Keeping It Real - July 2008

Sick of Tunnel Vision

Having had sufficient time to settle back into life in Orkney I’m feeling glad to be home. As I’ve mentioned before in this column, making the necessary adjustments needed to fit back in here after being in the city for a whole term can take me a while, but I’m glad to say I’m over that now.

Some of you may already be aware that I’m working at Radio Orkney for the summer. As usual this is proving an excellent opportunity to learn a great deal of skills, including those in journalism and presenting which will be of great benefit to me in my planned career as a radio broadcaster.

Because I’m working almost full time at the station, with the rest of my family on Auskerry, I’m living in our Kirkwall house by myself. This is actually one of the biggest adjustments I’ve had to make since coming back from University. I’m so used to the constant humour, noise and general banter in my flat that coming home to an empty house at the end of a days work is a bit of an anti climax. I suppose this is just another part of life which I’ll have to get used to, for the time being at least.

Something which I have been meaning to mention for a while are the comments often made in Orkney Today’s ‘Hoo’s hid ga’an’ feature. The particular bit I’m referring to is the question which asks what one thing would improve Orkney.

I am sick of seeing some variation of the answer; ‘A tunnel to the mainland’, ‘Towing Orkney nearer the mainland’, ‘A bridge to Scotland’ etc. Why do people feel the need to find room in their head for these ridiculous statements, let alone in the paper? I rarely get annoyed by people’s opinions as I think healthy debate is crucially important in any community. However, if you genuinely believe that a fixed link to the Scottish mainland will improve the quality of life in Orkney you must be mad.

Orkney’s remoteness is one of its greatest assets. Amongst many other things it gives us a strong sense of community, offers tourists something exciting and adventurous, and keeps us comparatively free of crime. I would be willing to bet that the same people publicly suggest Orkney would benefit from more permanent links to Scotland would be the first to complain when the roads are blocked with Sunday drivers from Caithness. My point to such people is this; if you are irritated by the lack of a B& Q – or whatever the reason - the solution is simple. Move.

Please don’t use your opportunity to tell us about yourself and offer us something entertaining, as a chance to moan about one of Orkney’s most defining qualities. As somebody wisely said to me when I was struggling with some school work; ‘Nothing easy is truly worthwhile.’

You’ll be glad to hear that’s the rant out of the way! There are a couple of other things I think are worth mentioning. Since getting home I have been asked by several people about my post university plans. I will have completed my degree by this time next year and hopefully starting my first job, ideally in radio. The most common question I’m asked concerns the level of involvement I will have with Orkney after I graduate.

I will always be drawn to the islands. They are my home and I can honestly say that I love it here. However, my long term goal is to become a full time presenter on national radio. This presents me with quite a serious logistical problem. How could anyone realistically live here and still present a daily show on Radio 2 for example? Even with the constant advance of existing technology it’s still not particularly feasible. For example, live guests such as singers and actors are usually based in London and to get the best from an interview carried out from a studio over six hundred miles away would be quite difficult. Perhaps more critically, to put myself in a position where I might have a chance of getting such a job, I will need to be based in London, or at least one of the big cities like Manchester or Bristol.

As a result of this my plan is to spend some time this coming academic year compiling my CV and writing letters to prospective employers. In an ideal world I would graduate from Sunderland University with a job lined up. However, I suspect that given the extremely competitive nature of the media industry, I’m expecting things to be a lot more difficult than that. As a back up I’m planning to move to London in a bid to increase my chances of being ‘in the right place at the right time’.

Another thing I’m regularly asked about is to do with the origins of my surname. As I’m sure most people in Orkney know, I was named after ‘Auskerry’, the two hundred and fifty acre island which lies on the East side of Orkney. After the ‘new friend’ discovers I grew up on this island inhabited only by my family, the questions usually begin to flow thick and fast.

The one which amuses me the most, and has surprisingly cropped up a lot, is whether or not the island was named after me! I can’t understand why people would immediately assume that an island would be named after anyone. My response is a variation on the following argument. Auskerry, the island has been around for tens of thousands of years. I turned 20 last week. Which do you think had the name first!?

