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"Women in the Media" - Autumn Conference 4th/5th September, Manchester
Norma Huddy and Glynis Jones presented some very high profile women who operate across all forms of media in the North West. Attendees were fascinated by their presentations and enjoyed true Mancunian hospitality with pre and post conference dinners and a fascinating walk around historic Manchester on the Sunday morning, rounding off a super weekend event.
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Felicity Goodey CBE
Well known in the media world, Felicity Goodey, former senior BBC journalist, award winner and presenter, now Chair of 'Yes for the North West', reflected that being in the media as a responsibility as well as a privilege - and that TV isn't as glamorous as it seems. During the printer union disputes at Warrington she had an 'exclusive' which involved standing for 52 hours on the picket line, no sleep, standing around, existing on sandwiches and coffee, producing the TV coverage. She ended up in hospital afterwards and the BBC had to change their operating practices.
Journalists today do not have the luxury of a team around them and have to be multi-skilled and able to work to tight deadlines. Felicity referred to it as 'smash & grab' mentality as everything has to be reported so quickly and needs to have a simple message to translate easily to viewers. Mistakes can occur because this. |
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Maria McGeoghan
Maria is the assistant Editor for the Manchester Evening News and she is still amazed at the power of the written word and a picture. A recent example was when the TV nutritionist Dr Gillian McKeith said pumpkin seeds were good for your sex life and the local stores sold out in a matter of days!
She reassured us that reputable newspapers do have strong ethical and moral policies, for example the Manchester Evening News never shows dead people. Another example would be in the 9/11 bombings and newspapers have a pact not to show the photos of the airplanes go into the buildings and people jumping out of the windows.
Maria shared many humorous anecdotes of newspaper life and came across as very passionate about her job, thoroughly enjoying the role she plays in the media.
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Aileen Spankie
Aileen, Head of Production BBC North West, gave us an insight into the debate on the BBC's future as we approach the review of the existing charter. The report centred on 'Building Public Values' across cultural & creative fields as well as global, educational and democratic, social and community values.
The questions Aileen took clearly demonstrated that she and most of the BPW audience were passionate about the BBC. |
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Liz Leonard
Liz Leonard, radio Senior Production Manager BBC North West produces religious and ethical programmes as well as various poetry programmes for the Radio Drama department. Her 'Sunday' programme "The Choice" on Radio 4 won a Sony Award (radio equivalent of the Oscars) in 2004.
The beauty of radio is that it's your voice that matters not your face and there are not the same 'age' issues as with TV. Radio has grown phenomenally with 44 million listeners, in the Manchester area alone this equates to £14 million of business. |
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Kate Drewett
Kate co-founded Moonfish, an award winning digital communication agency with offices in both Manchester and London. She was a semi finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur awards in 2001.
Kate put our mind at rest on the issue of 'The Internet, Magic or Menace?' Kate is keen advocate of all the benefits the Internet brings us especially better global collaborations and flexible working practices.
Kate sees the future as gaining even better ways to communicate with each other, individuals being able to deal with issues that directly affect us e.g. transport & health issues. There's even the potential for us to vote online. |
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Ester McVey
Esther started her media career with CBBC and moved onto GMTV's This Morning. She presents the Heaven and Earth Show as well as acting as a Media Consultant and Confidence coach.
She talked about how the first 7 seconds are the most important when making the right first impression. So Esther advised us to maximise our effectiveness by taking care to avoid misunderstandings and being sensitive to people's perceptions and their impressions of you.
Ester was full of energy and left us all with things to think about in how we can interact with others. |
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Mancunian Hospitality
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National Conference 2004
2004 Huntingdon Conference - the best yet!
Unanimous agreement that Baroness Susan Greenfield CBE, was one of the best Gordon Holmes Memorial lecturers. An inspirational teacher gave her a passion for science and life long learning, something that she actively supports at the Royal Institution, holding many lectures and events to encourage scientific study at every age.
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Women & Criminal Justice System
Frances Crook, Director of The Howard League for Penal Reform, and Sue Saxton, Head of Learning & Skills at HMP/YOI Bullwood Hall in Essex both spoke about how they are trying to improve the awareness of the plight of girls in prison and implementing a strategy of learning and skills which in liaison with potential partners in the community looks to improve their circumstances. |
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This Sporting Life
Tina Dawson's life experience stands her in good stead, in the traditionally male dominated world of professional equine competition as the manager of the Huntingdon Racecourse. She completely empathises with her work colleagues having broken-in young horses and held an amateur jockey licence herself. |
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Tracy Sortwell loves sport, any type, but especially hockey and fencing. She coaches, is track and field judge player, works with the disabled and actually enjoys marathon running. |
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Gala Dinner - Sue Stockdale
Sue Stockdale entertained us all when she spoke about her Arctic adventures as the first British woman to walk to the magnetic North Pole. She could not resist the challenge of an advert asking 'Are you MAN enough?' and raised £15,000 to take part. Apart from the grinding schedule of trekking and skiing, dragging heavy sleds behind them, Sue's adventure did have some advantages, for example having to consume 3000 calories a day, mainly in chocolate form! |
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Farewell Dinner - West End Shows
Professional artiste James Mitchell complimented our theme by singing all the hits from the West End Shows. Members entered into the spirit of the evening and spot prizes were awarded by Lena Hokfelt, our BPW International European Coordinator.
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