Avoiding heartache in business….

One of my favorite TV Series is Hustle – a group of five con men (Albert, Stacey, Danny, Ash, and Mickey) who function as a modern Robin Hood crew. Exacting judgement n greedy, dubious businessmen, they operate under a set of rules, first of which is, “you cannot cheat an honest man’. Flip side to that is, “when someone wants to gain something for nothing, give them nothing for something”.

Apart from crushing heavily on Mickey (Adrian Lester) and his ‘out-of-this-world’ smile, I love Hustle because each episode exposes me to the different ways people bring heartache upon themselves by trying to reap where they have not sown, make ridiculous profits, or even worse, defraud the next man. Are the Hustle team righteous? Of course not; evil cannot cancel out evil, and two wrongs don’t make a right. Still love them though!

Away from Hustle, I have two rules for avoiding heartache in business. These two nuggets are guaranteed winners long as they’re applied exactly as prescribed.

1. There is social media and the ‘miracles’ it will work for your business as far as publicity and advertising are concerned. There is also something called a work ethic, without which both the social media platforms, and the business will fail. Unfortunately today young business owners spend more time tweeting and facebooking about their businesses than actually getting any work done.

Quick example: a friend of mine had a business and is quite active on social media promoting it; we’ll call her A. Recently, another friend (call her B) tweeted about needing the service A offers so I introduced them on Twitter. Two days after B tweets that A kept her waiting for four hours and she’s never using her service again.

Social media – good work ethic + all the recommendations in the world = heartache, brought on by failure.

2.Much as you can, avoid doing business with family, especially in parts of the world where ‘family’ is exalted over professionalism. I’ve written about landlords letting their property to family and the drama that goes with that, but I have a personal example now.

My family needed a service, and contracted two different companies to provide it – three items from Company A, and three items from Company B (who we’re distantly related to).

Company A delivers on schedule; on inspection the goods are of a good quality, and there is evidence that they used their initiative. Company B is paid in full, yet the goods are two weeks late. There are major errors in one during the draft inspection so it’s sent back.

48 hours to when these goods will be used, they’re yet to arrive, and the representative is unreachable. Several calls without any response and then by 5pm the representative picks up and says, “I’m in fellowship please, you’re calling my Galaxy Tab and its ringtone is loud”.

Took all of me (and some) to be civil and for a few reasons

• How was I to know you were in church? If you’d had picked up the entire day we’d been ringing your phone, or had the decency to return the calls….
• I have one number for  you. What other way should I have tried to reach you? Seance? Mind travel? By the way, I’m excited you have a Galaxy Tab, SMH.
• Why didn’t you just deliver when you said you would?

This rep sent someone to deliver the goods the day before they were to be used (didn’t have the courtesy to bring them personally or even send a delivery/quantity note), and you can bet they were substandard. What did we do? Nothing. Why? Family. Will we use Company B’s service again? Not even if our lives depended on it!

There you have it! Thank me later…

Related articles

• The 7 Deadly Sins of Social Media (business2community.com)
• Heartaches and Headaches (haphazardhappenings.wordpress.com)
• Using Social Media: Show and Tell (asocialmedium.wordpress.com)

My New Chosen Career…

I made a decision this morning, and that is to be very rich. Mind you, I have always wanted to be rich, but this morning I decided on a new course of action to achieve that goal. I am going to get into public office (currently working on schematics) and then I will do one thing – plunder like there is no tomorrow.

I will award contracts to phony companies set up in different variations of my name and the names of my family members, and to my friends as soon as they sign over a minimum of 30% of the contract sum to me. Whether they deliver or not is immaterial, and I can always look good from making a big show of threatening to revoke said contracts when I’m up for a second or third term.

Ahh! I will give personal gifts using public funds, including cars, landed property, trips abroad, livestock, you name it – all that matters is that I’m seen as generous, loving, and supportive. Doesn’t matter that basic amenities in the areas under my jurisdiction are non-existent or dilapidated, that the people whose votes (whether real or stolen) put me in that office are impoverished, or whether I cannot even bear to live in my place of primary assignment because of the alarming level of crime that I have done sod all about. I will give gifts on behalf of my family and myself to whosoever I please, and I won’t give a damn what you think.

