And we’re live…

I spent a lot of time in TV studios in my yoof. My dad was a sound engineer, and I took any opportunity I could to bunk off school or use the holidays to go and hang out on whatever he was working on.

I’d generally be left alone, because my dad had an actual job to do, so I’d raid the vending machines, chat to bored camera operators, or get given menial jobs to do, like hold a cable for 3 hours or press a button when a light flashed.

But my abiding memory of all this is getting to sit at the back of the outside broadcast truck or the control room during something going live on air.

This was absolutely magic. The energy of it all was absolutely intoxicating. Everyone knew their job. Everyone was a pro. Nothing ever went wrong (not that I’d notice). It’s just like what happens on the TV about the TV.

Later on I gravitated towards TV for a career. I worked at the BBC as a very junior engineer for a bit. But the internet was where the action was at, and where I found my people.

I do love my job. We put a lot of stuff live for a lot of people, all the time. But roadmaps and incremental iterations don’t lend themselves to that feeling of going live on air. And it’s a shame I’ll never be able to take my kids to work in the same way.

Anyway. Fun fact! 11 year old me was an extra in Mr Bean. Spot me in the first 15 seconds of this.