Ciara O'Connor, General Manager, East Coast FM, elected as Chairperson for 2010-2011

At the April Board meeting of Learning Waves, Ciara O'Connor from East Coast Radio was elected as Chairperson for 2010-2011.  Ciara, who has been a board member of Learning Waves since 2005 succeeds Liam Dwyer from South East Radio who held the chair in 2009-2010.  Ciara is pictured below.

Learning Waves receives Outstanding Achievement Award from the Irish Institute of Training and Development(IITD)

Learning Waves was presented with an Outstanding Achievement Award from the IITD at its awards night on 26th March 2010.  This award was in recognition of the work carried out by Learning Waves in the Network and Groups category of awards.  It is first time that the network has entered the awards and it was a great honour to receive an Outstanding Achievement Award.  Pictured below is Project Manager, Teresa Hanratty, receiving the award from John Gorman, President of IITD on the night.

Skillnets Funding for 2010 secured for Learning Waves

Learning Waves is delighted to announce that it has secured funding from Skillnets for the remainder of 2010.  Ths funding from Skillnets, which will be matched by 50% from the industry will allow Learning Waves to continue its work in the training and development of staff across the Independent Commercial Radio Sector in Ireland.

Creativity in Programme Content
The more creative and innovative we are with stories, contributors and all elements of programme making, the higher the quality and consistency of radio being produced. Facilitated by Natasha Fennell of Stillwater Communications, this course is designed to help all radio personnel - researchers, producers and presenters to approach radio programming in a more creative way. To book a place on this course, go to the News, Talk & Sport section of the Training Calendar or email teresahanratty@learningwaves.ie
Click the image below for a printable version for your notice board.

Winning the Breakfast Battle

'Win Breakfast and you win the War' according to Mark Story, RadioStory who has launched many award winning Breakfast Shows including Chris Tarrants breakfast show on Capital Radio and Simon Mayo on BBC Radio One.  Mark will tell you in this half day session how to build or upgrade your breakfast show from recruiting a team, to content, to comedy, to hour clocks to street activity and much more.  You can hear what Mark has to say on 2nd September 2009 in Skylon Hotel from 1.45pm-5pm.  To book a place at this session go to www.learningwaves.ie or email teresahanratty@learningwaves.ie.

Set Sale for Success......Radio Sales in 2009 and beyond

Learning Waves will give you the opportunity to hear from Liam Pender, Managing Partner in Open Communications and Eamon Fitzpatrick, Advertising Director, Irish Times on understanding the current selling environment, understanding your customers and your products and strategies to deal with selling in the current environment.  The workshops will take place in Dublin on 16th Sept 2009, Cork on 23rd Sept 2009 and Galway on 29th Sept 2009.  To book your place at these workshops go to www.learningwaves.ie or email teresahhanratty@learningwaves.ie

Radio. And the other R word.

IRS in conjunction with RAB UK invite you to hear about how to get along with the R word.  You will be astonished to hear that RAB UK believe that, especially when times are tight, radio plays a vital role in the mix.  Come along and hear a presentation by RAB UK on the role of radio in a recession on 22nd July 2009 at 8am in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, No. 6 Kildare Street, Dublin 2.  If you are interested in attending please contact Emma Richardson in IRS on 01 6629444 or email emma@radio-sales.com.

Ten Sales Strategies for Growth

Read article by Robert McKernan, Sales Trainer in Sunday Business Post 29th March 2009 onTen Sales Strategies for Growth ....click to read Ten Sales Strategies For Growth

New Diploma in Programme Planning and Production

Learning Waves launched its new Diploma in Programme Planning and Production in November 2008.  It is aimed at programme controlleers, presenters and those aspiring to be Programme Directors.  The programme has been designed and developed by industry experts and will be delivered by industry experts and external experts from the UK and USA.  The programme consists of 12 modules which will be delivered over a 12-18month period.  The programme requires a committment of 4 class days from participants and additional project work in between classes.  Full details of the programme are available under the training section of this site or by clicking on the following link :