Why won’t I give a damn? Errr, because apart from craft cleverly worded tweets and Facebook updates, you don’t do much else. Matter of fact, I can count a good number of your activist peers who pay me nocturnal tea visits, hoping for a slice of national cake to go with it.

Why don’t I give a damn? Let’s see… right. Another reason is because traditional rulers, who should be the custodians of our culture, teachers of right and wrong, and role models for the community, have made camp with political parties that best serve their interests regardless of ideology.

Long as you use the creamiest butter on their bread, doesn’t matter if you’re a rogue, murderer, or pedophile. I’ve been advised that once I’m in that office, they will flock to me, begging to give me chieftaincy titles. And I will accept, because I am an illustrious son of the soil.

You know the biggest reason why I don’t care though? The more wealth I amass, the more immune to prosecution I become. Ahh, there are even some offices I can occupy where something called the ‘immunity clause’ posits that I am above the law.

A thousand blessings to the brains that enacted and ratified that law, it is one of the reasons I aspire to public office. For all the enemies of progress who at one time or the other tried to campaign against that clause, it will not be well with you!

Now, in the event that I offend someone higher up who decides to embarrass with a robbery/fraud accusation, I can decide to engage my army of thugs to fight off the Policemen who dared to try to arrest me, or simply flee to another country to escape prosecution. If the odds are stacked against me and the Police there get a hold of me too, I can post bail, and then escape!! Yes, flee that evil land either dressed as a woman, a circus animal, or inside a drum of oil.

There’s no place like home. I’ll return knowing fully well that after a few days of talking about me and my triumphant entry from my sojourn abroad, they’ll move on to ‘fighting corruption’ in other quarters. And the icing on the cake?

A few years of laying low, bowing at strategic shrines, rebuilding my profile, and of course showing remorse, and I get a presidential pardon! Glory! My slate is wiped clean, and I am free to vie for office again to finish what I started, serving my country with all my strength.

Background reading

Presidential pardon sparks outrage & Nigeria pardons Goodluck Jonathan ally

P:S – originally posted on the Future Challenges site on the 20th of March 2013.

NOTHING COMES CLOSE

“Don’t wait, if you have a passion for something, you should go for it!” So said the compère at Tolu Popoola’s book launch, exactly one week today. Instructive because Tolu left a paid nine to five (she’s an accountant) to pursue a career that’s kicked off with the launch of her book, ‘Nothing Comes Close’.

The book is about a young lady, and a young man (sorry if you thought it was about aliens), there’s love in the air (sometimes), trouble ina the atmosphere (sometimes), in fact, why don’t I let you watch the trailer for the book for yourself?

To the launch proper.

It started about 2pm, yours truly got there past 3pm (thanks to trying out a new route and my hopelessness with maps and general geography). I got in to meet a small, intimate crowd of about 50;  on the projector screen was the trailer you just watched, ambience was nice, low lighting, I really liked it.

There was the compère who called the characters in the book ‘actors’ (don’t worry, we forgive you), and after an interview session, the audience was free to ask Tolu anything. A few questions then her dad put up his hand. Less than two sentences and he had us rolling with laughter!

He’d flown in from Nigeria to be at the launch (bless him) and started by saying, ‘I’ve known Tolulope for many years, matter of fact from day one; her day one’. Lol

I was excited when he appreciated Tolu’s husband for providing the cushion for her to take the ‘leap of faith’; I remember him saying something like we shouldn’t think she just upped and left her job without anything to fall back on. Was nice to see him appreciate his son in-law like that. He also said if men just took care of the women God had blessed them with (moms, wives, daughters), this world would be a much better/peaceful place. Men are you listening?

Still on her dad, he advised her to reduce the turnaround time for the books (this one took eighteen months to finish), and then ended by saying that a graduate of English himself, she got her writing skills from him! My dad and her dad could easily be brothers, hilarity for days!

Then it was time for book signing, and I got my copy autographed! Whoop!

