JZ's Diary
Head of 大象传媒 Radio Scotland, Jeff Zycinski, with a sneak preview of programme plans and a behind-the-scenes glimpse of his life at the helm.
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Radio Academy
Last night in Glasgow I chaired 鈥 for the first and last time 鈥 the Scottish branch meeting of the . My first act was to resign my position and ask if anyone else was willing to take on the role. Let me explain.
The Scottish branch has been in the doldrums for a while but the new Director of the Radio Academy, Trevor Dann, had grabbed me by the lapels at this year鈥檚 Radio Festival in Cambridge and asked if I could help resurrect it. He didn鈥檛 actually threaten me with violence but said he knew where I lived. He also promised I wouldn鈥檛 have to do it forever and I took that as my escape clause.
So last night with our numbers boosted by the attendance of Jay Crawford (who runs Real Radio, Smooth and Rock), Luke McCulloch from Radio Forth and Stuart Barrie from Xfm, we gathered in a meeting room at Pacific Quay to plan the way forward.
My 大象传媒 colleague, Tony Currie, offered to take the chair while I promised to organise more involvement from radio stations in the north of Scotland. We spent the remaining time talking about next year鈥檚 Radio Festival (which moves from Cambridge to Glasgow), training initiatives for students and, well, a bit of gossip about the big movers and shakers in our industry.
I always enjoy hearing the perspective of people who work in commercial radio. Their issues and pressures are so different from those of us who work for the 大象传媒. Sometimes I envy the cut and thrust of their world, but mostly I count my blessings.
One heartening comment came from Stuart Barrie who had been working at Telford College in Edinburgh four years ago when I went through to give a talk to students there. He remembered, word-for-word, some of the things I had said and claimed he used some of them as his programming philosophy for Xfm
I was chuffed. I just wish I could remember those words myself
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SoundTown
A beautiful morning in Dundee as we make our way through the northern outskirts of the city towards Baldragon Academy - home to our new SoundTown project. First impressions mean a lot and so it's good to see pupils waiting at the front door, ready to greet and direct the various guests who have been invited to the launch ceremony.
Our radio events team is busy arranging micophones and scanning the running order. They're minus one member - Becca - who has been smitten with some kind of stomach bug and left in a hotel room to perish...er, rest and recover.
I'm shown into the classroom which has been converted to a 大象传媒 radio studio and I meet the headmaster George Laidlaw and various members of staff . There's also a good turnout from the council's education department which is encouraging. The award-winning school choir pipes up with a fantastic rendition of an African song, complete with split harmonies and percussion.
Clearly there's talent here.Then Spike, our audio engineer, flicks on the red light and we're live on 大象传媒 Radio Scotland. It's working! Roving reporter Richard Cadey describes the scene and orchestrates the applause. He spot two uniformed policemen in the audience and jokes that they have come to arrest him.
"Yes, that's actually true," one of them retorts in a voice so deadpan that Richard is un-nerved.
Baldragon pupils Calley O'Connor and Mark Stevenson are ushered to the microphones and told they will soon be interviewing celebrity guests. Yes, it's those singing twins from the Big Brother house. No...I don't know who they are either.
A little later I'm sat in front of the microphone, speaking to Fred MacAulay (who is back at Pacific Quay) about local golf courses. I mention Carnoustie and Monifieth and Fred begins to suspect I might actually know something about the game. I have to admit - to the Nation - that I only play golf on the Playstation.
Enough nonsense. We cut the red ribbon and our fifth SoundTown project is up and running. Even better, poor Becca, who has actually spent weeks organising all of this, makes a brief appearance.
Time for another song.
.
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Dundee Revisited
"First time in Dundee?" asked the taxi driver as I gave him the name of my hotel.
"Not at all, " I responded and then proceeded to give him my account of childhood summers spent in a holiday hut near Monifieth and how Saturday trips into Dundee city centre formed part our family folklore. Then, two minutes later, as he dropped me at the hotel, I realised why he'd been asking. It would actually have been quicker to walk.Dundee has certainly changed a lot since I was a boy and, from what I can see , the city is still in the process of a major transformation. From my hotel window I've been looking out as rows of little quay-side diners and restaurants and beyond that I can see the coast of Fife.
