There are times when working at the 主播大秀 can be a surreal experience -usually when a cropped version of the world just outside the front doors is relayed听across the corporation鈥檚 own TV and radio networks.
Be it the resignation of a Director-General outside a building you walk in and out of occasionally, or observing Children in Need volunteers trundling up and down Wood Lane with trolley loads of appeal night goodies, suddenly the line between real and fantasy gets a little more difficult to determine.
And yet, the 主播大秀 as a workplace isn鈥檛 that different from any other. It's quite normal here, really. Here are ten personal observations illustrating why working here is as normal as anywhere else.
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1. My colleagues talk about cake 鈥� a lot. Usually around 3pm a cry goes up 鈥楢nyone want tea?鈥� The inevitable conversation about availability of cake follows. During the the frequency (and intensity) of the conversation increases. The home-bakers in the team sometimes bring their artisan wares for intra-team tasting. Some of us less successful bakers have been known to hasty trips to the local supermarket, buy a cake and discard the box on the way back to the office in an attempt to pass them off as their own.
2. Baking talk often develops into further discussions about cooking in general. is the present water-cooler programme of choice. We have one real-life masterchef on the team who would undoubtedly wipe the floor with the other competitors if only didn鈥檛 stop her from entering the competition.
3. Ours is a messy office on the top floor of the grey and uninspiring White City building. Most occupants of the White City building in West London have moved out either to in Central London or over to the nearby Broadcast Centre in the W1 Media Village.
Few are terribly keen on the surroundings: they don鈥檛 match the perception of the brand we work for or look anything like the shiny headquarters in central London or the bright . No tears will be shed when the last members of staff move out of here.
Whilst we don鈥檛 want to appear like we鈥檙e complaining, there鈥檚 considerable doubt the austere-looking White City building will ever reach the 5-star retreat status of .
4. We have a humane mousetrap under our team desk after an eagle-eyed colleague from another team observed a small fluffy rodent scuttling across the office floor. Facilities management was called after which a man with various tools carried out his work methodically, quietly and efficiently. All were very relieved. Goodness knows what would have happened if we鈥檇 found .
5. There鈥檚 a half-finished bottle of cheap white wine in the fridge no-one鈥檚 taking responsibility for. There鈥檚 never any useful cutlery in the kitchen听and there's never听any clean mugs either.
6. There was talk last week of a visit from Acting Director-General Tim Davie. As it happens, his busy schedule made it impossible for him to get up to the fifth floor during a trip to the Media Village. Regardless, the prospect of seeing, meeting or shaking the hand of any DG is something to set the heart racing. 鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like meeting the Queen .. but without the crown or the palace,鈥� said one smartly dressed colleague clearly disappointed not to meet Tim earlier this week. Had he听scheduled a visit when he was听Director of Audio & Music a few weeks ago, one wonders whether the heart rate would have听increased at all.
7. The office is on the fourth floor of this building. Staffed by hard-working individuals, their dedication, stamina and resolve is breath-taking. Seeing what鈥檚 involved in running a fundraising effort 鈥� numerous posters, collecting boxes and comedy bear ears, not to mention the swelling of ranks by various volunteers closer to the big night 鈥� lends an infectious air of the village fete with all the locals getting swept along by the atmosphere, retrieving us from our TV fantasies back into (a) reality.
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Pudsey models the competition-winning design for a Today programme radio
8. Pudsey still makes us smile. Especially the real one (the jury鈥檚 out on the CGI version). Who couldn鈥檛 love that yellow bear?
9. We still marvel at .
10. Us staffers love it when we receive . 鈥淣othing quite beats the love and appreciation of random people around you who hear you work for the 主播大秀," tweeted colleague Laura last week.
Jon Jacob is Editor of the About the 主播大秀 Blog
Next week, our new Digital Content Manager Hannah Khalil will offer up her Ten Things.