sounddelivery podcasts

Web 2.0 Event - slides from Professor Clive Holtham

Download Web2.0CharityHandout.pdf

Web 2.0 event podcast

sounddelivery recently hosted a one-off evening event, in partnership with the Cass Centre for Charity Effectiveness, to explore the role Web 2.0 is playing in the way charities communicate with their audiences.

The evening explored the world of blogging, podcasting, viral videos, social networking and social bookmarking in the context of the third sector.  Speakers included:  Steven Buckley, the Head of Information and International Communications at Christian Aid; Kate Fox of Mersey Basin Campaign; Kat Arney from Cancer Research UK; and Clive Holtham, Professor of information Management at the Cass Business School.

Download web_2.0 event podcast.mp3

The event aimed to lift the lid on Web 2.0, and explain how charities can make the most of what's on offer. This podcast offers a shapshot of the event, with a flavour of the views and opinions of the main speakers.

Programme Notes:

Click here to read the live blog that was created on the night.
Want to stay up to date with sounddelivery training and events? Join our Facebook group for more links and top tips.

Case Study - Rebecca's Story

Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network (WCEN) aims to bring together a range of community and voluntary sector organisations in Wandsworth and support their involvement in local decision making.  They have an ongoing campaign against gang, gun and knife crime entitled ‘There is an Alternative’. sounddelivery ran an audio training workshop for single mothers living on the estates around Battersea. 

Download sounddelivery_rebecca_podcast.mp3

The aim of the workshop was to enable them to tell their stories in their own way and in their own words.   We spent time listening to audio content, trained them to use recording equipment and then sent them out to record a short 5 minute feature on something that mattered to them.   In this podcast Rebecca paints a picture of her life on the the Savona Estate.

Learning Point:  We think this is a great way of challenging stereotypes and preconceived ideas.  Rebecca recorded this feature after less than an hour of training on recording equipment and after an hour of discussing and listening to audio content.  It shows what can be done in a short space of time.  Giving people who don't usually get the opportunity to have their say does make compelling content.    Let us know what you think and what you are doing in your own organisation.

Programme Notes:

www.wcenlive.com

If you are a graduate of our sounddelivery training do join us on Facebook and continue the conversation

Until next time...

Case Study - UK Patent Office

Now here's a question for you.   How can organisations produce engaging content on a subject area which, from the outside, might seem lets just say not particularly exciting/interesting/sexy? For example, how can you make the issues surrounding intellectual property engaging for young people?

Download Simon_Woodroffe_UK_Patent_Office.mp3

Sounddelivery was recently commissioned by the UK Patent Office to produce a series of audio features to support their Think Kit schools project.

Think Kit is a free educational resource aimed at key stage 4 students, although it can also be used for other age groups. The resource highlights the four areas of Intellectual Property (IP) - Copyright, Designs, Patents and Trade marks - using case studies of well-known individuals and organisations. It looks at IP in real-life scenarios by relating real stories about people and their journey to success.

In this audio feature we interviewed Simon Woodroffe the brains behind Yo Sushi.  He was a dream interterviewee. A perfect example of someone who is engaging, passionate about an issue and knowlegeable.  He really brought to life issues surrounding IP.  It only took 15 minutes to get all the material needed to create the final podcast.  He even gave us the music to use which, as you will hear, is extremely appropriate.   

The final series of interviews we produced have been incorporated into a DVD and has been sent to over 20,000 schools around the country.

Key Learning: Whatever issue/cause/subject you are working on we believe there is always a way of getting the message across in an engaging way. Scratch the surface and the stories will find a way out.

Using high profile individuals can be a really positive experience or a nightmare so really think about why you want to use a particular person.   In the last few months we've worked with a range of celebrities for different projects.  Most recently we recorded Simon Cowell and Ant and Dec on behalf of Childline.   These were turned into ringtones which are now available to download online  http://gringtones.co.uk

Programme Notes:

• UK Patent Office Think Kit
• Gringtones
• Are you a graduate of sounddelivery audio training? Join us on Facebook for more links and top tips.

Let us know what you think!

Until next time...