But some things never change. Such as the traffic system which isn't great for people in cars but provides a form of purgatory for pedestrians. Tonight, for example, I realised that my hotel had one of those wi-fi systems that simply don't connect with the 大象传媒's IT infrastructure. No problem, because across the other side of the dual carriageway I spied a Borders/Starbucks and knew I could get online there and stuff my face with a rasberry muffin at the same time.
Except...how do you get across the road? I had to walk a hundred yards just to find a pavement and then twice that distance again to flocate a crossing point. Soon I was on the central traffic island waiting for a little green man to signal I could complete my journey. I waited and waited and then thought it might be fun to time how long it would take me to cross the road. After five minutes I began to think I might be stranded on that island forever. I felt like Tom Hanks in that movie Castaway. Perhaps I should think of forming some kind of shelter out of traffic cones.
Just as this kind of insanity theatened to overwhelm me, I saw a gap in the rush-hour columns of cars and buses and made a dash for it. And guess what? I survived to tell the tale.
Just not sure how I'm going to make it back.
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Quay Questions
I'm on a whirlwind tour of 大象传媒 production centres this week, keeping staff up to date about our various plans. It was Aberdeen this morning, tonight I'm in Dundee (preparing for our SoundTown launch tomorrow) and then it's Edinburgh and Glasgow. These briefing sessions always throw up some unexpected questions but I try to anticipate as many as possible. It's always a good idea to get your defence in before you're attacked.
Yesterday in Inverness, for example, I felt compelled to state that I had NOT been in attendance at Thursday night's party in Pacific Quay - the one where the chattering of the chattering classes intruded into the evening news bulletin on television. No, at that point I was at home in Inverness, sliding off my sofa with horror as Mrs. Zed demanded an insider's explanation.
Just as well, really. I'm not known for my self-restraint when wine and nibbles are on offer. Chances are you would have heard me organising a post-party pub-crawl around Govan or actually seen me leading a conga dance through the newsroom.
Phew, lucky escape.
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Opening Day (Part Two)
There had been whispers, of course, but no one was quite sure which VIP guest had been invited to open the building. Perhaps the motorcycle cops positioned at strategic junctions around Govan should have given it away. Certainly local taxi drivers 鈥 who know everything including the meaning of life - were convinced that a 鈥渂ig politician鈥 was on his way. With John Prescott out of the picture that could only mean one thing, but security measures ensured that nothing could be confirmed until the very moment that Gordon Brown strolled on to the third floor landing of Pacific Quay and took his seat in front of the 鈥済reat and the good鈥 who had been invited to attend the official opening of 大象传媒 Scotland鈥檚
With staff watching from the surrounding balconies, Top Suits from the 大象传媒 performed, what they described as the 鈥渨arm-up acts鈥 Among them was our Director General, Mark Thompson who promised a and suggested that programmes and services would be switched north from other parts of the 大象传媒. That, he said, included network television, network radio and digital media. There was much talk of our state-of-the art High Definition TV studios, which will provide crystal clear images for viewers and a jobs bonanza for make-up artists. For the sake of my career I should add that our D.G. truly is a great man and handsome too. Love that beard. Alas I have been prevented from telling him this myself because of the new brown-nose exclusion zones that have been introduced for senior management.
Then the Prime Minister was invited to speak from his own special podium. He looked relaxed and in very good humour and got appreciative laughter when he recalled his early career in journalism at Scottish Television. There, he said, the stress was on honesty, accuracy and truth 鈥 the very qualities you had to give up when you entered politics. He also described how he was instructed to deal with calls from angry viewers. You had to listen carefully, take detailed notes of their complaints and always ask them for the number of their television licence. "They tended to hang up at that point", he quipped.
In truth this is a very old joke, but for the sake of my M.B.E is should add that it was very well delivered that with this kind of material Gordon Brown can have the morning slot on 大象传媒 Radio Scotland the next time Fred MacAulay wants a break.
