Blast

Dear Diary...

Week 8 – The finale!

A kiss goodbye!

The end is finally nigh! My final week at the BBC is here! I can't believe it, my time here has gone so quickly! I've loved every minute of it! But, enough of the emotional stuff, back to the diary-ness. At the beginning of the week I interviewed a local artist (check out the article!) and then wrote it all up on CMS (oh how I am going to miss CMS *sarcastic face*). The next day, Tuesday, I started college! Well, not properly, it was an induction day type thing. All was well, until I realised that I had been sitting in the wrong class for the past four hours! When I finally got sorted out, it was good meeting my new class mates and knowing that we all had something in common - music! The end of the week is now here, believe it or not, and in my case, it's more like not, so I have to say bye-bye BBC! And bye-bye public! I will miss you! BLAST ROCKS!

Week 7

Back to normal! This week I was trying to get out of the holiday spirit and back into the work work work routine. Didn't really happen! I spent most of the beginning of the week arranging interviews and finishing off random bits 'n' bobs I had left to do, and the second half in Birmingham! Well I say half, I mean Friday.

On Friday the lovely folks at the BBC sent me to Birmingham for a Blast presentation day. It was a farewell meeting, helping us with life after blast. It was really good seeing everyone from the weekend in Bristol, but sad knowing that blast is nearly over! *Upset face*. On the up side, in true BBC fashion, there was always the free food to help us get over it!

The journey back was hell! Instead of catching one, one hour train from Birmingham to Leicester, I caught four! Yes four trains, from Birmingham to Coventry, then Coventry to Rugby, then Rugby to Nuneaton and then finally Nuneaton to Leicester. I was not amused. Apart from that, I had a really good week!

Week 5 & 6

Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside!

Holiday! Celebrate! Yes, for week 5 and 6 I was in Greece! Crete to be exact, two weeks in the sun, partying on down with my fellow friends! Well, BBC or not, it is the summer holidays after all!

Week 4

Results! Yes it was the time that I had been dreading, A-level results day. Luckily I had done slightly better than I had thought, B C D! Life could be worse! BBC wise, I was ill, so not much journalistic action there.

Week 3

This week was mainly taken up with writing up stories. This may not seem like a very time consuming activity, but believe me, with the CMS system (the thing you use to put articles onto the website) it is. I was also having a nosey at what was going on in Leicester, and preparing for my results! Argh!

Week 2

Feeling a little more at ease, this week I began feeling less like a confused teenager, and more like one of the staff. On Tuesday, I had the chance to go to my first free gig! The fact that it was free to everyone was not an issue for me, I still felt like BBC royalty! Taking pictures and interviewing strangers made me feel like a bit of a weirdo, although I soon got over that feeling when people were coming up to me to talk!

Me hard at work at my desk.

The rest of the week I was in the office rattling around on the computer. On Saturday I went to the Caribbean Funday, which after going to it, was not as fun as I had expected. Even so, I still went round taking pictures, and writing up a very complimentary review.

Week 1

My first day at the BBC was extremely exciting. It began with a tour of the building and brief conversations with some of the staff, which then went onto me beginning my health and safety exercises which lasted approximately four hours. Thrilling.

The rest of the week saw the publishing of my profile on the BBC Leicester website, which I then boasted about to my friends and family, and pretty much anyone who would listen. I also began researching on possible stories I could cover at my time at the BBC and I attended my very first BBC meeting! Wohoo!

Blasting into the BBC

Blast in Bristol

Before I had a chance to begin my blast experience, I was sent to Bristol on 23 and 24 June for my Blast training weekend. I had no idea what to expect, and further more, no idea what to take! But my mentor Emily filled me in on what was going to happen in the days to come.

I turned up at the train station, with a suitcase that most would take on a week long holiday to Greece, and began to look for a person that I had never seen. Confusing, I know.

Us Blastee's!

 In the end, I decided to stand outside the WH Smith's where we had agreed to meet. Luckily my mentor, Emily, had assumed that the worried looking person with an average-sized suitcase, was me, and introduced herself. We waited a while for Pheann, the Blast Reporters coordinator, and boarded the train.

The 5 o'clock start meant that we were all a little tired, although we managed to keep each other entertained with our exciting conversations. The (free) three and a half hour train journey had ended and we were finally in Bristol. We jumped into a (free) taxi and shortly reached BBC Bristol. Exciting stuff!

At the door, Emily, Pheann and I were greeted by members of the BBC Bristol team that were going to be in charge of us during the training weekend. We walked to a random van in the car park where we were to leave our belongings and were assured that they were going to be taken to our hotel. Here, Olly, one of the BBC Bristol team, commented on the size and weight of my 'over night' bag.

We were then taken to a room where all the Blast Reporters were. The opening talk was very interesting, as I got to find out about all the things I was expected to do, and how Blast is a huge step up the BBC ladder. We then broke for lunch, a (free) buffet in the BBC canteen. This was a great chance for me to meet some of the other Blast Reporters.

All of us then headed over to the SON&R centre to begin our training. All the reporters were split up into three groups, to complete three different workshops over the two days. These workshops were: CMS (content management system), writing + interviewing and camera skills.

After completing two workshops, we walked to our (free) hotel, to change, have some (free) dinner and complete our last workshop of the day, Video Nation, at the Bristol Imax. This was one of my favourite workshops as we learnt how to use video camera's and had the chance to film our own footage.

When we returned, me and some of the other Blast Reporters took some time out of our busy BBC schedule to discover Bristol's nightlife!

In the morning, we had a lovely (free) buffet breakfast and departed for our final workshop at BBC Bristol. The training weekend was amazing as I learnt a lot of useful things and met loads of wonderful people! Plus, everything was free! Thanks BBC!