26th

We had a Broadcasting seminar today wtih Annie. We've been discussing our ideas about the Huanted East End and she has asked us to bring in 10 ghost stories for next time. We also had a discussion on different themes we could bring in to the programme, such as space clearing and mediums and seances. This seems like an interesting avenue to follow through with.
Had a bit of a row in the canteen during our group meeting today. I wasn't directly involved...in fact I just sat there trying to look invisible! This is really not productive and I wish people would get their priorities straight. The power issue seems to be getting worse.

more meetings

We've had several meetings since I last wrote an entry. Things are starting to come together, ideas are taking shape. But I still can't get over the feeling that we have a major power issue in this group. Hopefully it won't become a problem that hinders our actual work. We've hashed out the content of the magazine and I really hope it all comes together well. I'm writing a feature piece on ethical fashion, which I'm happy about. I've also volunteered myself for a large part of the layout work, but that doesn't start until later. The other two projects are also coming along, though Journalism is taking up most of our time and effort. We've chosen our four pitch ideas for PR; a burlesque show in Broadgate and an art car installation throughout the Spitalfields area are my two favourites.

Tutorial April 20

We had our first tutorial since we've been back from holiday. I think it went rather well.

We found out that we can crossover our information between the projects, which is excellent because I think our ideas for the other two projects would make interesting subjects for the magazine. Especially the haunted East End idea we are working on for Broadcasting...I don't know about everyone else, but that really interests me.

I am really getting frustrated with certain members of the group. Dee called me yesterday to have a small rant because our editor contacted her to tell her that they are cutting her article. I know that the editor has final say over what goes into the magazine, but there was no discussion whatsoever with the whole group. And I really think that Dee's article was a key feature within the magazine. She was working on an article for young professional and student mothers. The editor says that it doesn't fit with our target audience, which is young professionals!! I've found that a lot of the younger members in our group (the editor for journalism and the producer for broadcasting included) have a VERY narrow scope as to what are target audiences include. When we said young professionals they automatically think of businessMEN. Several of us keep having to reiterate that there are female professionals in the workplace. They also have this narrow view of what a "professional" is...as if these people aren't still young and desiring to keep a foot in the world and hobbies of their youth. To them, professionals are all drab, colourless, robotic MEN. Haha. But really, it is driving some of us up the wall. I hate to say it, but I can't wait until this project is over. It's not that I don't get along with our group it's just that I am in a completely different time in my life than they are. They want to keep the magazine "fresh" and "edgy", which is all well and good but we have to keep an open mind about a lot of the subject matter. I don't want this magazine to turn into fashionista swill, but it looks like that is where it is heading.

My ethical fashion article is coming along nicely, though I am a bit behind in the actual finished piece...mainly because I keep finding more and more research material!! The issue is really exploding onto the international fashion scene and there are tonnes of articles and websites available. Thank God it's interesting or else I would be dying!

even spookier!

We went on our haunted walk this evening around the East End. It was....interesting. The poor old man who was our tour guide just didn't have the charisma to hold everyone's attention. He seemed very knowledgable about the subject, but there was no drama! It was pretty boring. But I got a chance to chat with him afterwards and he recommended some books to read and a few local stories.

Group Meeting

We met for our first meeting after holidays today in the Davies St canteen. Almost everyone actually attended!! Everyone except Katerina...and we're still not sure if she's ever going to show up.
I like our group, but we do have a lot of strong personalities. Which means a lot of differing opinions.
We discussed all three pathways today, but we mainly focused on PR. I'm becoming really frustrated with the majority of the groups inability to grasp the concept that we need to start thinking "outside the box". And organic food week?? Come on, are international tourists really going to board a plane to come and see that? Of course not.
Journalism is going well...everyone has their bit to do and it seems like things are rolling along smoothly. I need to keep contact with Penny so she can send me her info on Junky for the ethical fashion piece.
Dan and I attended the first DTP class today. I'm hoping we can work well together and make the magazine look great. But I have a feeling that we have very different aesthetic styles...

spooky!

We've been having some trouble coming up with a cohesive idea for our broadcasting script, but I think we've finally hit on something that will work. The Haunted East End! I spent yesterday in the Barbican and Guildhall Libraries researching hauntings and ghost stories in the East End. The Guildhall Library especially is incredibly useful. I'm glad I went as it will be valuable for future projects that feature London. We've been bringing in ghost stories and ideas to each meeting and trying to piece together a story that can be told within 30 minutes. The only problem is that I hope we can make something upbeat with this information...I'm getting worried that we might go down the trodden path and make something that bores people.

April 12th

Had a meeting today and we mainly focused on broadcasting. Amelia brought in a pamphlet from London Walks which has a walk called The Ghosts of the Old City. I remembered that this is the company that I went on the Jack the Ripper walk with some friends from the states last christmas! I think we've decided to take a look next Tuesday.