Andrew Watson: SSC Broadcasting Officer

[Andrew W]

Hello Sinners! My name's Andrew and I'm running as one of three candidates in this first ever vote for the position of SSC Broadcasting Officer. The position entails chairing the Broadcasting Committee, of which STAR is the operational brand at present, and sitting on the SSC.

Since becoming involved with STAR the first night of my Freshers' Week (when I picked up an advertising card) I have been a contributing member of the music, advertising and news teams, I have produced regularly and have DJ'd every week of our output for the entirety of my University career. I have also contributed to STAR Specials shows. In addition I was a member of the Starfields 08 Committee which triumphed over the meteological adversity when hosting SFVQ last October.

The main policy I have that is different to my competitors is that I have realised the position is Broadcasting Officer, not just STAR Station Manager. I love the radio station and it has given me great experiences, but I think as a sub-committee of the Students' Association we could be serving St Andrews students much better. I want to bring in a visual element to our output. This would be done in three ways: 1) An extension to our news team (which I would rename Current Affairs team to reflect what I want them to do and be) 2) An extra element to our events coverage and 3) Adding pictures to our interviews.

If I was Broadcasting Officer this year I would have dispatched a team to the 'body in the burn' incident last week - there would have been a reporter, producer and camera operator. I'd expect a full report, interviews with the police and bystanders and images to back this all up. In addition, imagine how our profile would be raised further if last year's Judy Dench interview was filmed instead of just recorded on a dictaphone.

However I have many more things I would like to do with Broadcasting. Firstly we need to address our usage of the Media Suite. Hardly any STAR staff realise both Musfund and Rogue Productions share the space and equipment. If elected I would engage with the heads of these organisations to come up with a space sharing solution.

I would also hold an AGM for the sub-committee, space and time permitting, after Spring Break. I would expect this year's committee to be accountable and to provide a brief report of their progress. I would also interview prospective new committee members and draw up a shortlist of 3 people for each position before letting AGM attendees vote in their preference for the job. This is a key aim of mine to reduce the clique aspect that drags STAR down and reduces participation.

We need to attract more listeners to the radio station. This needs the following actions: better use of viral marketing; better and more consistent output; greater audience participation and finally, and most crucially to me, a redesign of the website. It is not user friendly, hurts viewers' eyes, looks amateur compared to what it replaced and general feedback is that it is not fit for purpose. If elected I would implement a new site that does its job before the next broadcast in October.

I will also promise to have a playout system that works for DJs, producers and the tech team. The current does not give users confidence, our Head of Programming should not have to tell users to bring multiple backups in case of failure. If elected I will provide a system that works and is bug free by the next broadcast, even if this means using CDs while a permanent solution is worked upon.

These are just some of my policies, check out my facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=57306512946&ref=mf for yet more detail!

Questions below if you have any.
Cheers,

Andrew Watson
Candidate for SSC Broadcasting Officer

[steelegbr]

I'm only raising points from a tech point of view here. Policies, etc. see my own thread.

...a redesign of the website. It is not user friendly, hurts viewers' eyes, looks amateur compared to what it replaced and general feedback is that it is not fit for purpose. If elected I would implement a new site that does its job before the next broadcast in October.

Hmm... the tech team were dumped with getting a new website online asap. You'll need graphic designers in for that one.

I will also promise to have a playout system that works for DJs, producers and the tech team. The current does not give users confidence, our Head of Programming should not have to tell users to bring multiple backups in case of failure. If elected I will provide a system that works and is bug free by the next broadcast, even if this means using CDs while a permanent solution is worked upon.

I'm also (rather indirectly) punting for a new system on the non-live front, but that's to allow for scheduling. Any system has it's problems. I've seen the market leader £5,000 playout system crash before (my system stayed up all day during the same demos) and some pro systems can't cope with ad breaks properly... nothing's perfect. However, the current system is getting more stable.

In professional studios, you are also told to have a backup ready. This ranges from a CD to a copy of Windows Media Player on a laptop. So the head of production is just following good practice there. I'd be more unhappy about a lack of backup from the on-air team.

Marc Steele.

[Andrew W]

Marc,

Many thanks for your reply. It makes up for the lack of 'Showdown' the Sabbatical candidates have!