There was a raffle draw, and I won something!! Whoop! Whoop! I won a beautiful set of fragrance soaps by Gok Wan, always wonderful to win stuff!

I had a lovely time, was worth the trip from Dartford, and even though I haven’t read the book yet, I can tell it’ll be all that and more! How do I know? I read the last two pages, bad habit I know!

Nothing Comes Close is available to purchase on Amazon or off the publishers. Did I mention I’d never met her before, and only found out about the launch on Facebook? Social Media y’all!

Related articles

• I REALLY AM AN AUTHOR-The Book Signing (scribe312.wordpress.com)
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For REMI LAGOS 1

Ok, I must say it’s taken me this long to write this, and for a number of reasons. To start with, I still cannot believe that she’s dead; is death that ‘simple’? And that’s for lack of a better qualifier. Secondly, I read the outpouring of love and the fondest, most vivid memories from her sisters (@pdbraide, @IjeomaOgud, @Funmilola, etc) on Twitter, larger than life tributes on Facebook and I wondered if I was even ‘qualified’ to say goodbye to this fabulous lady I had the privilege of meeting only once. Yes, once, and there was the promise of many more meetings in the future. Death, shame on you.

Matter of fact, the day I heard she was dead, I promise I was going to ask our mutual friend to ‘bully’ her into sending me the designs to choose from for my new dress. Perhaps it was also for that selfish reason I refused to associate Remi Lagos with the #Remitothelight hashtag that @IjeomaOgud started.

How did we meet?

On the 8th of September this year I’d gone to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to pick Ace. It was threatening to rain so I called and said to please hurry out so I could speed and put both the rain and traffic behind us only  to hear, ‘I’ll be a few minutes please, we have to drop a friend at the Hilton and she’s waiting on her luggage’. I said ok, swallowed, and waited.

They came, my friend and this lady with her hair neatly unpacked, resplendent in a black kaftan. I introduced myself and she said, ‘my name is Remi’! We got in the car, and we were not even out of the airport when it started to rain. More like it started to pour, thunder, and the lightning was just out of this world.

Now my friend had offered to drive but as ‘Louisa Hamilton’, I refused. Anyone who knows me knows I have a mortal fear of sudden/sharp sounds (among a good number of things I am afraid of). It is the reason I cannot be around balloons, and I never enjoyed hide and seek (still don’t). I remember taking my hands off the wheel to cover my face (or ears) severally on that drive, the scolding from Ace that earned me, but most importantly, the way Remi didn’t even behave like it was raining, we were not even halfway home, and we’d been stuck in traffic for about an hour already!

When somehow it slipped that she was ‘the’ Remi Lagos, I couldn’t stop squealing! Yes, I took my hands off the wheel again. Fortunately the traffic was ‘bumper to bumper’ (literally) so no big issue there (even though Ace didn’t think so). I mean, I’d been hearing of Remi Lagos since I was a child! I didn’t believe she’d look that young and pretty (sans makeup), especially when I found out how old she was later.

I had on Wande Coal’s ‘Mushin to Mohits’ CD, and apart from being a very funny, lively, and boisterous lady (we had this hilarious conversation about metrosexuals – how to spot them, and a particular friend of hers who would arrive at a party separate from his girlfriend just so his chic wouldn’t steal his ‘shine’), she loves(d) Wande Coal! I repeated the Bumper to Bumper track severally, and it was fun singing the second verse together, especially the ‘fight like Chinese – kpishan’ bit! Lol!

By the time we finally got into town we’d become friends! We’d also exchanged numbers because she wanted me to work a social media strategy for her brand, building from London. And of course, Ace said she should make me a dress!

We exchanged these later that night….

We spoke the next day, after her devotion meeting, and even though I came back to London a few days after, we spoke again, and things were on course. And then out of the blues I hear she’s no more, less than 60 days after we met.

Death, shame on you.

I remember her laughter in my head, I see the twinkle in her eyes as she laughed; Remi if you made such an impression in less than 3 hours, then I will never grasp the depths of grief of the people who were really close to you, the ones you left behind.

Rest in peace Remi Lagos

Rest in peace Remi Osholake.

