After he spent a week on the About the BBC website, we thought it only polite that we pass the Round Up torch to BBC Trainee Sam Buckett.
The World Cup drew to a close on Sunday and brought to an end the most entertaining football tournament of my own recollection. As such, the come down this week has been fairly intense, but as they say “all good things must come to an end”.
The BBC covered every moment of the football fiesta from Brazil across television, radio, mobile and online- as a football fan it was near impossible to miss any of the action without perhaps falling asleep on a train, only to wake up and find Germany 5-0 up against the hosts before half time, as I did.
However, as with every World Cup there will be moments I’ll remember forever. Goals from James Rodriguez, Robin Van Persie and Tim Cahillset the world stage alight as did some of the performances of lesser known players and teams such as Costa Rica, Chile and Algeria.
Of course, with any World Cup the lasting image will be that of the winning captain holding the trophy aloft amongst his team mates. As Phillip Lahm did so, I thought about all the years of training and perfect practice that had led to that moment and wondered where the training I’m currently undertaking will lead me? It won’t be with England to World Cup glory, I’m not sure whether that says more about my footballing ability or the English national team, but hopefully some sort of world domination will ensue.
As a BBC Communications Trainee I’ve spent the last two months immersed in the world of Television publicity and now currently, Digital. Over the next ten months I’ll be gaining experience in various other departments including News and Radio. This means I get to do some pretty cool stuff which has so far included working on the launch of upcoming TV shows, assisting on a photo shoot for Holby City at the Elstree studios and live-tweeting a speech by the Director General, Tony Hall, from City University, London. A personal highlight has also included taking a selfie with Pixie Lott. Shameless.
Above all this however (even the selfie with Pixie) is the level of training I have received since joining the BBC. Alongside my comms training buddies, whose experiences range from Eastenders to the Proms, I’ve been learning both in the classroom and on the job. This Thursday we attended a workshop focused on music and radio publicity and working within the guidelines of the BBC and the law.
A little less intense perhaps has been some of my own personal education this week. Since joining the BBC I’ve been amazed at the amount of learning content that is available free of charge online and over the last few days I’ve been following La Mappa Misteriosa, an interactive guide for beginners through the Italian language. With an impending trip to Italy on the horizon I’ve been doing my best to pick up the basics. Whilst I don’t expect to be holding in depth conversations with Italian football fans about our respective nations’ World Cup shortcomings, after only a few sessions I’m confident I’ll be able to order some food and even tell the waiter my favourite colour!
Sam Buckett is a BBC Communications Trainee.
