Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry - November 2008

Gambling on an award

As I expected a lot has happened since last months column was printed. For a start we successfully completed Utopia’s two-week broadcast without too many hitches. I’m very proud of this because it was a heck of a lot of work, and by the end of it I was completely shattered. However, when we played the last record and I flicked the power switch on the transmitter I felt mixed emotions of relief and sadness.

Having had time to reflect on the broadcast I have been able to understand exactly what I’ve learned from it. I’ve had to manage people, overcome technical problems, coordinate promotional events and coach many of the presenters; not to mention juggling all this with producing and presenting a two-hour news and local affairs show throughout the week.

It’s been great fun and I’m extremely glad I took on the challenge back in May last year. That doesn’t mean to say I haven’t got regrets. There were plenty of things that could have been improved and I’m still kicking myself for things that I messed up with, both on and off the air.

Ultimately though, I think we all did a good job, it was great fun and everyone seems to have benefited from the experience. The university staff in the media department seem happy too which is a bonus.

I had some good news about my own work a couple of weeks ago; I’ve been nominated for a student radio award! Back in June I put together four minutes of what I thought were some of the best bits from the evening show I presented on Utopia last May, together with a covering sheet to explain a bit about me and the show itself. I posted this off to the Student Radio Association and didn’t really think much more about it.

Last week, to my delight I got a message from one of my lecturers congratulating me on my nomination. I suddenly remembered that the night before had been the date for each of the regional nomination parties so I checked the website and sure enough I’d won the nomination from the North East. This means that I’ll be heading down to London on the 6th of November to the awards party in the O2 arena. I’m one of five lads nominated in the national scheme for the ‘best male presenter’ award this year so it’s very exciting and could prove to be a handy career boost.

Now that term has started properly I’m turning my attention towards my Uni modules and most important of all; my final year dissertation. This is going to take the form of a half hour radio documentary, which I must research and produce by April next year. I have pretty much decided to take home education as the subject of the programme and look at the many different aspects of this method of teaching. Having been home schooled my self for several years it’s a subject I know a little about and at the same time I’m keen to find out more from other people who are currently, or have been, home educated.

The night before I found out about my nomination I had my first experience of gambling. The fact that it’s taken me until the age of 20 before I’ve had a go should provide some indication of my general attitude towards this ‘pastime’. Despite being firmly against gambling I was persuaded to accompany my mates on a trip to the Sunderland Greyhound racing track. I think it was the free pint promotion that swayed it for me but I felt that trying it once would be interesting and fun. In total I bet the astronomical sum of seven pounds on a number of races and I’m pleased to say that I won absolutely nothing. This has reinforced my opinion that I’m right to avoid gambling and instead keep any spare money I have in a saving account. Having said that, in the present credit climate some may argue betting on the dogs is a safer bet than the bank! Of course if I had actually won some money I might have been tempted to try my luck again, but instead the experience has made me even less keen on betting, but that’s not to say we didn’t have a great night out.

Last month I was asked if I’d like to DJ in our brand new ‘Campus’ nightclub. I’ve always been keen to play there, so despite the fact that the Gig was an unpaid trial run, my ever present DJ’ing and radio companion; Chris Brackley, and I turned up on the night ready to rock the house. Although we only played for an hour and a half between us we had good fun and managed to get most people in the club dancing to our mad mix of Indie, R n’ B, Cheese and Dance. According to the management it was the busiest Monday night to date and I’m hoping we will get offered some more gigs in the future.

As I’ve mentioned before, my housemates and I are living in a private rented house just outside the city here in Sunderland. The five of us decided last year that as much as we enjoyed the security and ease of university flats it would be a good idea, and a nice change, to rent somewhere ourselves in our last year at uni. I think we are lucky that between us we can organise money, sort the computer, TV and wireless network problems, make simple D.I.Y. alterations and repairs and keep up a good relationship with our land lord. I’m counting on the things I learn this year standing me in good stead when I need to rent a place on my own for the first time.

I’ve been very interested if somewhat annoyed by the recent story concerning Russell Brand, Jonathan Ross and a series of phone calls to the actor, Andrew Sachs. I personally think the British press have shown little humour in escalated a small mistake into something that’s been blown completely out of proportion. Having said that maybe I’ll be lucky enough to meet the controller of Radio 2 at this awards ceremony. If I do I might as well give her a nudge and a wink for Russell’s job? Cheers.