LS126

Having just finished writing my first article for the Leeds Met staff magazine, I thought I’d tell...

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 17:02:24 +0100

Having just finished writing my first article for the Leeds Met staff magazine, I thought I’d tell you all about it.

I was given the task of writing an article for the staff magazine, something I have never done before, but something that has been of interest to me. Magazine writing always seems like a quality job to me, being able to write feature articles on a variety of interesting topics, and this task didn’t disappoint.

Writing the article was great fun and contacting John (the starring character of the piece) came up with some funny answers. I didn’t know we had a race driver at university! After getting the information we had to find an angle for the story and then get this to link in with the visuals.

Although taking a bit of organising in getting a time and place for the photo shoot that was convenient for all, as well as getting John to bring in his car on a trailer, we had some great fun while doing a photo shoot for the article too. While I must confess not really knowing anything about photography, I like to think I was still able to input my fine artistic ability into the results.

The photo shoot basically involved messing around in the woods with a camera, a rally car and a golf club (how good does that sound!). But we did manage to get some pictures amongst all that, having John in various different poses, in and out of the car. Coming up with a concept for the picture was a bit tricky as it need to link in with the angle of the story, so we settled on a ‘Stig’ related theme.

It’s been a great experience for me and I certainly hope to be able to do something like it again in the future. Although the topic isn’t something I really know anything about, in fact my knowledge is limited to Goodwood revival’s and computer games, it’s always good to learn about new things and what better way than to give it a go. Having a story that is all my own work was very rewarding and you never know, you might now see me as Fleet Street’s finest in years to come.

My one regret about the whole process though is not getting a go in the car; I think I’m going to have to pay John a visit.

Andrew Carroll

PR Student

Throughout my short time at LS126 I have already gained invaluable work experience. Despite the...

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 09:55:26 +0000

Throughout my short time at LS1²6 I have already gained invaluable work experience. Despite the advice of many people to ‘make lots of cups of tea’ in order to advance in the media industry, Joyce and the News & Media team have given me countless opportunities to act independently. I’ve interviewed some fascinating people, edited work written by others in the office and attended events in order to produce my own personal reviews. I’ve been asked to select photographs for the forthcoming issues, take photographs of my own (which left a lot to be desired!), and now I find myself writing my first ever blog. Working with Joyce has given me a brilliant insight into how the magazine is produced behind the scenes, and after being able to see things from an Editor’s point of view, my journalistic writing skills have developed too.

The team are very considerate of the fact that I am still studying for my degree within the University, and are really flexible if I need to swap my dates of attendance in order to hit essay deadlines. Each week there is a different challenge waiting for me, usually involving work I’ve never done before, but the guys are so approachable that by the end of the day I always have another item to add to my list of experience.

I am thoroughly enjoying my time at LS1²6. Not only am I gaining experience that will stand me in excellent stead for future employment, but I am fully aware of how hard it is to get a placement like this and cannot express my gratitude enough to the team for all that they have done for me so far.

Danielle Hall

BA (Hons) English Literature

LS126 - November 2010

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 14:15:00 +0000

The November edition of LS1²6 is on its way to the printers and it’s another cracker. You can read it online here or order a printed copy through our website www.leedsmet.ac.uk/ls126.

As we’re now on our fourth edition we’re getting more and more people approaching us with ideas for the magazine which takes the pressure off us. In fact some people have even taken to almost camping in our office to get their stories told!

We really enjoy getting out and about meeting with colleagues who have something interesting to share and we particularly enjoy making them do something a bit daft to make for a creative photo. This isn’t without risks, for this edition myself and Linda accompanied photographer Vicky to get some shots of Geoff Ibbotson in action as the ‘Karate Kid’. As part of ‘getting into the zone’ Geoff insisted that we experience some of his moves first-hand, stressing that there wouldn’t be any pain involved. Not true. Demonstrating the power of pressure points and moves to disarm people had us contorted into completely powerless positions and wincing at the amount of pain a well placed finger can cause. I also fell for the “let me demonstrate a slap, I won’t touch you”, I’m not sure if it was my flinching or a deliberate mistake on Geoff’s part, but definitely had his hand print on my face afterwards. The pictures look amazing though so I guess the adage, no pain, no gain, is true.

It’s also a privilege and a bit intimidating to be one of the first people to meet new senior members of staff to quiz them on their arrival at our University. This was particularly the case when meeting our New Chair, Lord Woolmer of Leeds. What a nice, friendly and approachable chap he is. Being a keen walker we were soon discussing which Yorkshire walks have the reward of a good pub at the end of them.

I also get to venture into areas of our University I wouldn’t normally visit. For our enterprise feature we hijacked the health labs and got to pretend to be scientists filling test-tubes with an array of coloured potions, although we disappointingly didn’t have a chance to play with Bunsen burners.

Thanks to everyone who contributed this time and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed producing it.

Last week the LS126 team dusted off their black ties and cocktail dresses to attend the CIPR PRide...

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 12:36:00 +0000

Last week the LS1²6 team dusted off their black ties and cocktail dresses to attend the CIPR PRide Yorkshire & Lincolnshire Awards ceremony at Savile’s Hall in Leeds.

Along to share in the glory of our being shortlisted in the best magazine category was Richard Beacham, more famously known as our August cover boy. We wanted to invite Rich as he had been unwittingly duped onto the front cover during the photo session for the Equality & Diversity feature. Little did he know when we singled him out for a portrait photo that he was about to be launched into Leeds Met fame. He took it all in good humour and fortunately it didn’t take too much cajoling to convince him to let us go ahead with putting his face all over our University and website. However we are slightly amused by the fact that he’s had to adopt a disguise and is now wearing glasses at work. He’s not saying whether this is a result of unwanted attention from overzealous groupies or not!

Also joining us were Emma Gilbert and Louise Maddox from FBL. These two have been brilliant since the launch of the magazine in January. They’re so keen to be involved and Emma has been in every edition so far, so it only seemed fair to invite them along to thank them for their enthusiasm and contributions. We also knew that they would keep us entertained through the night and would help us ‘manage’ our disappointment if we didn’t win.

Our last but not least guest was Andrew Carroll, a final year PR student who is spending a day a week on work experience with the team in the Grange and has been helping out with producing the magazine. Fortunately for him there were lots of other Leeds Met PR students and FBL placement student Laura Crimmons (featured in the November edition’s working lunch) so he didn’t have to completely hang out with the ‘adults’, as we joined forces to create a real Leeds Met presence.

Unfortunately we didn’t win the top prize but as we’ve only been going since the start of the year we were still pleased as punch to have been shortlisted. The feedback from our guests on how the magazine has made their lives more interesting and how the equality and diversity feature has made a real impact in numbers of enquiries to the team, also helped soften the blow. We then decided that we were winners anyway so awarded ourselves the empty ice-bucket award which then gave us an excuse to pose for a winning photo.

As the night was towards the end of the production of our latest edition marking the first birthday of LS1²6, it was also a great excuse to celebrate, which we made sure we did in style. Carrie was first up to hassle the DJ to play Bon Jovi and Take That, which he kindly did, which then led to Beth being manhandled off the stage by security!

The LS126 editorial team spent a morning with top portrait...

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:02:22 +0100

The LS126 editorial team spent a morning with top portrait photographer Vicky Matthers to record a new shot for the latest edition of the magazine.