Niamh Collins, MultiMedia Producer – RTÉ Platform Team
Company: Radio TelefÃs Éireann is Ireland’s Public Service Broadcaster. I work for RTÉ’s Publishing which develops online products within the RTÉ.ie portfolio. RTÉ Publishing as a division generates a diverse range of products from the RTÉ Guide, to RTÉ Aertel and RTÉ.ie.
Job description: I’ve worked here since 2008. My role is to develop and manage operations across leading online products within the RTÉ.ie portfolio including the RTÉ Player, RTÉ News Now, RTÉ YouTube and recently the RTÉ.ie homepage. The team is small so it demands a flexible approach and you need to be proficient at everything from scheduling to filming and editing, with an interest in news and current affairs and the ability to crop images and write copy.
Likes: The people. The creativity. The fact that it’s varied.
At the end of the day, it’s about who you work with isn’t it? I’m lucky enough to work with a really inspired group of people who are funny, clever and ultimately hard-working. They honestly don’t get enough credit for what they do. I belong to a small team with an enormous amount of responsibility on their shoulders and I learn from them every single day.
I love the creativity allowed in this role. Even something as simple as choosing the best image and text to represent a programme on the RTÉ Player can move a person to watch it where they might otherwise have ignored it. There’s a lot of great content which viewers never get to see on RTÉ and something I’m keen to do is to show the great stuff RTÉ makes by extending the life content through editing and uploading ‘otherwise forgotten’ clips on our YouTube site and by ensuring programmes are creatively represented on the RTÉ Player.
The variety. As we’re such a small team, we get to try our hands at many tasks and some days are just plain surreal. I recently found myself chasing birds around Ãras an Uachtaráin to get the best possible shot for a piece I was editing on Blue tits!
Qualifications: BA Trinity College Dublin - Philosophy, MA National University of Ireland – Journalism, Diploma, Merton College, London – Multimedia/Web Design, ABCe Web Analytics - Web Traffic Management Cert.
Career ladder: When I left college, I developed a distinguished career early on reading the on-air death notices in local radio stations GalwayBay FM and LMFM!
I realised web was more my thing when I joined INN in 2003 working on news websites such as the Irish Examiner Online and Irish Independent Online. I moved to London where I continued in online through Endemol UK under its web division (Victoria Real at the time) as a Web Producer.
I was outsourced to TV stations such as Teachers’ TV where I cut my teeth in TV and learned about on-demand programming. It was the first TV station in Europe to make its entire transmission schedule free to stream or download online and I had to upload. I also had the opportunity to learn more about developing websites for TV through developing websites and online partnerships with the BBC, Comic Relief and the History Channel.
I then moved to the Discovery Channel where I gained experience in digital ad sales and was responsible for developing ad campaigns for their EMEA portfolio of sites. This was a real jump in responsibility and I learned a great deal about setting-up operations and developing relationships as it was largely a new role within Discovery but one I thoroughly enjoyed.
Finally, I moved to RTÉ.ie to redevelop and manage their online news channel RTÉ News Now which was in its infancy. Under the guidance of some very innovative people, I’ve been part of a brand which is now available on the iPhone, in train stations, Busaras and Dublin airport and we’re hoping to take it further! In late 2008, I was asked to set-up operations for a new TV catch-up service which eventually became the RTÉ Player.
Working hours: I don’t really have typical working hours as sometimes I’ll need to cover shifts or work overnight on special news nights…ideally, I would work 8.30 – 5.00!
Breaktime: Eat. When I’m not eating, I’m the unofficial RTÉ tour guide to my friends who meet me for lunch allegedly, but I end-up showing them where the Late Late is filmed…and no, I can’t get you tickets!
Social media credentials: In terms of social networking, I use my Facebook app constantly and Twitter app for RTÉ Player updates. I’m an iPhone addict. I’m suspicious of the ever-growing power of Apple so I don’t like to admit that but I love it.
I’m also really into creative apps like Vintage Video Maker and some of the new augmented reality apps such as Away to a Manger which guides you to locations with a star.
Also, a very handy way to keep up with friends’ updates is to install the Facebook toolbar which alerts you during the day without the hassle of logging in and checking the feeds.
News: When I’m walking to work and not listening to my favourite bands (Muse!) I listen to podcasts like CrankyGeeks or the Guardian “Tech Weekly†podcast which are great. Professionally, I need to be aware of breaking news and what our competitors are doing each day so I scan through other news and media sites like IrishTimes.com. For general trends or to find out what users are chatting about, Siliconrepublic.com, www.mulley.net and boards.ie are a must!
Onsite or offsite: Working with Discovery meant a lot of travel for meetings with clients but these days you’ll mainly find me off the N11!
Why do you love Mondays? I love Mondays because it’s another week and another chance to make a small difference in my field and to, hopefully, provide a good service and rewarding experience to our customers. I also love that I don’t have to read death notices anymore!
www.rte.ie
www.rte.ie/player
www.rte.ie/newsnow
May 26th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
Really enjoyed this career story, this girl is going places, liked the witty remarks, she is too good to read the death notices!