Have you ever looked at your schedule for the day and thought: ‘The only way this is going to work is if I can split myself in two!’? Frequently, I’m sure.
I actually get to do that sometimes. I can be in several different places at once –on the phone to one person, while I talk to others via podcasts – while I talk to my local radio listeners, via a pre-recorded show. How many jobs let you do that?!
Although, of course, it only works if the technology decides to play the game – and you know as well as I do, chances are it’ll decide not to play just at the moment you need it most!
That’s what happened to me last Thursday – literally. In this post, I should be telling you about the interview I did last week, with Fiona Dallimore of Up Urs Betty, which should have gone out on Thursday’s programme… That’s what I should be talking about, but…
Last Thursday was always going to be hectic. I was booked to go to Dragon Jelly in Southend in the morning and I had a vital phone meeting booked for the afternoon. I don’t normally book anything on Thursday afternoons, because I prefer to go in and do the radio show live, but if I didn’t have this meeting at 2:30pm Thursday, it wouldn’t happen for at least another month – and it couldn’t wait that long. ‘No problem,’ I thought, ‘I can record the interview and send it in with Alison’ (who does the rest of the Thursday afternoon shift). That way, I could be on air and on the phone at the same time.’
All was fine – until a text on Thursday morning told me Alie was ill. I’m next in line to take over from her and would normally do it with pleasure – but this time, of course, I couldn’t. I cursed having to pass up the opportunity of a three-hour radio stint – because I love it! – but there it was. At least I could be there for my own slot, in spirit if not in person.
At that point, the station wasn’t geared up to receive my package via the web, so I had to walk in with it. Trouble was, hard as I tried, I couldn’t fit that around going to Southend. As time ticked on, it became clear I’d have to sacrifice the Jelly session if I wanted to get the show on air and make that phone meeting.
‘Never mind,’ I thought, ‘”two out of three ain’t bad”, as they say’.
Except it wasn’t – two out of three, that is. When I got to the radio station, my package wouldn’t play on any of the computers. I still don’t understand that because I’d triple-checked it beforehand – but there it was; nearly twenty minutes of silence. Now, silence may be golden in many places – but the radio isn’t one of them! Twenty seconds of ‘dead air’ is more than enough to cause mass panic in a studio! So I had no choice but to bring the file back and try to fix it. Somewhere between the PC and my little USB drive, it had been scrambled. It would still play on my PC, but part of it sounded as though it had been broken up into little bits, they’d all been thrown into the air and come down in a completely random order.
If I’d had the rest of the day, I could have sorted it – but as it was, I ran out of time. So I must say thanks to my colleague, Tyler, for stepping in for Alison in my absence – and especially for filling the gap where my own programme should have been.
Tomorrow is a completely live show, with Caroline Thomas of Sales Scene. She’s in to talk about her plans to kickstart regeneration in Thurrock (where she’s based). As she’s coming in in person, at least she won’t get scrambled at the last minute… hopefully…
If you’re in the Basildon & East Thurrock area, you can catch the programme on 97.8 FM at 3)PM. If not, you can listen live at http://www.gateway978.com– do let me know if you manage to hear it. If you’re wondering what ‘Up Urs Betty’ is all about, you’ll find out shortly. Listen to the Thursday show, or watch this space…