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Some photos from the team.

16th May 2008, MariaandGerald

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Some key questions from Nick.

16th May 2008 13:00, Nick

Hi, I'm Nick. I've got the lofty job title of Head of Learning, BBC Scotland. On this co-production with the Gaelic department, I'm also acting as one of the 'Execs'. Some might say this means sitting in the background watching others doing all the hard work, taking all the credit when things go well... occasionally we have to get our hands dirty more than planned. And this is definitely one of those situations...

So, one of the team lost their passport at Amsterdam airport - oops! These things happen, and I'd be lying if I said nothing like that had ever happened to me. But it does leave a bit of clearing up.

We were left with two key questions:

Question 1 - Do we cut our losses and forget the Gaelic element of the shoot? No question. So much work has gone in already, and it would be a real shame if Gaelic learners didn't get the benefit of this co-production.

Question 2 - Do we document this in the production blog? Again, no question - we're the BBC, and it's our job to tell stories as they happen, even if it's not according to plan. The Gaelic production team have sent a replacement, and you'll be hearing from him as the shoot progresses.

There's some good learning in here... unexpected things happen all the time, and all good project managers (which excludes "Apprentice" candidates) expect the unexpected and have a contingency - plan B (and C, D, E etc). In this case, our contingency allowed us to keep the show on the road.

It's also important to remember - when things go wrong, keep calm, hold your hands up, get help and evaluate all options. And when travelling - keep your passport close!