The week began with an early get up, followed by a car journey filled with excitement and anticipation. As we arrived in a sunny Salford, all the different radio stations had gathered to form an eagerly awaiting crowd, ready for the conference to begin.
SRA con started with an AGM, which was made as exciting as possible by the fantastic Summer Wilde (chair of the SRA), whose crowd work got us all in the spirit for the week. As the AGM ended, it was now time for my personal favourite talk of the whole week, from BBC radio One’s Jack Saunders. Jack and his team gave an inspiring talk on how he achieved his goal of hosting one of Raio 1’s biggest shows- the New Music Show. By the end of his talk, I was absolutely in awe of him, as he painted the picture of what seems like the dream job! Following Jack, it was time for the first ‘break out session.’ It was hard to choose, but our group opted for a talk entitled “Building the ultimate online platform with air.” This provided us with incredible information on website and app development and if you’re reading this now, it clearly went down well! We were then given more food for thought with an interesting talk from the BBC careers team, on all things in careers behinf the scenes.
As the clock hit four, it marked the end of the first day of conference. Our team headed back to our nearby Air B&B. We unpacked and relaxed in the garden as we discussed what an amazing day it had been. However, the day wasn’t over yet! We headed to the university of Salford’s student union and met up with the other stations for dinner. We enjoyed the provided BBQ themed buffet, which was very tasty indeed! It was 7:30 in the evening which meant only one thing…. DEMO FACTOR! Demo factor is a Britian’s Got Talent- esc competition, where budding presenters submit demos to the judges who could buzz if they don’t like it, or even give a golden buzzer if they love it ! The show was hosted by the cheeky Callum Macdonald, with the judge panel made up of radio experts: Chris North, Paul Sylvester, Pandora Christie ad Kate Louise Davy. Many great demos were submitted, inspiring us at Moore Student Radio to submit some next year, the winner was Katie Louise Buxton from Shock Radio. After the evening’s entertainment, everyone headed back into the student union for a few drinks and some productive networking. This was a great way to get the Name ‘Moore Student Radio’ out there and learn from other stations. I even got a studio tour from the very friendly hosts at Shock Radio before we all called it a night and headed back to the air B&B.
It was Tuesday morning. Lie in? Absolutely not! All of us joined Jack for a rather chaotic edition of his ‘Moore Breakfast Show’, using and trialling our new technology- Web-VT, which allows us to broadcast from outside the studio. We used our breakfast vouchers to refresh ourselves and headed to our 2nd day of conference. It began with an insightful talk from Sally Ardis who manages a plethora of stations at Global, including Classic FM, Smooth and Gold Radio. It was time for another breakout session and again we were spoilt for choice. We decided on ‘Building a brand on social media’ with Sascha Driver (Social Media Lead at hit’s radio), which gave us great inspiration for next year’s social media campaign, teaching us how to create consistent quality social media content. We then all joined back together for a fascinating talk from the ever-friendly Sarah-Jayne Crawford, who put the lens on what it’s like going on air for some of the biggest radio stations. We then strolled back over to the student union for another delicious networking lunch. This was followed by another round of interesting breakout sessions, before it was time for something we had all been eagerly waiting for… Dick and Dom! The iconic duo were effortlessly funny, they gave a talk on their long career and said how switching to radio has been their highlight. It was certainly something special seeing your childhood heroes right on stage in front of you!
Tuesday’s fun was far from over, we went back, and changed into our suits and dresses ahead of the Amplify Awards- safe to say we all looked the part!
Going into the awards we knew we were nominated for two categories: Most improved station and Most supportive student union. On arrival at the awards, we were greeted with complimentary Prosecco and wine, we shared a table with our newfound friends from university radio Bath. It was fantastic to see the familiar faces of our previous speakers present, including Dick and Dom. We enjoyed a lovely two course meal; I had a chicken roast and the apple crumble! Before we knew it, the awards were starting. Hosted by Tom Watts and Miranda Burns, the amplify awards were a celebration of all thing’s student radio, as we didn’t expect to win anything we were simply enjoying the night.
Our first category came up of ‘most improved.’ Whilst we didn’t place, we remained proud to be nominated and noticed for all our hard work. The evening went on and it was time for our second nomination. We didn’t hear our name for bronze or silver, and whilst we were proud of our station, we knew we had tough competition- but still stayed hopeful. And after a pause that felt like eternity, we heard the words that meant everything... “And the winner is MOORE STUDENT RADIO!” The table jumped up in excitement, our fellow stations stood up in a round of applause as Zoe and Jack took to the stage. They delivered a humble but celebratory speech, showing appreciation for Lottie Tudge and Tom Rigby from the SU team. Moore student radio – most supportive Student Union 2025 – WOW! The awards finished with Shock radio taking ‘radio station of the year’ as we descended into a lovely party with more productive chats with the likes of Chris North and of course the other incredible stations. We were even treated to a DJ set from Dick and Dom! A special night to say the least.
Wednesday morning came round, and we were sad knowing that this was the last day, yet filled with excitement as Wednesdays talks were to be held in media city! The first talk we chose was ‘the art and science of scheduling’ from 6MUSIC’s producers Danielle Swindlers and Henrietta, who helped explain the difference between playlists and a music scheduled. We then went to Natt and Vicky’s talk about their journey to Radio 1, I was particularly inspired, as they are of course a double act who have managed to get on the radio at a young age. In the meantime, Jack and Phoebe had managed to snag tickets to a tour round BBC’s studios, which they described as inspiring and eye-opening. We had our last networking lunch then headed into the afternoon. We had insightful talks from Global’s Hollie Ross and Greg Hughes, followed by a talk on podcasts from Alex Barnes. Finally, we had the closing ceremony, once again hosted by Summer Wilde, who provide a fitting end to such and amazing conference.
I can genuinely say that there were three of the best days of my life, I speak for the whole team when I say that it was an unforgettable experience. I’d like to thank our incredible host’s at shock radio for being so friendly throughout, and of course the student radio association for making it all possible. We left every single talk inspired and thoroughly enjoyed all the entertainment. In reflection, we all agreed that one of the nicest parts of the conference was meeting all the other stations, as a newcomer to the student radio scene, we were welcomed and feel like we are now a part of a very friendly community. The conference has given us endless ideas of collaboration and innovation, providing a very bright future for us here at Moore Student Radio. SRA Conference 2025 you were amazing.