Case Study: The Family Holiday Association

This week's Sounddelivery podcast is an audio diary produced on behalf of the Family Holiday Association (FHA).  The audio was recorded on location by Conor and Kirstie-Mae, aged 12, and Sounddelivery produced and mixed the episode.

Download Belgium_Audio_Diary.mp3

The mission of the FHA is to improve the quality of family life for those parents and children who experience disadvantage, by providing grants for and promoting access to holidays and other recreational activities. While the majority of these trips are in the UK, last year they sent some families to Flanders in Belgium as part of a pilot project with other European agencies.      

This was the first time Conor and Kirstie-Mae had been away to Flanders. We spent just over an hour with them teaching them to use an Edirol R09 recorder and a Bayer dynamic microphone. We talked them through ideas for the kind of diary material they might collect and also put together a CD of audio examples that they could listen to during the trip in order to get more ideas.

And then we left the rest up to them!

When you are using other people to record an audio diary you never know what the result is going to be. The material we got back was of an extremely high quality and very personal. We'd emphasised that  the girls shouldn't record more than 20 minutes a day which they stuck to, but a minor problem was that some of the material was slightly distorted in places. The final edit - listening back to material, logging and editing the clips took just over a day. 

So if you work directly with beneficiaries, remember that audio diaries can be a powerful and cost effective part of your communications mix. We've been working with the FHA to produce audio case studies that have been used for key presentations, a Big Lottery Bid, and for use on their website.

So listen in and let us know what you think!

Programme Notes:

• The Family Holiday Association
• Sounddelivery website
• Are you a graduate of sounddelivery audio training? Join us on Facebook for more links and top tips.

Until next time...

Case Study: The Blue Cross

SoundDelivery were recently asked to revamp audio ‘Petcasts’ for The Blue Cross - Britain's pet charity. The organisation provides practical support, information and advice for pet and horse owners.  The Blue Cross were already using podcasts but until Sounddelivery got involved, the podcasts were using telephone interviews with celebrities - each 10-12 minutes long.

Download blue_cross_petcast.mp3

Sounddelivery worked closely with the website team to look at how we could engage listeners in new ways. We opted to record at different Blue Cross centres and used frontline staff as the key interviewees and voices for the features.  These were edited to approximately 6 minutes in length and the whole production (including scripting, recording and mixing) took approximately 3 days. 

It's clear that Blue Cross staff are passionate about their work.  Ryan, the key interview in the petcast supporting Take Your Dog to Work Day started off as a Blue Cross volunteer at the age of 13  and has now been working for the organisation for 18 years.  We think that by utilizing the stories of service users and staff, a charity's podcasts will often have a much greater impact.  If you're a member of the Sounddelivery Facebook group leave us a wall message and let us know what you think, or leave a comment here.

Programme Notes:

• Blue Cross petcasts
• Take Your Dog to Work Day microsite
• Take Your Dog to Work Day press release
• Sounddelivery website
• Are you a graduate of sounddelivery audio training? Join us on Facebook for more links and top tips.

Until next time...

sounddelivery and the YHA

Breaks4Kids is a YHA led initiative to encourage young people from disadvantaged areas to have the opportunity of their first trip away from home. The YHA asked sounddelivery to record the children's' trip to show to corporate sponsors the difference a break away can make.

Download YHA_Break4Kids_Final_July07.mp3 

For many of the children of New Road Primary School in Chatham it was their first opportunity of being away from home.  Jude spent two days with the teachers and students to record the audio; a group of 34 young people and 7 teachers and a parent governor. Jude even trained three of the young people to record audio themselves - and a couple of the clips are used here.

But two days away didn't mean the microphone was out all of the time. When working with groups, young and vulnerable people it's very important to gain the trust of all involved before beginning to record. In the end, Jude only had to record 1.5 hours of material.

The audio was edited by Mark at sounddelivery using Adobe CoolEdit, though the same programme could have been delivered using Audacity. Mark was able to pull together the programme you hear here in under three hours. Key to achieving this was a proper audio log of the gathered audio, an appropriate amount of source material and a script prepared for the edit.

Programme Links:

• Youth Hostel Association
• Breaks4Kids
• New Road School

Are you a graduate of sounddelivery audio training? Join us on Facebook for more links and top tips.

Until next time...