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• Rest in Peace Designer, Oluremi Osholake popularly known as Remi Lagos (fashionati.wordpress.com)
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• Fashion designer Remi Lagos dies aged 51 (thenigerianoracle.com)

LESSONS FROM THE #SAVEOKE CAMPAIGN

Ok, are you new to the Oke story? Statement of the problem is here, pictures of the problem here (not for the light-hearted I must warn), and phase one of the solution is here.

A lot of thoughts have run through my mind from the very first night I became aware of Oke and I just thought to share four of them with you. I’m also sharing a documentary made by a close friend of mine, Onye Ubanatu, capturing the essence of Oke’s story.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS POWERFUL

I’ve never doubted the power of social media (wouldn’t have studied it if I did) but if I did, this campaign would have forever put paid to those doubts. The speed with which the blog posts spread and the amazing functionality called the ‘retweet’.  Jerry Seinfeld was right when he said this of Twitter, “Twitter is progress; why say to one what you can say to all”. Amazing! And say to all we did, in just a few hours his pictures and story were literally everywhere! Thanks to the WordPress’ ‘stat by country’ functionality I could see just the numbers of people from the different countries, and believe me it was amazing!

NIGERIA IS IN TROUBLE

Oke’s story was just another instance pointing to a problem we (Nigeria) haven’t gotten past. Unfortunately, even in 2012 we are still in the ‘reaction’ rather than ‘proactive’ mode. No one thinks to plan for the future, hell we’re barely getting through today! Fully discussing that will take all day so I’ll just say that all the information I got about Oke’s illness I found here. That website also features simple definitions and presentations of types and symptoms, care for people with diabetes, and even available support groups! And it’s all correct, up to date information! Do we have functional bodies like that here? No. All we’re saddled with are committees catering to committees set up to review the work done (or not) by committees. SMH!

WHO SINGS FOR THE UNSUNG?

The day after I spoke published the ‘Save Oke, we saved Oke’ post; I got one BBM broadcast about a young Nigerian in the clutches of another terminal illness who needs to seek treatment abroad. Someone else tweeted a link at me, and that evening I got email; three different people in one day! I flashed back to the campaign when I asked (in a private email to a group) if anyone else was thinking about the people who didn’t have anyone to blog about their problems. Who would cater to those ones? I’m asking those questions again; who runs with their stories?

How many people die every day because they have no access to qualitative healthcare? How many ‘trivial’ cases transform into life threatening because they were not nipped in the bud with adequate treatment? Who sings for the unsung?

WE ARE STILL THE WORLD

Social media has always and will always revolve around people. Social media without human involvement can be compared to a beautiful car without a driver: it is nothing without our input. It is one thing to sit in the comfort of your home and moan every day about everything going wrong with the country, how the government doesn’t care, how we need a ‘paradigm shift (lol), etc. It is a totally different (and more profitable) thing however to do your civic duties, know your leaders (local and national), and then hold them accountable by getting informed, asking them questions, you know the drill. In the same vein, while I am grateful to everyone who tweeted and retweeted Oke’s story, it is the ones who actually donated I am grateful to. Imagine if we were all tweeting, ‘Facebooking’, and no one did anything. We’d sooner be tweeting at his funeral!

This whole campaign has taught me that technology (in different formats, functionalities) will come and go but people will always remain. We are the answers to the questions we seek; we are the world we want to live in.

P: S – As you read, Oke is in India with his sister, and a state appointed consultant. I spoke to him the night before he left, and told him to document his ‘Osuofia’ stories for me, cos I’m sure he’ll have plenty!

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NOT SO SOCIAL ARE WE?

Facebook Features (Photo credit: stoneysteiner)

Originally posted on @SOluwatobi’s website, this is one of the guest posts I’ve done. Follow @chiomachuka on Twitter so you don’t miss out on any more ‘free guest post’ offers!!

Sometime last year, my mom called to tell me I’d lost my uncle; was a terrible time for me especially since I’d seen him only a week before.  May his soul rest in peace, amen.

A friend of mine lost her dad around the same time; somehow her cousins found out before her and because she was the closest to him and the most emotional, everyone was scared of telling her. One of her ‘brilliant’ cousins wrote this on her Facebook wall; “hey coz!! Sorry about the death of your dad, he was my favourite uncle.”

