Waling into this week, I was anticipating a three hour session at 3RRR following class, where as a group for the first time, we would practice in the studio, and utilise the last hour of our session to record our demo. Initially I was hesitant, as the remainder of my group explained that their panelling session had been quite unsuccessful. Due to their session occurring on the public holiday due to availability, there had been no professionals to assist them, so they seemingly came out of the other end of the session without much more of an understanding of the panel than they had prior. It was important for us to get into the studio and utilise our time together to its full potential before recording our demo.

Due to lack of communication, the studio session that we believe had been booked had not in fact been booked. I believe this was our fault due to lack of understanding that we were to book the session ourself after a discussion with Sam in class the week prior. This was our fault and we should have taken the initiative to book the time slot ourselves. After contacting the 3RRR, we were under the impression that we had in actuality booked a session from 2-4pm, but I came to realise that it was another group’s session. In short, our group was a mess – where lack of communication between each and every member was completely lacking. Our massive clashes in availability does not help whatsoever, and makes it nearly impossible for us to all meet up on any day of the week other than on Mondays straight after class. Honestly, it is extremely frustrating in attempts to navigate the inner workings of a group project, along with undertaking majority of the course content outside of class time at a different location, while different members have booked appointments etc. during the only time that we can actually meet.

After discussing with Bruce and Sam, we were granted an extension, allowing us to book and confirm studio time from 12-3pm next Monday after class.  Hopefully a lack of communication does not hinder the productivity and enthusiasm of the group.

This week’s session included a visit from talks producer from Elizabeth the Talks Producer at 3RRR. After informing us of her expectations of us as media professionals and the ways in which to contact her in regards to interview questions, I  began to develop more interview ideas.

After leaving my MS fun run/walk interview idea behind, I began to think of topics or themes that I would find interesting to undertake in an interview, along with what would come across as interesting to the 3RRR and more specifically the RWAV audience. Currently, the idea of strong and successful women is something that is at a constant forefront of discussion within the media industry. Especially with the ideas and expectations surrounding pay equality etc. I was given the idea of a woman called Hannah Clement through a mutual friend, exploring the idea of a woman in a male dominated industry. Studying a bachelor of engineering at University, and winning the Young Engineer of the Year Award in 2004 – 3 years after graduating with honours, I was intrigued with the person that could be interviewed and the depth it could provide. Leading million dollar projects in Abu Dhabi regarding the F1 Race Track, along with the Melbourne Park redevelopment and currently the State Library renovations, I believe that Hannah will be an extremely intriguing individual to interview. Not only has she created a vastly successful career, but she has built a family. Exploring the balance of family life, obtaining a successful career and being a female in a male dominated industry as she makes her mark on the infrastructure and foundations of Melbourne – the city she was raised in –  I believe will lead to an interesting and personable piece.

Due to difficulties in group availability, I was not able to attend the group panel session on the 6th March (public holiday), so I attended group two’s session on the previous Thursday morning. Having already started upon my arrival the group were extremely inviting in my participation. The entire group rotated in roles, giving each person a chance to experience and get to know the panel and its mechanisms.

My experience with the panel, while a little rusty and unfamiliar at first I believe overall was successful. With assistance from the group, I was able to transition between an intro, to presenters, playing tracks and sponsorships, along with an external track from YouTube. It was great to become familiar with the panel, developing an understanding of how it works from the panel operator’s perspective and from the other side of the desk as a presenter. The session went really smoothly and it was great to have the support of the other group behind me as everyone helped each other when they had questions or queries on what they were doing.

Hopefully when my entire group meet together we will be successful in putting together our demo despite a lack of current practice together.

This week’s Monday morning included a tour of the 3RRR studios, accompanied by a panelling session. After reaching the 3RRR studios, the entire class was placed into their groups for the entire semester. My group, including myself and four other students I had never encountered before – Amy, Elle, Nicole and Penelope. In these groups, we shared our interview ideas. My group had generated some interesting ideas involving comedy acts and meme pages, however, none of them seemed to have a great amount of weight behind them – not enough to pack a punch in a short and sweet interview to go to air. My idea – an interview with a representative of the MS fun walk/run was thought to perhaps have been too large an event to feature on RWAV as an interview, so back to the drawing board it was.

After congregating in our groups, we were given a brief history of 3RRR itself, then given a tour. Having never been inside a radio station, it was personally extremely insightful. After our tour, being split into two groups we were briefly explained by Archie how to manage the panel. Although at times confusing and slightly overwhelming due to the amount of buttons and faders, the panel didn’t seem overly difficult to operate once you were in the correct headspace, and with a bit of practice. I am looking forward to the coming weeks where we can actually get into the studio and experiment with the panel and transitioning between each of the elements in a show.

Our group however is experiencing difficulties finding a mutually available time for everyone to be able to get to the studio to undertake our panelling session.