With regard to the website, my first issue is that the old one worked better from a user's point of view. I have listened to what my listeners are telling me and they are put off visiting because they just don't like it. Redesigns aren't always best if the old one works better - just look at what happened to Facebook last week. If we are going to go for something completely new we may need graphic designers...but as we have a Union design team and a wealth of Computer Science students looking for portfolio work this should not be hard to do for free or minimal cost. Sub-committees are all about offering life skills and employable skills to students as well as enhancing the student experience - I'd expect those asked to do something about the website would rub their hands at the opportunity. As for the current one being 'dumped' on the tech team 'ASAP' I don't think six months will be an unreasonable amount of time to ask for a solution. If I wanted to I would learn HTML and do it myself in that time. But I plan on running an inclusive committee and organisation thus such dictatorship would have no place under my leadership.

About the playout system...I have listened to many radio stations in my time and have never heard such cockups caused by either poor training or equipment failure. Occasionally someone trips over a wire or presses the wrong button, but at the level of professionalism I am looking it should not happen. I'm delighted you're looking at a new system, if elected I would really like to work with you on this. My point is that the opinion I've gathered from my discussion with DJs and Producers has been the same - they need something they can trust. Every DJ should have a backup, I agree, but I should not be using it every week I present a show because the system has frozen or managed to lose my tracks from CD to screen. If it was only me with a problem I'd put my hands up, but either the system is not fit for purpose or the training the users have been given has been inadequate. Either case is something I will work with my Head of Tech on and will sort.

Inidentally, if your system is so good, why aren't we using it?

Andrew Watson

[steelegbr]

Inidentally, if your system is so good, why aren't we using it?

Runs on Windows (that's a whole other can of worms involving licencing for Windows, new machines and ITS once they take over the Union IT). Also, the charities watchdog people don't tend to like members selling stuff to the charity they volunteer for. There is also the cost argument. I come in at £100 above the cost of the machines. What we've used to date has been effectively free.

Though if you want a consultancy service on playout systems, please contact my company at http://www.radioautomation.co.uk/.

Six months is not unknown for a from scratch website. However, it's the six months everyone's out of town and on internships, doing commercial work, etc. We did try to get designers on board (the current tech allows for templating) however they pulled out for various reasons even after an offer of payment. Also, the brief for the new site was to remove a lot of the content that never got updated. Having less content is preferable to having out of date content.

You would also need to bear in mind about the dynamic content needed for the site (all the database and scheduling stuff). It's not a quick job nor can be easily completed with off the shelf tools.

In relation to other station sites, it's actually not all that bad. Take a look at sites for most local radio stations. You're lucky to get a schedule sometimes.

I'd rather fixate on the station sound and have the website as a "back burner" project. I personally think the on-air imaging is in more need of a re-design (i.e. we have absolutely no consistency in the imaging and *everything* is a montage!).

I must say that training is not lacking. On-air volunteers have been provided *many* chances to attend training sessions (purely for IT though, I want to see everyone fully trained in all aspects before going near a live broadcast next year). We're actually making use of "autologout" on the new system to catch people that have not been fully brought up to speed on the system (the IT team don't hand out an account until you can use the system).

So... vote for me if you want a realistic radio service!

Marc Steele.

[Andrew W]

I appreciate you have the superior technical knowledge here - that is why you hold your position. However as I have said I will commit to a playout system that works and a website that is user friendly and useful.

I'm the opposite to you - I'd rather have a site that works and encourages people to use for its audio content, its text and its pictures, as well as the new video element I'm promising to look at. Once we have somewhere for people to access our content we can work on the content.

Again, just from talking to other DJs and Producers, whizzing through to show them what to do does not constitute training. I appreciate there are a lot of people to train in a short space of time, which is why I will spend the time running up to the broadcast launch in October making sure we are as ready as we could ever possibly be. Let's not debate the training for this semester though, bygones are bygones and I'm only looking forward from here whilst learning lessons from the past.

So... vote for me if you want a realistic radio service!

Wrong thread, yours is below this one. This is where people question me on my policies, not where my rivals promote their own campaigns.

Vote Andrew Watson if you want a Broadcasting Committee that realises it is more than just radio, and which will make its listeners' (and viewers'!) experiences enjoyable and fulfilling.

Andrew