This was the first thing that popped into my head when @SOluwatobi got in touch about highlighting some of the errors we make in our use of social media/platforms. Whether professionally, security related, or just because we are human beings with a modicum of common sense, ladies and gentlemen, some things are not just acceptable! I’ll focus on personal uses in this first post, and then we’ll deal with business uses in the second part. Also, I’ll focus only on Facebook and Twitter for both parts.

So you’ve signed up, gotten yourself a Facebook or Twitter account in 2012. To start with, where have you been? Lol. Secondly, I hope that by reading this piece you can avoid some mistakes older users have made.

A little definition: Facebook and Twitter are some of the channels/enablers/tools under the broader term, ‘social media’. Social media in itself is simply communication enabled by technology. So it is talking to your friend in the market/school/church/mosque, only online rather than in person, via a letter or over the phone. It is also making new friends that way too, instead of writing and asking to be pen pals.

It is important to remember this simple analogy in our everyday use of these networks because it will help us not to alienate people in the name of being ‘social’. Especially when we’re not sending private messages. For example, would you write on a notice board at your university that you had the best sex ever with xyz? Even if the board asked you what was on your mind? Or would you say you’d just received payment for a job done running into millions of naira and you were on the way to cash the cheque? And for good measure, write where you were at the time?  If you said (or thought) yes to any of the questions, you can stop reading now. But if you thought it absurd, why do we post such things online? In these days of heightened crime and insecurity, why do we put ourselves out there like this?

Back to the story I shared earlier, would you inform your cousin of a death in the family by pasting the information on the notice board in your community centre? So why do we do these things and appear really insensitive? Social networks are not much different from real life! Really!

While I agree that we are all different, have different levels of openness et al, I think we should apply some self-censorship to our interactions on social networks. That’s it.

Personally, I always assume anyone can read the things I put online. ‘Anyone’ could range from my folks, peers, a present/potential employer, to thieves, perverts, or even law enforcement agents. Therefore, while I have a lot of fun with the accounts I own, I’m careful too.

You might say, ‘but it’s my account, why will people care what I put out? Think of it like this; a post functions like you’re talking to 50 friends in a room, only that everything you’re saying that they can hear, all their friends can hear as well. And the friends of your friend’s friends can hear too. Does that make you want to be a tad more thoughtful?

There have been countless cases of people losing jobs, getting in trouble with the law, or even getting harmed because they put out too much information about themselves and their activities. These things should be examples we learn from; pitfalls to avoid.

Same thing goes for the pictures we put up. Dear friends, the world has shrunk considerably thanks to the internet. With the tentacles of social media sinking into our daily activities, it’s shrunk even more! That picture of you in a compromising position that attracts a few measly followers on Twitter today will surface tomorrow when a potential employer searches for you on Google. #EnoughSaid

General rule of thumb? Let’s take a few seconds to think of the immediate and future effects of the things we post online; if the cons outweigh the pros, consider sending a private message to the person(s) directly involved or shelve the ideal altogether.

P: S – @SOluwatobi; I’m sorry this is late.

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• Bridging the Gap with Social Media (blogs.constantcontact.com)
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• Social Media (truthwheel.wordpress.com)

INTRODUCING CC CONSULTING SERVICES

What is social media? Is it Facebook and/or Twitter? How do I use social media? To stalk an ex on Facebook to see which girls’ status he’s ‘liking’? Is it to have 4, 999 friend and know only 62 personally? Is it to clog the atmosphere with information about yourself that we could jolly well do without? What media is social? Do you think that because your business/organization has a Facebook page, you’re ‘social’?

Questions, questions, questions….

Or, do you just want to get a hang of this ‘social media thing’; everyone seems to be doing something ‘social’ these days and you don’t want to be left behind? Are you a new start-up, wondering how you can harness the power of social media to promote your business? Which social platform are you thinking will work best for the demographic your business is targeting? What to do, what to do?

Have no fear! Answers to the questions above are guaranteed!

