
Monday
I'm woken noisily at 6.30am by my very excited eight year old shouting "only four more sleeps to go!" We’re off to DisneyWorld Florida on Friday for half term and the countdown has begun in earnest.
The morning starts well with breakfast at the Covent Garden Hotel with Dave Saunders from our TV team and Molly Okell, senior commercial producer, Box Television. We wax lyrical on how to move our creative output forward.
I have complete admiration for their ambition to continually punch above their weight in terms of creative ideas and delivery. I also admire their ability to continue delivering revenue growth year on year too, of course.
I nip back to the office after breakfast to catch up with Derek Hewitt (radio sales director, Bauer), Lillian Betty (strategy communications director, Bauer) and Clare Chamberlain (sales director, London Lifestyle) and head to a meeting with WPP’s M4C.
Pete Kemp, managing director of M4C, delivers a great debrief explaining the focus and challenges for the government in 2013. I grab a sandwich at my desk, as I need to finalise budget figures for 2013.
Tuesday
I have an early start today catching the 7.05am from King's Cross to Leeds. Today’s agenda involves a meeting with Dee Ford, group managing director, Bauer Radio, and Sarah Vickery, radio finance and strategy director, Bauer, to discuss revenue numbers for 2013.
All three sales offices - London, Manchester and Scotland – have had a good 2012 so discussions are focused on how we can build on the great creativity the team has produced.
We’re also dedicated to growing our Place and Passion Portfolio sell while still giving marketers the freedom to create customised advertising packages utilising the individual portfolios, or a combination of both, depending on the objectives of their campaign.
On the train back I read an interesting nugget on email from our research team – just 4% of Passion listeners say that when they watch TV they just watch TV and look at no other media or device – the rise of the second screen continues with our younger listeners.
I finalise the guest list for the 北京赛车pk10 Media Awards with my PA. We’re shortlisted for Radio Sales Team of the Year, expertly led by Derek Hewitt, alongside a nomination for Cross Media Sales Team of the Year for Access who have had a record breaking year headed up by Darren Khan.
Back to the office on the 4.15pm and Darren has sent me the latest Access creds presentation. It’s a terrific showreel with a range of fantastic campaigns including many renewals such as Coca Cola, KFC, Bacardi, Southern Comfort, O2 and BlackBerry. It’s a great example of a team getting it right.
Home for 7.30pm and I’m just in time to read my daughter a few pages of 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' before cooking dinner and relaxing by browsing through our Empire app for the latest must see film to watch when we return from our break.
Wednesday
I put aside this morning to prep for the Radio Festival [in Salford Quays] in November. The whole festival exists to inspire and inform the radio industry – both the BBC and commercial.
With this in mind I’ve arranged for Linda Smith, executive chair of the RAB to interview Fru Hazlitt of ITV. I think it will be a most entertaining 50 minutes.
Fru has agreed to tell us about her amazing career and she'll be giving us her views on the industry today. I’m really excited for this no-holds barred honest interview that will no doubt make a few people shake their heads in astonishment.
For the second session I’m speaking on a panel, which I’m very excited about. A year ago I was involved with a small group of women who set up an organisation called Sound Women. Founded by the inspirational Maria Williams, Sound Women is a network of over 700 inspirational women working in audio. The group are committed to raising the profile of the women who work in the radio and audio industry, and celebrating their achievements.
Fast forward one year and we have a slot at the festival showcasing some of the great female radio presenters in the industry. I’ll be talking about our talented line up including Angie Greaves, Neev and Clara as well as highlighting their increasing value with commercial partners.
Thursday
This is my last day before we jet off across the pond. I meet with the team leading one of the biggest and most ambitious projects we’ve ever done at Bauer – GoThinkBig.
We’ve joined forces with O2 with a pledge to commit £5m to its development and up to 30,000 work experiences (or work skills opportunities) for 14- to 25-year-olds across the UK over the next three years.
The need for the new initiative has been underpinned by new research showing lack of access to work skills and experience is a major barrier to employment for many young people.
I meet with Pippa Glucklich from Arena [soon to take the managing director post at Starcom] for lunch and we spend a delightful 90 minutes talking about all kinds of things ranging from business and children to dogs and holidays.
Head back to the office for an afternoon conference call to update on revenues and a quick heads up on next week’s Rajar predictions and thoughts – then it’s time to go home and face packing.
Friday
From the Magic network to the Magical Kingdom! I try to put the emails to one side so I can enjoy the time with the family, ready to come back fully-charged for the run-up to Christmas and all our exciting plans for 2013.