Of course G.B. couldn鈥檛 resist making several references to the role of the British Broadcasting Corporation in British life. This was potentially awkward territory given the current constitutional debate, but in the main his speech was warmly received and when I scanned the balconies above I could see only one man who wasn鈥檛 clapping. He looked like plain-clothed detective and I guess they鈥檙e not allowed to applaud in case they suddenly need the use of their hands for other purposes. You know, martial arts, card tricks and so on.
Then came the only moment of tension as the PM was invited to throw a switch which would illuminate a glass plaque and a bank of display units on each of level of the building. Given some of the teething troubles we鈥檝e been having with the new computers there was a slight fear that this might not go to plan and that he would have to switch it on and off again, reboot it twice and then call the helpline number.
Happily, that didn鈥檛 happen. I can report that here at 大象传媒 Scotland the lights are on and everyone鈥檚 home.
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Opening Day
It's feels like the morning of a wedding here in Pacific Quay as we prepare for the formal opening of the building. Lots of my senior colleagues are suited and booted...ties and lipstick have made a sudden comeback and one poor chap has just discovered an unfortunate rip in his trousers and has asked his wife to dash in with another pair.
The big ceremony kicks off at 11.45 this morning.
I'll give you a full account later.
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Imagine That
Fresh off the train from Inverness this morning and into Pacific Quay to lead a branstorming session on new programmes and services. I'd asked staff across Scotland to come armed with their best ideas and was thrilled to discover that so many people wanted to take part that we had to organise another session next week.
It's always fun imagining future possibilities, but this time I was looking for concrete proposals in advance of our official commissioning round in November.
I'm particularly keen on ways to make more of our programmes available online and build on the success of our recent podcasting launches. In fact, at a meeting in London last week, I was chuffed to discover that 大象传媒 Scotland's podcasts are among the most popular that have been launched recently.That, plus some amazing figures for our football coverage online, and tens of thousands of people 'listening again' to the commentary clip of James McFadden's winning goal against France.
At this morning's session we talked about news programmes, history, comedy, drama and there was an interesting difference of opinion about the kind of programmes that appeal most to female listeners.
"No one wants a 'burdz-zone' " said one of our news journalists.
Well maybe not from the 大象传媒, I thought, but I'm sure I could make money with that title in the commercial world.
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About Last Night
I was sitting in a hotel room in London this morning when I got a call from our Sports Editor, Tom Connor. He was in Paris where he had witnessed Scotland's amazing one nil win over France. This morning he had been out in the streets rounding up members of the Tartan Army to appear on Good Morning Scotland. He sounded breathless with excitement and revealed that there had been almost 100,000 online requests for the 大象传媒 Radio Scotland during the game. Tom asked me if I'd heard any of David Begg's commentary.
I hadn't but I could tell you exactly where I was when James McFadden scored . I was wandering the streets of Notting Hill, trying to catch a bus to Shepherd's Bush. This was because London tube drivers on the Central Line had gone on strike and passengers had to make their own arrangements to complete their journeys. The flight from Glasgow had already been delayed and I knew that my loving family would have been expecting my "arrived safely" call an hour ago.
So I got to my hotel room and phoned home only to be told that Scotland were one-up with ten minutes to go and that I really should get off the line so Mrs Zed and the Zedettes could watch the end of the match. I did what I was told.
That's the thing about families and football...you have to know the score.
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Opening The Door To More Live Music
Typical. This is the one week when I have no overnight stays in Glasgow and yet every night we have live music from the reception foyer at Pacific Quay.
Each one of our evening music shows has been staging concerts. At the moment I'm listening to the souindcheck for The Jazz House session. I'd love to be abale to stay and watch that tonight, but instead I have to catch a flight to London.
There's also been live music in Iain Anderson's show too.
So get yourself along here if you can...and don't be put off by the Daleks and Cybermen hanging around the front door.
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A Fleeting Encounter With Alex Salmond
I was sitting minding my own business in Pacific Quay this morning when I suddenly found myself being introduced to Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond. He was being given a tour of our new H.Q. in advance of the formal opening next Thursday.
"So what do you think of the place?" I asked him.
