So, where do I begin? My name’s Dave Tipping (or Disco or
Tipster or “that bloke with the weird haircut who’s always in the office” to
some of my fellow presenters) and this is my first year doing live radio.
My experience of radio this year has been varied to say the
least, from presenting a frankly unoriginal feature in the first semester (in
the form of tedious link) to appearing on and hosting panel shows (Hidden
Broadcast), reporting on the latest gadgets (The Tech Show) and having my own
early morning slot (The Wake-up Call); as well as taking my aforementioned feature
and putting a twist on it that made it unique in its own right by adding a
personal touch and an element of randomness to the original formula.
Admittedly, I wasn’t that involved in 2011, I presented a
feature on Tuesday’s Hometime show and the occasional pre-recorded report for
the tech show; this was mainly due to my lack of experience which thus caused a
lack of confidence. However, I was enthusiastic to get more involved, so I
stayed in the studio after my feature most weeks to watch some of the more
experienced presenters and build my confidence. It was then, in November, when
I decided to step up to the plate for the first time. LSRfm.com was doing 24 OB’s
in 24 hours, and I suggested that the time switching from one location to
another could be made more exciting by offering an ongoing competition that we
could update in the breaks, the only problem was finding something to give
away. Unfortunately, someone came up with the ridiculous idea that I should be
the prize (I was more cute back then, I promise) and it caught on. So, yes, I took part in what could be considered a lighter version of prostitution... ... ... and? Luckily, this gave me the boost I needed to
become more involved and resulted in me appearing on LSR We Clever (a topical news
quiz) and the Hidden Broadcast (a not-so topical panel show) on top of
producing a podcast for the feature I had been doing and occasionally helping the
late night shows with any minor technical difficulties that occurred.
Coming back after Christmas, I felt ready to take on
whatever challenge was thrown at me. I became more involved in the Hidden
Broadcast, by both hosting and helping with the production and design. I continued
with my feature, but with a bit of extra flavour and was given my own show in February,
which I used to be experimental in show style; resulting in the evolution of a
couple of features and a group of people who were willing to wake up at 8am to
listen to me. However, with a lack of guests and a co-presenter, the studio
felt lonely and monotone; so I “built” and “made up” my own with the use of a
voice changer and some sticky-back plastic.
The year culminated in me applying for Programme Controller
in an attempt to bring my enthusiasm to the entire station. Unfortunately, I failed.... oh well, always a lot more going on and another year.
