How To Network

Words by Stephanie Soh
October Cohort 2011

The media industry is widely perceived as being difficult to gain access into, with preferential entry given to the friends and family of already established journos. And to some extent there is some truth in this assumption. But not every fresh-faced aspiring writer can claim Rupert Murdoch as a relative, so how does one go about cultivating media contacts? In other words, how do you – successfully – do that elusive thing called ‘networking’? Here is what I have learnt thus far.

1. Be persistent, but not aggressive.

So you’ve sent off an email to that journo from that magazine you really want to intern for, but haven’t heard anything back in weeks. Don’t be deterred – journalists get inundated with emails asking for work experience on a daily basis, and whatever their good intentions will probably end up forgetting about individual requests. So be persistent and keep up your correspondence even in the face of no replies. But keep it polite – there is nothing to gain from venting your annoyance at their stony silence!

2. Demonstrate an engagement with their work

If you’re chatting to a journalist, the one topic guaranteed to stimulate conversation will always be about their work. This isn’t because they are inherently egocentric (necessarily…), but because it is the very nature of their job to engage others with their writing. So by asking questions and showing an interest in their work, not only do you demonstrate your engagement with their work, but you also stand of good chance of engaging them.

3. What can you do for them?

Obviously an editor from Dazed & Confused or The Guardian can do a lot for you, but how will they benefit from knowing you? Think about the skills they might value from a young person like yourself – such as your direct experience of youth culture, or your knowledge of a specific subject. Who knows, if they are made aware of your specialities, you might become their go-to person when they are thinking about writing a feature on that topic.

4. Don’t think of it as ‘networking’

If you can’t bring yourself to go up to a media bod because the thought of networking brings to mind smarmy brown-nosers, ruthlessly manipulating others for their own personal advantage, then re-conceptualise your idea of networking. It doesn’t have to equal exploiting others as a means to an end – there is much to gain from just getting to know people. Approaching people with the aim of actually wanting to get to know them as an individual will ensure that you come across as genuine, rather than calculating. And who knows, you might even make friends.

 

p.s. just don’t forget to get that all-important contact detail…

Recessiongrad: Trusting in the process.

Words by Zaneta Denny
October Cohort 2011

I hate to say it, but I’m a recessiongrad; someone who graduated right in the middle of the economic downturn in the summer of 2009. I’ve tried and failed at various graduate and entry-level positions and the bank of mum and dad just won’t permit hefty Masters fees, or rather, I just don’t know if I can take on any more debt.

So I’ve resolved to better myself by other means.

Recently I took on the mammoth task of trying to become a professional spoken word artist in 5 weeks as part of the Spoken Stories workshop at the Lyric Hammersmith, at the same time as tackling a 14-week course on essentially, how to become a journalist with the Catch 22 Academy in South Tottenham.

Halfway through the Spoken Stories course I panicked, was the poem I had written good enough? Were my concepts too far fetched? Did I make any sense? Where on earth was I ‘going’ with this? My visible trepidation provoked my tutor, the inimitable MC Angel, to interject, “just trust in the process, you’ve got to trust in the process.” She asserted that I needed to “trust in the creative process,” and trust where the story was going to take me. For me, trusting the trajectory of my own idea, not knowing where I would end up was challenging. Having faith.

The next evening, on my Catch 22 weekly lecture, Toks, the tall charismatic founder of the Academy uttered the same fateful words. In his motivational speech, in reference to the successful habits of a Catch 22 trainee declared, “you need to have trust and faith in the process.” I freaked out, he almost repeated word-for-word the advice from MC Angel. Was the big guy upstairs trying to tell me something?

Since leaving university, I’ve found it hard to think relatively, when your plans don’t go to plan it has the power to meddle with your dreams and your identity. Forgive me for navel-gazing, but I think I’ve had a quarter-life crisis.  Personally, I don’t think I would have taken the poetry course if I were in some high-flying job in the city. Not being able to see your end destination can be overly confusing at this age, but if you try and focus on the now, rather than the never-never land of the future, each day will get easier. I’m trying to “trust in the process”; tomorrow evening I have my first spoken word gig at the Lyric Hammersmith, then again at the Battersea Arts Centre on Thursday evening.

You still have life, count yourself lucky for that. The world still turns on its axis (albeit a few centimetres out now) and according to the Grammy Award winning platitudes of Lauryn Hill in Everything is Everything, “After winter must come spring, change comes eventually.”

The show must go on!

How are you trusting in the process?

For short creative courses and opportunities please see: http://www.ideastap.com/opportunities

Sir Trevor McDonald: My Inspiration

Words by David N’Jai
October Cohort 2011

“Welcome to the news at 10.” I knew it was well past my bedtime but to me as a child, it was almost fun to watch the 10 O’Clock news on ITV. I don’t know whether the fun stemmed from the game that I was forced to play when my Dad walked near my room at night (switch off the TV when I hear footsteps coming near my room knowing I should be fast asleep, and then back on again) or the chimes of Big Ben (hoping maybe one day it would chime nine or 11 by mistake). Whatever it was, for 20 minutes plus, my attention was well and truly devoted to Mr Trevor McDonald. I felt like whatever happened in the world, this was the man that knew everything.

