October was my second last month of my kick start experience working here at ZW Media and it was very much an eventful month. As Autumn was coming in, making its presence known with the leaves falling, darker night coming in and the colder weather starting to dominate the agenda.

As well as the change of seasons, October also marked the start of Black History Month here in the U.K. ZW Media decided to take the initiative and give it appropriate coverage by having all four of October’s shows dedicated Black British icons whose achievements might not been widely known be society at large, at least not to the level they should be.

My first job was to do initial research on the people we would potentially want to talk about on the shows. It was so fascinating to learn and dive in to these people and there achievements with what they contributed to British society. Some of the names I knew such as the news presenter Trevor McDonald and entrepreneur Levi Roots, others I didn’t quite so much but educating myself on their lives and their achievements was really eye opening as well as inspiring but also quite sad thinking certain societal structures in place that these individuals not just have to fight but have meant that their achievements aren’t as out there in the public consciousness as they should be so being apart of a project that had the intention of spreading awareness has probably been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in the job so far.

Another rewarding experience this month was being a part of a radio and music course ZW Media helped put on alongside Leyton Orient trust. The course was beard in Leytonstowe, a part of London I was not familiar with. The course was put on in half term to give the children something fun to do and keep themselves occupied, which is critical vital considering how the last 19 months or so must’ve really affected them, as well as giving them an introduction to a course which would end up in them gaining an invaluable qualification. As I strongly believe in the power of education and learning to enhance young people’s development. Creating a lot of material for it including some of the pages for the course’s exercise booklet to the promotional material. Seeing the poster promoting their live radio broadcast stuck on the notice board gave me such a feeling of self satisfaction and achievement seeing your design. This has been the case with a few of my designs in this role which has improved my confidence ten fold in this regard. I went in on both the Tuesday and Thursday.

The Tuesday had me help with the children interviewing one of my bosses’ former students who has also been successful in the industry himself. After this, I also had the experience of hosting the radio show myself solo for the first time which, though I have done solo podcasts before, was a bit of a nerve racking experience I cannot lie but I feel I manage to give a good account of myself, as well it was very much a great experience to have had and learn from. The Thursday had the you g people interview local councillors before finally having a performance for the young people to express themselves and show everyone what they have learnt which must’ve been a real great experience for them before their final radio broadcast on the Friday, which I listened to, which the young people excelling this regard. Pictures to assit with this blog will come in time.

Podcasts:

Blogs: Paul's Kickstarter Experience at ZW Media Limited.

October blog post

September blog post

August blog post

July blog post

Kickstarter experience at ZW Media Limited blog.