University of Chester students help in production of live BBC radio broadcast

Events management students at the University of Chester put their skills to the test by providing support at a high-profile live radio broadcast.

The university was pleased to welcome BBC Radio 4 Any Questions? team including presenter Jonathan Dimbleby for a live broadcast of the weekly debate programme from its Molloy Lecture Theatre.

A group of 15 events managers studying at the university’s Business School enjoyed helping with the event and gained valuable experience towards their degree.

They assisted the BBC production team in a variety of roles, including as production runners, front of house, ushers and car park marshals and were praised by guests and staff for their professionalism.

There was even a question related to events management during the evening.

Senior lecturer in events management at Chester Business School Tim Brown said: “The students were outstanding at assisting in the delivery of the event and certainly learnt a lot about live broadcast events!

“Our events management programme is designed to provide a wealth of learning opportunities on live events, and having the BBC here is always a great occasion.

“Our students were fantastic at providing customer service to our hundreds of visitors and guests, and a lucky few were also asked to aid in being production runners on the event.

“One of the questions that arose during the live broadcast debate was also event related – which was a fortuitous bonus.”

Emily Morgan, 19 from Connah’s Quay, is in her first year of events management at the university and enjoyed taking part.

She said: “The event was really enjoyable and has helped me massively with my course. It was amazing to see how it all ran behind the scenes, with the audience of several hundred, and interesting to hear everyone’s viewpoints and see all the different schools who attended involved.”

Jennifer Bamber, 22 from Manchester, is in her second year of the course and got to be a production runner.

She said: “I was involved with collecting the questions that were written down and taking them to the production team. It was a great experience and an insight because just hearing the show on the radio you don’t realise how long it takes to put together.

“It has been beneficial for my course which I am really enjoying and we are putting on our own virtual reality event this month for charity.”