Talk to CC Consulting for answers to those questions and more!

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• Bespoke social media solutions
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• Content development and production for radio and television
• Front end user interface development for the web
• Graphic and web designs
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• Personal and corporate brand and strategy consulting

 

If you can think it, we can do it! And if you can’t, then leave the thinking to us!

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CC Consulting Services……leave it to us

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Introducing The 419 Reasons To Love Nigeria Project!!

The Nigerian Coat of Arms

Dating far back to the 80’s, the term ‘419’ has associated Nigeria and Nigerians primarily with online financial scams – ‘Advance Fee Fraud’. Most unfortunately, the situation exacerbated to such an extent that the internet became overwhelmed with such negative news attributed to Nigeria.
In response to this, ‘The 419Positive Project’ was initiated, with an ambitious objective of generating four hundred and nineteen positive attributes about Nigeria and Nigerians. “If you could tell the world one remarkable thing about Nigeria and Nigerians, what would it be?” Furthermore, in Peter Reilly’s Forbes blog post (Aug 28, 2011), he suggested a similar intervention to his Nigerian audience – “Make lists of 419 reasons to like Nigeria and Nigerians…” His suggestion came as one remedial to his previous post (Nigerians Switching From Greed to Fear), after some Nigerians took exceptions to his views. Other online posts by Chika Uwazie, Nmachi Jidenma and Akin Akintayo, have further lent a voice in this regard.

Pulling these ideas and suggestions together, an online rebranding campaign is being furthered. The aim is clear – to consistently inundate the internet with positive Nigerian attributes, such that when anyone types in ‘419’ in a search engine, it yields positive commentary about Nigeria, irrespective of the pre-existing negativity. This drive is labelled 419 Reasons to Like Nigeria. Awareness is currently being ramped up online, with the topic having trended on Twitter in the early hours of 2nd of September. There will be the big bang launch on October 1, 2011 (Independence Day), of at least 100 Nigerian blogs and sites listing four hundred and nineteen remarkable reasons to like Nigeria, with subsequent monthly blog publishing till the end of 2011.

What is it about your Nigeria? Let’s hear you!

Every Nigerian with a blog, website, and online presence of any sort (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, account etc.) is encouraged to volunteer and be a part of this campaign. With sincerity and candour, it is true that some, in times past, have contributed unfortunately to the prevailing negative association of ‘419’ with Nigeria, however, the time is NOW for us to counter-strategise by providing alternative content via an online rebranding initiative.

To register your interest, simply send an email to volunteer@419Positive.org, with the subject –CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER, and be sure to provide contact details (email address) so you can be reached subsequently. Volunteers will be contacted latest by the 9th of September, 2011.

Be a part of this drive…the time is now! Let’s tell the world 419 Reasons to Like Nigeria.

Let’s tell the world why we do, and why they should too!!

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STUFF I LEARNT

Good morning!! Did you have a refreshing night? I did! Nothing like a good night’s rest I tell you, and we must be grateful to the Fairy GodFather that we have the privilege to see another day!! Glory to God somebody!! Whoop whoop!

Welcome to the weekend, my last from this location (sob sob) but the most permanent thing in life is change abi? It is well!

I was on Twitter this morning, sharing stuff I learnt yesterday and just when I said I was done and wanted to get up, get ready and leave, I thought about sharing those same things here. I’m a firm believer in learning a new thing everyday, that’s what makes life interesting walai. Imagine how disastrous life on earth would be if the knowledge you have today is at the same level it was when you were 3 years old? Say God forbid!

Of course, new things don’t just come to you (well sometimes it happens like that but that’s not what I’m saying today), consciously make an effort to learn a new thing everyday, and thank me later!

On to the stuff I learnt, they are five points that I trust will help you as you go about your weekend, and of course beyond that. Ready? Let’s do this!

No 1. Being courteous is a decision that comes easy 4 some, takes a conscious effort 4 some, & will NEVER occur 2 others.

No. 2 saying ‘I love you’ doesn’t automatically exchange the brain (& d ability to think) for putty.

