To help you write better stories, here are some tips and tricks, using bad stories as examples. Example #1 As a userI want to click saveSo I can save my work. As a User What user? I consider the term ‘user’ in a user story to be a bit lazy. The term has also taken… Continue reading How to write better user stories
8:42, 8 carriages. All stops. Always plenty of seats, but don’t tell the people who sandwich themselves onto the 8:37, which was two carriages short. Fred the guard, or ‘customer manager’. Hair in a high bun. Click. Thanks very much. Click. Have a happy day. Click. Lovely weather. Click. Have a nice day dear (to… Continue reading Reflections on a daily commute
In the late 1980s it was pretty obvious to even the casual observer that digital editing was going to change the way audio was produced. In 1991 I edited an album – Jubilate, The Central Band of the Royal New Zealand Air Force – on the Sony DAE, a system based on u-matic video recorders.… Continue reading Using ProTools (Version 1.1) in 1992
I was behind the relaunch of the RNZ website in 2005, the release that finally brought RNZ audio and news to the public at one web location, and in early 2006 I turned on the podcast feeds for some of RNZ’s most popular shows. They were an instant success for those in the know; podcasting was… Continue reading Podcasting – Hype or New Hope?
In my nearly 40 years of employment I’ve been through about 10 restructurings. I have written many responses to restructuring proposals, and read many responses written by colleagues. Given the pain inflicted on an organisation, and the staff, is it worth it? It is my view that in most cases a complete organisational restructuring is… Continue reading Restructuring: What is it good for?
I listen to a lot of podcasts. The content is mostly great, but there are a range of problems I hear in the recording of voice. I’ve recorded hundreds of voices over a 35-year career in broadcasting, so I thought I’d publish a post with some tips. In the early days (1980s) of my career we… Continue reading Recording Voice for Podcast
Whilst in search of excellence I discovered quality and in a zen-like process of discovery I reengineered my approach to projects and to work, eventually emerging out of the crisis, and discovering a new economics. Actually, the journey was longer than that and started with Business Process Reengineering (BPR). My employer at the time (RNZ) was in the… Continue reading Rethinking Agile
This is part of an occasional series of broadcasting memories. I started work at Radio New Zealand in 1981, one day late. It’s a long story. I’d applied for a job as a radio studio operator, and been through two interviews. I got offered one of three positions by post and wrote back, yep, a… Continue reading My first day at RNZ
This is part of an occasional series of broadcasting memories. From 1985-1987 I worked for Radio New Zealand as a broadcast sound engineer. This was as a member of Radio New Zealand’s Wellington outside broadcast (OB) section, led by Trevor Barker, and later Tony Burns. One of the jobs we had to do was horse… Continue reading Off to the Races
In the 1980s I attended the farewell of a colleague from RNZ. After we’d all had a few beers she shared the story of a ‘certain manager’ who offered her a lift home saying ‘it would be good for her career’. Another women – also a former employee – said ‘Oh my God, he did… Continue reading Men, Don’t be a Harvey