€125,500 Awarded to Dramarama Participants

In December 2008, €125,500 was awarded from the Special Sound and Vision Funding Scheme to participants on the Learning Waves Dramarama Programme.  A total of 9 applications were submitted to the BCI for funding and 7 were granted funding for their projects.  Recipients of funding included Bernadette Prendergast( Galway Bay FM), Sorcha Crowley( Galway Bay FM), Daithi McMahon( Radio Kerry), Sarah Gilbert( LMFM), Mark Malone(C103), Elaine Kinsella(Radio Kerry) and Gemma Murphy( WLRFM).  All recipients completed a 3 day Dramarama Programme with Learning Waves in 2008 and the funding of programmes as a result of the training is a significant achievement for both the participants and for Learning Waves.  Learning Waves would like to thank sincerely the facilitators of the programme, Diarmuid deFaoite(Poc Productions, Galway) and Roisin Kelleher( BBC, Belfast), Brian Furey from the BCI and all those involved in the Sound and Vision Scheme, all participants and their respective stations.  We look forward to hearing the various programmes on-air over the coming months.  Learning Waves will update this website on the progress of the each application.

Paddy Power launches
‘Turning Up The Volume’

Paddy Power from Paddy Power Bookmakers officially launched Learning Waves Skillnet 2008-2009 ‘Turning Up the Volume’ Project on 10th April 2008. The project launch took place in the Hilton Hotel, Malahide Road Dublin among a large crowd of Learning Waves members. The event was preceded by the BCI workshop on the Advertising Code. Paddy Power gave an overview of the success of his business with examples of marketing interventions, importance of training and people in the success of business, their experience of radio as a client and he wished Learning Waves every success in 2008-2009 as they ‘turn up the volume’ in the industry.

Music Workshop

Learning Waves held a very interesting, informative and entertaining Music Workshop on 25th April 2008. The workshop called Past, Present and Future, featured Brendan Balfe, JP Coakley, Peter Ganley, Chris Greene, Seamus Barry, Muireann O’Connell and Ray Foley, all of whom gave their story about how they got into radio, how they interact with listeners and the challenges the digital era presents to the industry.

New Courses

The following new courses have been introduced by Learning Waves :

• Dramarama – Dramatic Possibilities for Radio: a 3 day programme looking at the creative elements of radio drama, the scripting of radio drama and the recording of drama for radio. The programme is being facilitated by Diarmuid deFaoite, POC Productions Galway and Roisin Kelleher, BBC NI. The programme is a joint initiative between Learning Waves and Sound & Vision (Broadcast Funding Scheme), a BCI initiative.
• News Analysis – How to Maximise the Impact of Your News for Your Listeners : a 2 day in-station programme with Eric Dixon from Eric Dixon Media, aimed at analysing and reviewing your news output, and developing new and creative methods of ‘telling your news’ so that it has maximum impact for your listeners. This is an in-house course and is available on request from stations.
• An Extra Pair of Ears - Analysis, Mentoring and Development of Your Prime Time Talk Show: a 2 day in-station course with StillWater Communications, taking a complete and in-depth analysis on all aspects of your flagship program from the target audience to the presenter’s delivery allowing you to explore/discover your strengths and weaknesses. This course will help you to build on your success and also identify what you need to implement to increase listenership/market share and to be the program leader of choice in your area
  

E-Learning Module

The Libel and Defamation course delivered by Andrea Martin has now been developed into an on-line resource guide using a combination of Powerpoint and Audio materials. This is now available on www.learningwaves.ie. A username and password must be obtained from the Learning Waves Project Manager to access the content. Resource materials and notes are also available on the site. Over the coming months, an assessment tool will be added to the resource guide.

In-station Training Courses

The following courses are now available in station and can be requested from Learning Waves Project Manager :

• Strategic Business Planning
• Advanced Speech & Voice Training
• An Extra Pair of Ears’ - Analysis, Mentoring and Development of Your Prime Time Talk Show
• News Analysis – How to Maximise the Impact of Your News for Your Listeners
• Scripting for Sales

Learning Waves is currently reviewing its Generic Management Training and full details of this training will be circulated to all stations during June 2008. A number of the generic management programmes will be available to stations in-house and stations can tailor the training to meet the needs of their management team. A minimum number of participants must attend the training in order for the training to be delivered in-house. For further details on this contact Teresa on 087 4173301 or teresahanratty@learningwaves.ie.

On-line booking system for Training

An on-line booking system is now available for all those wishing to attend training courses with Learning Waves. Participants can book the course through the Learning Waves website www.learningwaves.ie/training and an email will be forwarded with all details of the course and reminders within five and one day of the course taking place will be sent to those who have booked to the course. To view and book courses, go to the training calendar.