Tuesday 10-04-2018 - 10:37

Purple Radio recently won Best Training Initiative at the Student Radio Association awards. We spoke to Matt Calvert, Outgoing Head of Broadcasting Standards, about how Purple Radio achieved this award and what it meant to him.

I am immensely humbled by the Student Radio Association’s recognition of our efforts to improve training at Purple Radio. The introduction of new software made designing and executing a new training initiative a monumental task. In winning this award we beat student radio stations whose members are actively studying radio production. Our ability to compete with that level of focus is restricted simply by the fact that for our members, radio is their hobby and not their degree. Beating such fierce competition feels like David defeating Goliath.

Our I Love Student Radio Award for Best Training Initiative was primarily awarded for the creation of The Purple Handbook. This is an online knowledge base developed by myself and Alok Kumar, containing articles which guide members in all aspects of broadcasting. There are step by step technical guides and video tutorials, as well as advice about how to present and structure a radio show. Alok and I devoted a considerable amount of time to building the website and writing the content which it came to feature, so it has been wonderful to see our members benefiting from our little pet project.

The Student Radio Association also praised our redeveloped internal system for training our members. In summer 2017, I set about planning a longer and more in depth training session for our members, scheduled to coincide with the installation of brand new studio software. At the start of Michaelmas term, myself, Emily Kilner and Ed Bloor set about training in excess of 100 people. Over the course of three weekends each member participated in a group tutorial lasting 30 minutes, and was given a more in depth introduction to our studio than had ever previously been offered. To supplement this, I also introduced a one-to-one training session called Purple Introducing. This offered members the opportunity to sit with an experienced member whilst presenting a live radio show, during which they’d receive live feedback and assistance. This scheme was carried out by myself and Emma Bailey, and those who participated have since gone on to present high quality shows.

We acknowledge there is still a great deal more we can do to improve the experience of our members. However everyone at Purple Radio is immensely proud that our efforts so far have been recognised in this way, and we look forward to another successful year!

Know a student group or individual equally deserving of an award? Why not nominate them for an SU Annual Award here? Nominations close 29 April.