think we can best use it.

Nigel Smith is the Interactive Editor at 5 live

Memories of schooldays for me today as Breakfast went back to school for the start of the new term. We were at Leytonstone Business and Enterprise Specialist School in East London, and their recent disappointment at losing funding for a massive rebuilding programme didn't dampen the welcome they gave us.

Shelagh broadcasting from the science room at Leytonstone school

Senior teachers, parents and pupils all turned out to tell us what THEY think about their school's future, and the importance of a positive, upbeat approach come what may.

It's a school which gets very strong reports from Ofsted and it shows in the pupils we met. Luke, Alice, and Lizzie talked to us about their involvement in the plans to improve their school, as hundreds more streamed past the Science room we were broadcasting from, as they arrived for the start of term.

As usual no matter which school we visit, ALL schools have the same old things to transport you back to your own - The bunsen burners in the science lab, artwork along the corridor walls, and the bells telling you assembly is looming. But the thing which most took me back was the elaborate pictorial explanation of the Human Digestive System. Aah those were the days.

You can listen to this morning's programme in full via the 5 live Breakfast website until Sunday 12 September.

Related Links

5 live Breakast - full details of the programme, plus links to iPlayer

Shelagh Fogarty video - watch Shelagh and Nicky talk about working with each other

Shelagh Fogarty presents 5 live Breakfast with Nicky Campbell every weekday morning from 6am.