I immediately knew that being like Trevor was my ambition when I grew up, somehow someway. Being a news reporter was not actually what I wanted to be though, I just wanted to be in the know about everything and be able to communicate and share my knowledge. Writing had always been a strength of mine and speaking to a primary school teacher about my ambitions, we decided journalism was for me.

During secondary school and college I flirted with the idea of journalism, though through puberty with the desire to appear more masculine amongst my peers I would also often ignore it. It was not until university choices were needed that I once again thought about my childhood aspirations, but once again I ignored it. I studied music management and marketing which was definitely not for me, leaving that course after a year. A year later when I eventually decided to study journalism at university I felt like all I was being taught was not very poignant in helping to teach me how to become a journalist. Another epic fail, maybe this was not the career for me? Or was I just a college drop-out with no balls to work hard and succeed?

As these questions revolved around my head, here I am four years later having had a successful blog, worked at two successful music magazines with a personal portfolio of over 50 articles and produced my own documentary – some journalist, hey?

The Catch 22 Academy Introduction to Multimedia Journalism Training Programme has given me the needed adhesive to now put the pieces together properly, as I complete the puzzle more I see there is no defined way or route how to become a journalist. But one thing I can say is that there was no better way of preparing for the real world of journalism than the Catch 22 course.

 

Pop that cherry!

Welcome to the weird yet wonderful world of Catch 22. We’re a social enterprise that has set itself the audacious challenge of revolutionizing the media industry and then the creative industries and then any other sectors we can penetrate within the UK with our mantra. A daunting task, but someone’s got to take on goliath, right?

Time and time again at team meetings the idea of a Catch 22 blog has piped up, so finally here it is. And as the founder of Catch 22 I’ve been coaxed into writing what happens to be, believe it or not, my first ever blog post entry… sad but very true.

The reasons are simple: 1) I’ve questioned how engaging the musings of a self-confessed workaholic social entrepreneur could be. 2) My to-do list is extensive as it is thank you. 3) I’m busy trying to make things happen, let alone write about them too.

Like the first time “knockin’ da boots”, the idea of writing a blog did fill me with slight anxiety; am I doing it right? How long do I go on for? Am I brave enough to bear all with the lights on? Then I realized as usual I was over thinking things. So instead I’ve decided to just write what pops into my head and conclude by hitting the post button.

Anyway back to the reason I’m here. Catch 22 is an interesting animal that over the last three and a half years has grown organically and consists of many segments all under one roof. Inspired by the likes of Dickie Branson and that Stelios bloke, I decided to do a number of things at the same time and house them all under the Catch 22 brand. What they all have in common within their fabric is quality and that special ingredient known as undiscovered young talent.

At this point it’s appropriate that I give a shout out to fellow social entrepreneur and east-end boy Jamie Oliver. His Fifteen concept reflected exactly the kind of thing I wanted to do in my industry being the media. If he could turn a “street doctor” into a chef at a Michelin star hotel, then I knew I could transform a disillusioned inner city youth into a media professional capable of holding their own at somewhere like The Economist.

Trading Places is a hilarious 80s classic that totally symbolizes the quest of Catch 22. Starring Dan Ackroyd and Eddie Murphy (at his best) the film tackles the old nature versus nurture debate.

Today is a very special day for me, as it’s the anniversary of the day that I think changed my life forever. Ten years ago on November 1st I set off on an amazing adventure around the world. Along with three friends we explored what the globe had to show us. In Brazil we witnessed the dictionary definition of female beauty, in Miami we partied with rap stars, in Hong Kong I trained with renowned kung fu masters and in Thailand we rode on elephants and motorbike taxis through the fields and streets of Chang Mai and Bangkok.

That trip of a lifetime taught me that through my determination and tenacity I could supersede the prejudices, insecurities and pigeonholes that society had laid out for me. It inspired me to transform my potential into product, regardless of the fact that I am first generation African-British from a low-income single parent home. By hook or crook I was going to make things happen!

My narrative has always been that of the underdog, so really it probably comes as no surprise to those that know me that I ended up establishing something like Catch 22. It champions the underdog to excel and to smash all glass ceilings in their way…a bit like this dude has.

Via this blog you’ll get to hear about all that we’re up to at Catch 22 HQ. It may relate to our multimedia journalism training academy, or our youth culture magazine, or our communications agency or our new diversity recruitment service called LaunchPad. In addition we’ll also keep you posted on other new mini ventures we’ve got in the pipelines.

Ok, I’m starting to feel fatigued from the ramblings of my first post, so on that note like Bannatyne “I’m Out!”

Peace

Billy Ray Valentine aka Coach Carter aka Tokunbo (just in case you were wondering, it’s pronounced toh-koon-boh…simples!)