I am pleased to report that after the April 2008 AGM of the Southern Centre all Committee Members agreed to continue serving on the committee with the addition of Mike Hapgood from the BBC who joined us in November. Between us we organised 8 events throughout the year.
Our first was held in May and was a joint event between the RTS and the Wessex Media Group (WMG). During the afternoon students from the South had the opportunity to meet and learn from media professionals at the Media School in Bournemouth and in the evening Gordon Cooper spoke to Peter Kosminsky about his latest drama Britz. Peter subsequently won a BAFTA for this production. Both events were very well attended.
Two events were arranged for June and the first one was a 3-way event with Southampton Solent University and the WMG called ‘In Conversation with……’. The film critic, Mark Kermode, interviewed Ken Russell about his life in film and television. The audience was largely made up of students and lecturers from the University but a few RTS members attended. The second event, a trip to Sky, was cancelled due to lack of interest.
In September we celebrated 50 years of commercial television in the South by meeting at The Rose Bowl. The event celebrated the contribution made to broadcasting in the region by Southern Television, TVS, Meridian and the IBA. There was a specific area dedicated to each of the broadcasters showing programme clips and memorabilia. The Southern Television Outside Broadcast Unit was on display and the RTS produced a DVD of the evening which was an educational record of the event for the people who attended.
We held our annual IBC Review in Octoberwhich, for the first time, was a joint event with the Thames Valley Centre and the IET. Students supported by both Centres contributed to the review alongside the professionals.
In December, documentary film maker Peter Williams interviewed Greg Dyke and this was another joint event with Southampton Solent University and WMG. It was an entertaining evening and well attended by members of all 3 organisations.
At the Annual Awards Dinner and Dance in FebruaryFred Dinenage received a lifetime achievement award and a standing ovation. It was a glittering occasion and a record number of people attended the dinner and ceremony. The quality of the student entries was particularly high this year and sponsorship enabled us to move the event to the prestigious Grand Harbour Hotel in Southampton.
The year ended with another joint event, this time with the IET, and was a 3D TV demonstration by Ben Nicholls of PPC3D. The event was over-subscribed, however, a number of RTS members who pre-registered did not attend on the night which meant that members on the waiting list could have attended. Despite that, Ben’s presentation was excellent and the evening went well.
During the year we held 5 Committee Meetings with several sub-committee meetings in-between. We continued our links with the Wessex Media Group, Southampton Solent University and the IET and my thanks, once again, goes to the Committee who worked so hard in their spare time to organise the events for the Membership. My thanks also goes to Arqiva who has hosted all our technical lectures, Southampton Solent University for providing a venue for our Committee meetings and for the ‘In Conversation with…..’ theme and to ITV, BBC and Talent South for their support throughout the year in many different ways.
Jan Beal