Sound Women on Tour at MediaCityUK

Image from http://www.imaginecreate.info

Last night I attended the North West leg of the Sound Women tour at MediaCityUK. The event was being held as part of Sound Women’s initiative to ensure that all the regional groups across the country are as active and influential as its Head Quarters based in London. It was a chance to find out more about this brilliant organisation, meet women working in audio who are based in the local area, and hear some words of inspiration from guest speaker and broadcasting legend Mary Anne Hobbs.

Mary Anne, who was interviewed by her BBC 6music show producer Kate Cocker had some great advice and stories to tell us about her experience in radio. I really enjoyed listening to what she had to say, so I thought I would give you my highlights on what I took away from last night…

Always think twice when using social media: ‘Twitter is not your priest, it’s not your Mother, and it’s not your best friend’. I think of all the advice Mary Anne gave this piece seemed particularly pertinent. Social media can be used to great success, and you should always want to put the best of yourself out there on it. So before you click ‘post’, always take a moment to pause and think about it. The most dangerous and tricky thing about social media is that it’s instant, and once something you have written is out there, it’s out there! And even if you do delete it, as Mary Anne herself pointed out, you can be sure someone will have taken a screen shot of it. So, if you’re feeling particularly annoyed about something, or want to make a point that you think might end up getting you into hot water, Mary Anne’s advice was to take a minute and think about it – take a walk around the block or shelve it for later; go and talk to your Mum, best mate, or say 10 Hail Marys.

Always trust your gut: The one word Maria Williams said she associated most with Mary Anne was ‘integrity’. Indeed, the topic of how Mary Anne has managed to go from station-to-station and have such a varied and long career while always staying true to herself, and the music she feels most strongly about, did come up. So what is Mary Anne’s secret? Trust your gut. It’s never wrong. She even admitted that the times when she has made mistakes it’s been because her gut is telling her to do one thing, and her brain is telling her to do something she thinks is the more sensible, more rationale option. She said she’s ended up thinking she should go with the more sensible option, and it’s been wrong. Trust your instincts.

Keep on putting in the work with the thing you love the most, it will always reward you: Kate talked about Mary Anne’s dedication to the show and her work, telling us that Mary Anne will sometimes spend 10 hours in one day searching for new music or artists to play on her show. We were all pretty amazed at this dedication, but Mary Anne told us that the work is always worth it when, at the end of those 10 hours, she has a handful of tracks she loves and that no one has ever played before. The thrill and satisfaction she gets from it is the most important thing, and will always push her to keep working hard.

There are so many different paths into radio, stick with it and you will find your way: Mary Anne’s own story is particularly extraordinary. I won’t re-tell it here as I wouldn’t possibly be able to give you all the details or tell it as well as she does, but what I took away from it is that there is no one set way to break into radio. It takes a lot of trying, a lot of belief, dedication, a whole lot of love, and a little bit of luck too.

Finally, learn something new every year: This year Mary Anne has taken up the drums. I love the idea of teaching yourself something new each year and this is one piece of advice I will be following!

I hope you’ve been able to see what a brilliant night it was, and I hope you’ve also taken some pearls of wisdom away from the snippets I’ve given you here. If you’re feeling like you’ve missed out then never fear! Sound Women have got lots of exciting events coming up throughout the rest of 2013 and you can find out more about them here.

On a different note, last night was my first trip to MediaCityUK and I was truly blown away by it. In her talk that evening Mary Anne herself described it as a ‘broadcasters Eden’ and I couldn’t agree more. It’s a fantastic development with everything and anything media-related at your fingertips. Here are a few quick snaps I managed to get while I was there…

BBC Quay House and BBC Bridge House where the event was held last night.

A very cold and rainy but still beautiful, and very shiny, MediaCity.

… And I’m in! My Sound Women on Tour at BBC Bridge House pass for the night.