Next month I’ll be busy preparing for Radio Orkney’s outside broadcasts at the county show and the parish cup final, and for the return visit from the five university mates who failed to reach Auskerry last year because of poor weather. We all hope we are a bit luckier this time.

Keeping It Real - June 2008

Utopian Dream Job

The last four weeks have been a mixture of stress, great fun and very hard work. In the run up to taking over as Utopia manager two weeks ago, I’ve been busy contacting various people with a view to getting members of the Sunderland community involved in the September broadcast. This work has so far been a success and we have secured an empty unit in the local shopping centre to use for a launch event. We have also involved the local music forum and we’re currently in talks with Sunderland City Council.

As well as this I have held elections for the other management roles needed to run a radio station including a head of music, head of sales and a head of news. I’m really happy with the new team as they all seem enthusiastic and motivated. I’m looking forward to working with all of them over the summer and through the broadcast in September.

Perhaps the biggest chunk of my time has gone to the evening show which I have been doing four nights a week for the three weeks we have been on air. The Rory Auskerry Show has involved several of my friends and a great deal of time but has been thoroughly rewarding. Being on the air from 7pm allowed me to choose my own music rather than having to stick to the station’s play list, which was a real plus for me. I was also able to bring friends in to take part in the show. I recruited three of my flatmates as a co-host, a producer and a writer respectively. In addition; one of the Northern Hype team, Chris, who is also managing the station with me in September, did a live DJ set for an hour two nights a week. Caroline, a second year journalism student joined me on Thursdays to co-host, and another friend, George, took professional pictures of my guests and the team.

I suspect that having so many of my mates working on the show didn’t help the listening figures as they couldn’t be doing both, but it certainly hasn’t damaged my ego!

Every show across the week featured different voices and genres of music and I have really enjoyed the variety. However, the station has been incredibly badly promoted and as a result we have very few listeners. Although we have carried on as if we are being heard with a view to having fun and gaining experience, it’s difficult to maintain enthusiasm when you feel your efforts are falling on deaf ears.

On an established station, listener’s texts and emails provide the DJ’s with two important things. One is the encouragement which comes from knowing you are being heard and not simply sitting in a small room, with padded walls and no view of the outside world, like you were in a mental asylum.

The second is the fact that listener’s stories, jokes, opinions and requests provide an invaluable source of link material and feature ideas. It is also impossible to play games, run competitions or know if you are funny if nobody gets involved. Therefore the lack of listener interaction on Utopia has had a hugely detrimental effect on all the presents throughout this broadcast.

In an attempt to overcome this issue I will be making a huge effort to publicise and promote the station in September with things like a high profile launch event in the city centre.

I have also been very busy completing projects and assignments for my course. As hand in dates and deadlines for practical work approach, more and more people have been asking me for help and advice with their radio work. I actually love this and find it flattering that both my friends and people I barely know come to me for advice, or to get answers to technical questions. It only gets a bit difficult when I’m at home writing an essay or trying to edit my own work and the phone keeps going, but as I said, I really enjoy it. How much help I am is debatable!

May saw the end of another happy year of university, and many good times living in Flat 30. I’ve always found good times coming to and end a real wrench and this is no exception. I’ve spoken before about how important a good home from home is while studying away and the lads have done that for me for a second year. Andy and Phil are moving on with me to Elmwood Street next year but I will miss living with Dan, Andy B and Darren.

One of the biggest issues both parents and students have with the idea of university is understandably the financial implications. I am aware that finding the money can be extremely difficult, and the idea of a huge debt may well be the icing on the cake to put some off it all together. However, having reached the end of my second year with a little money still in the bank, and without needing handouts, must be reasonable evidence that it is achievable. What I can say for certain is that the money which has so far been spent on my university education has been entirely worthwhile, apart from perhaps the odd lager perhaps! Aside from the obvious academic benefits, the experience has helped me to grow up, I am more confident than I was before and I will certainly not regret my decision to go to uni. Bring on next term!

However I am very much looking forward to being in Orkney this summer. As the weather improves and the days get longer, I find being confined to a city quite frustrating at times. I miss the opportunity to get out in a boat or use my push bike. I also find it hard to adjust to the different lifestyle in Orkney when I’m only home for short time, so having a three month run will be great. Cheers meantime.