"Oh terrific...you just need to make more programmes."He then told a story how the Admirality had operated out of spartan underground bunkers during the second world war. Then, having won the war and dismantled most of their battleships, all the top brass returned to opulent surroundings above ground.
"All those chiefs but not enough ships."
The First Minster then made a gesture to the surrounding stairways and glass balconies. Luckily my Dad was in the Polish navy so I'm quite good at nautical chit-chat.
"So you think we should expand the fleet?" I asked.
"That's it! Yes. Exactly!"At the time I thought we were both talking about radio programmes, but on reflection I'm not so sure.
In fact, I have a strange sinking feeling about it all.
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A 大象传媒 Spokes Man
No need for alarm...that was just me on the bike this morning, hurtling through the streets of Inverness with the wind whistling through the vents on my helmet. Officially I was meant to be working from home, but I had to go into the office to collect some documents and, well, the place is now a demolition site and I wont bore you with the parking problems. Grace O'Donnell, one of our receptionists, greeted me with a packet of mail and the offer of oxygen.
Inverness is a fairly decent place for cyclists, especially where the city is expanding to the south and wider pavements have been created to allow for bikes. I was out that way on Friday, visiting my dentist and boasting to him about my new fitness regime. I told him that I had lost five pounds in a week and no longer intended to dedicate my remaining teeth to Thornton's toffee. He nodded in a way that suggested he almost believed me.
Let's face it - if I was lying through my back teeth, he'd be able to tell.
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The Mark Of A True Fan
I鈥檓 seriously starting to question my support for and it has nothing to do with the team鈥檚 atrocious start to the season. After all, the mark of a true fan is that he or she sticks by the team through thick and thin.
No, what鈥檚 really cheesed me off is the careless disregard they appear to have for one of their youngest and most loyal fans 鈥 my ten year old son, to be precise. (I may be biased, of course.)
He, like one thousand others, ordered a special away shirt from the club. Everyone who coughed up a hundred quid would be guaranteed to have their name added to a list and that entire list would be emblazoned on to the shirt. As a fund-raising idea it seemed quite neat even though the delivery of the shirts was held up by several months because Inverness Caley had secured a new sponsorship deal with flybe.com. In a nice touch we were sent a 拢10 voucher by way of an apology for the delay.
Then last week we got a call to say the shirt was ready and could be picked up today from the stadium shop. Mrs Zed went down to collect it and eagerly scanned the list of names for a 鈥榋ycinski鈥. It wasn鈥檛 in alphabetical order, so she had to look twice, then three times and then she found it.
Except it was 鈥楽ycinski鈥. The shop assistant checked our order form and her computer and agreed we had actually asked for 鈥榋ycinski鈥. That is, after all, my son鈥檚 name.
Of course we鈥檝e been offered a full refund鈥erhaps even a shirt signed by Caley players鈥ut that isn鈥檛 the point.
The point is, if you have a slightly unusual name then you can expect that organisations will decide the spelling based on letters randomly drawn from a Scrabble bag.
I wonder how Kraig Brooster would feel if it happened to him.
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The Finishing Touches
Just a week or two to go before the formal opening of 大象传媒 Scotland's H.Q. at and now there's evidence that this actually is our new home. I was about to comment on the simple and understated signage above the entrace door, but when I turned the corner I saw the '大象传媒 Scotland' branding on the Clyde-side face of the building. The letters were so big they reminded me of those old movie poster for Ben Hur. It's what they call 'visibility' and should help all those taxi drivers who still think we're working at Queen Margaret Drive.
This past Saturday 大象传媒 Scotland staff were invited to bring family and friends into the building for a tour. Naturally I piled Mrs Z. and the Zedettes into the car and we shot down the A9 in time to join the fun. A life-sized walking Pudsey was the big hit with the children, followed closely by the chance to be photographed next to an actual Tardis.
As for me, well, I got the chance of a wee sit-down on the Rev. I.M. Jolly's chair.So, musn't grumble.
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- Jeff Zycinski, Head of Radio at 大象传媒 Scotland, on the highs and lows of his work/life balancing act.
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