Some of the studio engineers were off today from the studio on location filming the MSC Napoli and the resultant polution for one of our clients the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. I am not sure if they made it as the police were closing roads due to the number of people attempting to salvage things!
I have been preparing to record two podcasts this week. One is for the European Podcast Summit which is happening 19th/20th March in London. The other for a project I am working on that is in its early stages but will be real fun if it comes off.
One of the big frustrations in the media production world is the number of great ideas (not always mine I hasten to add) that go nowhere. It is usually a problem with diaries and availability. Sometimes it feels like 'herding cats'. I have been working on one concept for almost 6 months now. Everyone agrees it is a good idea but trying to get everyone free and available to start the production is a real pain. I worry constantly that someone else is just about to beat me by getting exactly the same idea podcast before I do.
Later this week I am coaching a senior executive of one of the top European Management Consultancies in presentation and influencing skills. We use video and audio as part of the evaluation and feedback loop. It is very powerful as many have never seen themselves.
In his most recent 'Sales Caffeine' newsletter Jeffrey Gitomer said:
"Presentation skills are one of the least taught areas of selling, and one of the most critical. Your ability to present in front of a group, and be compelling, will make your one-on-one presentations seem like a piece of cake. Obviously, it will take more than one week to get good at presentation skills. I recommend that you take a class for an hour or two a week, and stay in that class for years. Presentation skills evolve over time, and they require self-evaluation in order to give you the real-world jolt to get to the next level.
NOTE: Watching myself present has been the single most powerful element in my own improvement. It took me more than five years of filming myself before I got to the point where I admitted that I liked it. The lesson will be hard, but the rewards will be phenomenal."
I had the pleasure of meeting up with Hugh MacLeod on Sunday for a 'Geek Lunch'. It was good fun. Lot's of interesting people from all walks of life. Hugh was as usual a great host and on good form - although sporting a wrist cast. After lunch we went to the National Gallery to see the Manet to Picasso exhibition. I can really recommend it. I will put some photos up in a later post.
It is goling to be really intersting to see what social media does at Davos. I really love the idea of 'citizen journalism' although I know many will disagree with the term as the boggers who are attending Davos are really new media/social media correspondents. The big difference is that they work much more interactively with their 'readers' and is happening here - asking for questions to ask. Now that is not the way that traditional media tends to work.