1,460 days later…

Yay it’s our birthday today!!! It’s four years to the very day that a leap of faith was taken and this venture was born.

On 1st March 2007 I was filled with anxious energy and every inch of carpet in our office was covered with branded C22 gift bags. At this point C22 had a staff team of just me, myself and I. With the help a couple of mates we got the bags filled in a matter of hours. This was while the phone was ringing off the hook from people wanting to get on the guest list that had closed days before.

Fast forward to the evening and I was running late for my own launch!?! When I finally reached the ICA on Pall Mall it then really dawned on me that it was actually happening, C22 had arrived. The night went well and was a great way to kick off the journey. Looking back now, having a launch party down the road from the Queen’s pad for a start-up social enterprise that had a grand total of about £1.80 in it’s bank account was crazy… champagne taste on beer money in full effect!

You see the name Catch 22 fitted on so many levels, not only did it relate to the young talent we aimed to nurture it also epitomised the status of the organisation itself. I tend to pay attention to detail so I didn’t just start C22 on a whim, in fact the birth came only after being pregnant with the idea for about 24 months. During this period I went to a number of potential investors and funders and the response was near enough the same every time. “Great idea, however for us to support we need to see it up and running first etc etc”. Perplexed by their responses I replied: “I get I’m a start-up, but it is exactly this reason in the first place that I need your support?!?”. I was stuck in a vicious circle with two options 1) C22 remains a cute idea on the shelf 2) proceed with it anyway with ‘sweat equity’ as my only form of investment.

I obviously chose the latter, so you can understand why on the 2nd March I was mad nervous as well nursing a killer hangover (note to self: mixing champagne the endless bottles of free Cobra beer is never smart or sexy!). I was nervous because I had just given birth to this beast of an entity that would need constant feeding and I had jack all in my fridge to satisfy its hunger. Thankfully the very next week I was due to start a course at the School For Social Entrepreneurs, the 12-month experience was like a finishing school experience that helped me turn C22 in a robust model that has changed the lives of over 100 young adults to date.

To say the last four years has been tough is the understatement of the year and we’ve just hit March. There were MANY points when I just wanted to tap out. Thankfully I didn’t, because now I’m proud to say at this very moment we have a number of our trainees working their way into the fabric of some of the biggest media outfits in the UK.

What started out as just a magazine showcasing new talent, has now transformed into something amazing. I’m excited about the future, coz it’s bright, in fact it’s red, blue, green…and orange!

To shorthand or not to shorthand?

Hello everyone!

Shameful to say being the assistant editor and all, this is my very first blog for Catch 22. To tell you a little bit about my role I commission, research sub and write features and reviews (that is I write reviews not all the other things, our lovely reviews editor Giulia does that). I also manage our brilliant editorial team, as well as going through e-mails and ignoring lots of highly irrelevant press releases.

As Catch 22 and it’s academy is all about training young people in acquire essential skills to gain that much coveted media job I thought I’d focus on the ongoing argument about the merits of shorthand. Today I heard an experienced journalist say that shorthand was “essential” for a news reporter and yet he himself had never mastered shorthand and was a deputy editor of a highly prestigious weekly. While other established journalists I know have forgotten any shorthand they’ve learnt or have also never learnt shorthand in the first place. This is especially in the case of magazines I’ve done work experience at, hours of transcribing other people’s interview will attest to that (and it’s really surprising the dodgy recordings some established journalists will make too). While learning shorthand is time consuming and you may still have trouble deciphering the notes afterwards.

On the other hand I realise that news writing is an essential skill for a journalist to have, and that my handwriting can be pretty hard to read at the best of times, let alone when I’m frantically jotting down a member of the public’s opinions. While Kim Fletcher, chairman of the NCTJ, has said shorthand “demonstrates a real dedication to the craft.” It made me wonder if  I should have actually done shorthand at uni and done it when I could for free, despite our magazine journalism course director telling us that it wasn’t necessary (a fact which shocked a journalist at one of my placements). So far I haven’t really felt I’ve needed it too badly whilst at Catch but then again I really do not like transcribing, especially when you have to keep rewinding to get that one incomprehensible sentence which may or may not be essential. Hmmm only time will tell…

As everyone else so far has included a nice video I’ll follow suit, here’s a lesson on shorthand, it may inspire or detract…

Priscilla