For the two-and-a-half years that I've lived in London, my flat has been close to the BBC. I've walked by it many times and have even been to show tapings at its Broadcasting Centre. I never imagined that I would have the honour of working at such a well-renowned cultural institution.
I arrived a tad late on my first day as I didn't realize that I would be working in the BBC Media Centre and not the BBC Broadcasting Centre. The Media Centre is a couple hundred metres further down Wood Lane than the Broadcasting centre. The building is modern and remarkably designed. It's everything I imagine a modern post-fordist media workspace should be. It sits upon a well kept field. Around its base are a myriad of small shops and cafes that act as a tiny self-contained high street. The front lobby has a barrage of colourful art pieces and BBC paraphernalia, along with 3D televisions streaming the latest BBC Broadcasts. Beyond the futuristic security checkpoint is the ground floor of offices, on which I am now located.
The layout is open concept, with barriers only reserved for the kitchens, coffee shops and different BBC teams. The barriers are still only 1/4 of the ceiling height, making the offices spacious. The other floors can all be viewed from a large section of the ground floor as well.
The Media Centre houses BBC Worldwide, which acts as the commercial arm of the BBC. I learned later in this first day that BBC Worldwide acts in a much different way than the rest of the BBC. This is because it doesn't have to adhere to the Royal Charter (mandated by the British Monarch) that the rest of the BBC does. Therefore, it has more freedom to pursue business ventures because their decisions don't as heavily reflect upon the BBC's association with the British Government and the fact that it is partially funded by the TV Licensing fees paid by the general public. In fact, I was informed that BBC Worldwide's revenue goes towards diminishing the TV License.
Upon arriving I had no clue what I would be doing. I was soon introduced to my boss and the other intern and was told that I would be working on the team responsible for developing and promoting the newly launched BBC Global iPlayer app. The app itself is available in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. What I find particularly intriguing about this internship is the fact that the app itself is still in an early phase of development, having been only launched 6 months ago. I’m very interested in working in start-ups in the future, so this is ideal for me. Over the next few months I am sure I will learn alot about how a product is developed and promoted, along with how it interacts with other teams in a larger institution.
With only a few hours under my belt becoming familiar with the product I attended a large team meeting done once every three months. These meetings are held to track elements of the application launch that have been a success and others that have could have been done better. Every member of the team went up to the front of the room and placed colour-coded post-it notes on a timescale with either positive or negative-yet- constructive comments. The comments were then re-viewed and discussed. I found this to be a very constructive approach to analyzing the relative successes and failures of a product in development.
....I should mention that I am not allowed to photograph any part of the office, so unfortunately this blog will be devoid of any images...
...Also, due to the sensitive nature of the information I dealt with, I will be unable to delve too deep into the specifics of the work that I undertook...
I arrived a tad late on my first day as I didn't realize that I would be working in the BBC Media Centre and not the BBC Broadcasting Centre. The Media Centre is a couple hundred metres further down Wood Lane than the Broadcasting centre. The building is modern and remarkably designed. It's everything I imagine a modern post-fordist media workspace should be. It sits upon a well kept field. Around its base are a myriad of small shops and cafes that act as a tiny self-contained high street. The front lobby has a barrage of colourful art pieces and BBC paraphernalia, along with 3D televisions streaming the latest BBC Broadcasts. Beyond the futuristic security checkpoint is the ground floor of offices, on which I am now located.
The layout is open concept, with barriers only reserved for the kitchens, coffee shops and different BBC teams. The barriers are still only 1/4 of the ceiling height, making the offices spacious. The other floors can all be viewed from a large section of the ground floor as well.
The Media Centre houses BBC Worldwide, which acts as the commercial arm of the BBC. I learned later in this first day that BBC Worldwide acts in a much different way than the rest of the BBC. This is because it doesn't have to adhere to the Royal Charter (mandated by the British Monarch) that the rest of the BBC does. Therefore, it has more freedom to pursue business ventures because their decisions don't as heavily reflect upon the BBC's association with the British Government and the fact that it is partially funded by the TV Licensing fees paid by the general public. In fact, I was informed that BBC Worldwide's revenue goes towards diminishing the TV License.
Upon arriving I had no clue what I would be doing. I was soon introduced to my boss and the other intern and was told that I would be working on the team responsible for developing and promoting the newly launched BBC Global iPlayer app. The app itself is available in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. What I find particularly intriguing about this internship is the fact that the app itself is still in an early phase of development, having been only launched 6 months ago. I’m very interested in working in start-ups in the future, so this is ideal for me. Over the next few months I am sure I will learn alot about how a product is developed and promoted, along with how it interacts with other teams in a larger institution.
With only a few hours under my belt becoming familiar with the product I attended a large team meeting done once every three months. These meetings are held to track elements of the application launch that have been a success and others that have could have been done better. Every member of the team went up to the front of the room and placed colour-coded post-it notes on a timescale with either positive or negative-yet- constructive comments. The comments were then re-viewed and discussed. I found this to be a very constructive approach to analyzing the relative successes and failures of a product in development.
....I should mention that I am not allowed to photograph any part of the office, so unfortunately this blog will be devoid of any images...
...Also, due to the sensitive nature of the information I dealt with, I will be unable to delve too deep into the specifics of the work that I undertook...
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