What an extraordinary night, yesterday.

By sponsoring the Innovation category at the Student Radio Awards, I didn’t really realise what I was getting into.

First, a nice ad in the programme. The copy is a little OTT, the image is a Flickr photographer’s Creative Commons-licenced image, and the artwork ably produced by Kate Rogers from my team, under Sacha Sedriks’s direction. Thank you both.

Second, the chance to judge the award. We saw a lot of playout systems and a lot of content management systems (tip: co-operate, people) but the winner was a neat little OB unit in a little unit that craftily used any connection it possibly could get – from 3G to IP to ISDN. Well done, chaps at URN Nottingham.

Third, the chance to get a few places at the award ceremony (to which I invited my other judges and some of my team). I ended up being a veggie for the night, eating some cheesy rice thing and passing on the chicken.

Fourth, the presentation of the award. This slick event made the Sony Radio Academy Awards look slightly old-fashioned (good job there’s a plan being hatched). I expected my job was to walk on stage, open an envelope, and get off. I didn’t reckon on having to say a little piece first, try to be funny to a bunch of students, and follow talented people like Alex Zane and Mark Goodier. Fuck. Scary.

Introducing me, Fearne Cotton thought it was clever to take the piss out of the geeks. She forgets that her web page could mysteriously break tomorrow if she upsets us.

I ended up making friends with student station Surge from Southampton. My little speechette, which I gabbled too fast, was “One of your best coders, Nick, is now one of our best coders. If you want to work for the most awarded radio interactive team in the UK, we’re hiring. And remember. The future of radio is multiplatform: so Love Your Geek”. Curiously, I wasn’t nervous at all until I ended up on stage. As soon as I got the cheer from the Southampton lot, I realised there were a ton of people – far more than any conference speech I’ve done, and I felt I was floundering without a decent script and rapidly disappearing confidence. Scary, scary. Woah. Get proper brief. Work on speech. Say little. Woah. Adrenaline a-go-go.

Anyway, after getting the hell out of there, slowing the heart-rate and meeting a friend and former colleague (who now works at the O2 itself, which doesn’t really narrow it down) at the overpriced Slug and Lettuce near the venue, I enjoyed popping back in and seeing a few friends, and a few students who by that time were thrilled and excited to “talk radio”. Much excited hand-shaking from students, some of whom said that they read this blog. The beer reviews appear to be the most popular; they ignore my pronouncements on radio. A new career beckons.

On the way home, I chatted to XFM’s Alex Zane, who was cheerfully pleased by the excitement the student radio community has about the industry we work in; and then shared much of my tube home with Smooth Radio’s Mark Goodier, who chatted amiably to me on the tube, eschewing his white iPhone.

An amazing night. Unforgettable for lots of reasons – but mainly because I now know what an adrenaline overdose feels like. A welcome reminder of the dangers of complacency – and the benefits of getting a clear brief.

Photo stolen without any permission whatsoever from Barry Carlyon’s Facebook feed, but it is me in it, so I hope it’s ok

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