WINE MEETS TECHNOLOGY AT THE MEDIA HUB
BBC Click reporter and producer Dan Simmons was the VIP guest speaker at the Media Hub on Friday evening, held at the Old Butcher’s Wine Cellar in Cookham, who provided guests with a complimentary glass of fizz on arrival.
Charismatic Dan has been working as a reporter, researcher, producer, and camera operator on the BBC TV technology show Click for 12 years. After being introduced to the audience by hosts of the hub Cookham-based journalists Sarah Parfitt and I, Dan revealed some production secrets of the show that makes it one of the most cost-effective TV programmes on the BBC. He offered insights into how the content of factual TV is decided and how best to pitch an idea to a show.
Dan says: 'The Old Butchers Wine Cellar was a great location with friendly hosts, and knowledgable guests made this evening one to remember. The Hub has a boutique feel and the people behind it are very well connected with the media and newsmakers. It's a relaxing, friendly way to keep in touch with media issues for anyone interested, not just those in the industry.'
About 30 attendees listened as Dan also highlighted the five bits of tech which he doesn’t think anyone can afford to ignore:
1. Virtual Reality – headsets that let us enter new worlds.
2. Big Data used by advanced adapting algorithms (artificial intelligence).
3. Drones – rural uses.
4. Africa/Developing World – mobile tech is allowing countries to catch up with the rich world in many ways.
5. HDR, shown on the latest episode of Click (currently on iPlayer), where Dan looks at new TVs with amazing HDR.
With experience in both radio and television spanning more than 20 years, Dan was such a great guest speaker to have at the Hub – he shared some humorous anecdotes, like the times when everything that could go wrong does, for example when he broke the unbreakable! We were also lucky to be able to host the Hub at such an amazing venue where we could try a variety of wines. It was one of our best gatherings to date!
The talk was followed by cheese and wine tasting courtesy of the Old Butcher’s Wine Cellar in Cookham, while the guests mingled. The wine shop has been busy recently, with a new programme of events, including pop-up wine bars and secret supper clubs, and also delivering their new wine boxes.
Paul Stratford, Managing Director of the Old Butcher's Wine Cellar says: 'The Media Hub made a most interesting and friendly crowd. The combination of a fascinating talk and social wine tasting worked well. From all the really positive comments, it seems everyone thoroughly enjoyed their night and we hope we can organise another Media Hub event in the future at our Wine Shop in Cookham.'
Sponsors of the Hub, Al and Jo taylor from Cloud DNA say: 'Another engaging, informative discussion by the Media Hub guest speaker followed up by arguably the best wine and cheese board in Berkshire!'
We would like to thank Dan Simmons, the Old Butcher’s Wine Cellar, Cloud DNA, Mah Images, Purinto and the Stanley Spencer Gallery for their support.
For more information, visit themediahubuk.com. Tickets cost £15 – or sign up for annual membership to come to all six meetings for £60. Email us at themediahubuk@gmail.com. For more info on the Media Hub, visit www.themediahubuk.com