3. You determine how much bullshit you take, you, and you alone. Think about it, you’re d only one who can make it stop.

4. Same for bullshit: you decide how much happiness you want in and around you. Again, it’s all you, no one else handles that…

5. If you don’t add value, you will know by the treatment you receive in a place; regardless of your age, social standing, or whatever.

That’s all folks, five nuggets of wisdom (if I must say so myself) that you should carry around with you daily! And yes, have a fabulous weekend! I insist!

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I HAVE AN IDEA!!

Woohoo!!!

So I have an idea! And I’ve had it for a while, just wanted to check its viability before announcing I had one, but I’m sure now!

 

Woohoo!!!

Remember the chronicle about Production Labs, a module I’m taking this semester that I didn’t have an idea for? Yup, that one.  I was sitting with a class mate the other day and throwing ideas around and I mentioned that my concept for a radio show had just been approved by BCU’s Scratch Radio, and I was going to do the first live show in about two weeks.  And he said, ‘so why don’t you use it for your Production Labs project’?

So, I popped to see Dave Harte (my tutor) and after we discussed it a bit, we found/decided it would actually be a good idea for my Production Labs! Yay! So I have something to do now! And I’ll tell you about it in a bit.

The name of the radio programme is The Reading Room and it airs every Wednesday from 4pm – 5pm. The programme is an adaptation of one I’ve been on a couple of times back in Nigeria, it airs on 99.9 Kiss Fm in Abuja. The idea with that is for people to read, and be able to share stuff they’ve read and enjoyed with other people.

It’s the same thing with mine, the twist to it is that there’s a an agreed theme for every week, and people get to come on the show and read anything (poetry, quotes, proverbs, excerpts, etc), based on that theme. And of course, it’s great to play music related to the theme, kind of helps set the pace, and the mood for the day…

About ‘just’ finding the idea? Well that wasn’t exactly accurate because we ran the second episode of the show yesterday the 2nd of March 2011, and I’ll tell you about that in a bit too (or maybe I will in another chronicle)!

I’ve had to create a second twitter account (feel free to follow @bcureadingroom), and there’s a page on Facebook too: The Reading Room with Chioma.

So far though I must say there hasn’t been a lot of ‘agreeing on themes’ because I’m still trying to build an audience for the programme, and I must thank my course mates who have come on the show these two times! That said, I’m excited that the people following @bcureadingroom are slowly going beyond my classmates and buddies from Nigeria to people in the industry here! The pace of growth is not the same for the Facebook account, even though I have someone who’s coming on the show next week that I didn’t know before!

Challenges? A couple. To start with, part of the task is to make podcasts of the show, and that hasn’t happened yet. That’s because my producer kindly recorded the programme on the 23rd of February for me but in the nerves of that day, I didn’t take it. I haven’t ‘found’ him yet to retrieve it, and no one else at the studio seems to know where he might have stored it.

Again, one of the risks I identified in the project initiation document for this idea was I was scared I wouldn’t get enough feedback from the audience, one way to mitigate against that was to get people to suggest themes on Facebook or Twitter. With all my postings on the group and all my tweeting, nobody’s really suggested anything! What do I do?

Thirdly, I have found that it is not easy to run more than one twitter account. To start with it takes a lot more time to tweet using two accounts, then because both my accounts are following each other, I feel the need to be careful with what I say with the personal account because of course it’ll reflect on the ‘professional’ account’s time line. It can be tiring, especially when I really want to ‘let loose’ and talk crazy with my friends; I almost feel like my tweets aren’t honest anymore, like I can’t be myself again on Twitter. It all kind of brings to life something I studied in first semester that revolved around (a) an imagined audience, (b) contexts, (c) the ‘tweep’, and the authenticity of the tweets themselves based on a, b, and c.

 

I miss not being able to tweet as freely as I want! It's my twitter!

I’m working on resolving all three issues though; first is to find my producer, edit the first two editions of the show and make the podcasts available for download before the next edition of the show (9/03/2011). As for increasing my audience and followers, and of course going back to that place where I can feel free to tweet as I wish, err, that’s why i wrote this! What to do, what to do!

 

P:S – I’ll chronicle the first two shows in a separate chronicle…k?

 

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