Being a Community Reporter

I thought today I would talk about being a community reporter, and how you can turn a hobby into something useful for the community. I am not a professional and neither do I want to be. It's a hobby that I thoroughly enjoy, and will continue to happily snap away until the cows come home, and that is the key, enjoyment and enthusiasm.

I have now found a new lease of life for my hobby, now I have direction and go to places and events I otherwise might not consider. MCIN have given me the opportunity to go out and do what I enjoy most about my hobby, taking pictures or video at events etc.

I recently went to the East Manchester Festival held at the Grange, and the most satisfying thing for me was the end result of my hobby. For a taster of what you can achieve by becoming a community reporter visit East Manchester Festival and watch the video. A lot of hard work went into producing this video from actually taking the photos and video, to putting it all together in a package that I hope gives a sense of actually being there and also what you missed. For me it was great day and to see the end result, well that is what is most satifying and I hope it will inspire others to go out and do the same. This video is only an intro of more to come on the event.

Watch out soon for a video about the Urbanathlon, which was another great day especially for me, will tell you more soon.

One more thing, and it came about at the Urbanathlon, I would have liked to have seen more comunity reporters there. Because this was a race, covering the start, middle and end was quite daunting, something you will find out more about soon. It would be nice at times to work as a group, and not only at events but having meetings and sharing experiences, ideas, techniques etc. Another area that I feel can also help community Reporters is editing, production techniques etc. While it is great going to places and snapping away, what you then do with the content is equally just as important, and it can make all the difference to making the finished product look good or bad. Are you listening MCIN, lets make it happen.

If you want to be a community reporter, then email david@mcin.net or jessica@mcin.net, or call them on 0161 230 1430 or call in to the iBlog Social Media Centre at the Grange on Pilgrim Drive in Beswick.