A brilliant first day at The No BS Media Summit
February 5th was the first day of my inaugural No BS Media Summit, at the Doubletree by Hilton in Swindon.
The event started with coffee and croissants from around 9.30 where people mingled, caught up with old friends and met new people. There were around 35 people attending, then my team, Lauren, Hannah and Barbara, plus the 5 journalists who were going to be leading the main parts of the day. The room was buzzing with energy, and that was before we even started!
Our panel of journalists were Anita Jaynes, Liz Perkins, Dan Martin, Matt Barbour and Nat Low. Their interest and expertise lay in different areas, and after everyone in the room had very briefly introduced themselves, by their name and business, the 5 journalists each introduced themselves.
Matt began, sharing some of the inspirational stories that he’d worked on, and what made those particular stories interesting to him. He is an award-winning journalist who writes health and real-life features for most national newspapers and magazines.
Anita, who is the founder of The Business Exchange magazine (covering Bath and Somerset and Swindon and Wiltshire), talked about her career and the sort of business she is interested in. Her magazine focuses on business to business stories.
Dan, who is a freelance small business journalist, spoke about his work over the years for some of the UK’s top small business publications, and support organisations. He also talked about his work as head of content for the small business network, Enterprise Nation.
Nat, the only visual journalist, having spent 30 years producing and directing factual television and video, talked about his very different career, how it’s changed over the years, and the importance of video.
Last but not least, Liz who is the night news editor of the Daily Express, also freelances on the night news desk of the Sunday Telegraph. She has also been responsible for successfully changing the law through the 8 times award-nominated, End This Injustice campaign, that led the Government to pledge to overhaul the Family Court through the Domestic Abuse bill.
After this inspirational session, we took a short break, which gave people the time to think about questions they’d like to ask the panel.
We talked about the importance of knowing why you were contacting a particular journalist, and that you need to know what they are looking for. This is why this session was so helpful as a starting point.
Questions like: ‘are professional photos important to journalists?’
“How much control do I have when a journalist is writing my story over the wording they use – can I ask them to make changes?”
All very relevant questions, receiving some varied answers, always with good reasoning behind them.
Lunchtime was a lovely time for people to continue conversations and have an extra opportunity to talk to the journalists.
The afternoon session was all about ‘speed-networking’ with the journalists.
The 5 journalists moved between each table in turn, where people pitched their stories to them. The room was completely buzzing during this session. A lot of laughter, some tears and high emotions, but all in the safe space that had been built during the day. Each time, the tables were reluctant to see their journalist go, and then the whole scenario was repeated.
After another short break, the journalists shared with the room which stories resonated with each of them and why.
I know that everyone in the room had positive learning they could take away from the day, and there were connections made between those attending. Plus, everyone has the contacts of the 5 journalists and now know how and when to contact them in the future. In the evening, we had a meal with those who wanted to attend, which began with an empowerment activity led by Taz Thornton, who is also one of the facilitators on the second day. After the meal we had an honest and moving talk by Chris Hunt Skelley MBE PLY. The evening ended with a raffle and auction in aid of the charity, Ainslie’s Pavilion, led by Phil Duffell, Ainslie’s husband, where we raised £1,500.