Why the radio silence?

My Ramblings were starting to build up a head of steam, mixing my professional, social and political views – even getting an ad campaign taken down…

But for those wondering what happened (I’m amazed people continued to visit the blog despite no new content), the picture below sums it up (I’m at the back somewhere)!

I’ve been privileged enough to work with the team above on delivering WorldSkills London 2011 – the biggest skills Competition, jobs and careers ever seen in the UK. So before I get back to my regular blog themes, it’s worth pausing to reflect on the fact that just last week I was working out of the largest temporary media centre in London – serving 1,000 journalists, press officers, film crews and photographers from around the world.

There are pictures from the Media Centre on Facebook – and you can see more from the event on the WorldSkills’ Flickr feed. And if you want to learn more about how we did it, I’m happy to talk in return for coffee…

From a professional point of view, it has been the most exciting – and challenging – month in my career. Not only were we generating mass coverage, but the team was turning around VIP visits (from the Prime Minister, Mayor of London, Ministers, European politicians and even royalty) everyday. And 200,000 (mainly young) people attended WorldSkills London – with significant numbers driven by PR coverage.

Hundreds of print and online articles were generated by in-house, partner and agency teams. UK broadcast highlights included live outside broadcasts by Daybreak, coverage on EuroNews, BBC News Channel, Radio 1, Radio 4, Radio 5Live, BBC World Service and around 50 regional radio interviews taking place from the Media Centre ISDN room.

But what was the most rewarding was the verbal feedback we had, from international press teams congratulating us on the Media Centre, the universally positive tweets (especially those from the FT’s Chris Cook and Today’s Evan Davies), VIP teams thanking us for our help and – most importantly – the looks of sheer inspiration and fascination on the faces of visitors. That’s what made all the late nights and early starts worthwhile.

I’ve learned a lot in the last month, but I’m now looking forward to picking up the Ramblings again (and my next communications challenge)!