201MC: BBC Volunteering Opportunity

Duration (of professional experience): 1 Day

Recently I volunteered for the university, in aiding them with the live debate surrounding the Mayoral Election (Coventry), with coverage by the BBC (Coventry and Warwickshire).

The volunteering experience involved the following:

• Meet and greet (all guests)

• Helping with set-up of event

• Taking up all guests to the 3rd floor of Lancaster Library (CU), at the Disruptive Media Learning Lab.

• Taking part in a small vox pop (in a group), for BBC Coventry/Warwickshire as part of the ‘Coventry Mayor Debate’.

• Assisting all out of the DMLL and into the refreshments area (Engineering Building)

• Helping with packing up (refreshments and chairs etc).

Upon reflection, the whole experience enabled me and my peers to monitor the whole set-up, further gaining advice and helpful tips from those involved. For example after being involved in a short vox pop interview (around the debate itself) by reporter BBC Cov/Warwickshire political reporter/presenter Sian Grzeszczyk, Sian herself told us about her experience with the media further giving us helpful advice as well, whilst getting to know us briefly (in the time she had to chat, as the event picked up throughout the day). To end, it was a great hands-on experience to see the BBC (Cov/Warwickshire) come into the DMLL and witness the debate itself further bringing up the guests up to the debate room itself. Thus boosting our communication skills and even working on our presentation, further allowing us to briefly network where possibly with various people from the BBC and even the special guests themselves (ushering them in upon arrival of the debate itself).

Bibliography

1) West Midlands Mayoral Debate (18/04/2017). (2017). [video] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p050fkxd [Accessed 27 Apr. 2017].