At various conferences and events I attend I have posted a series of 'live blog' style Tweets/Posts on X.
Given that X posts are no longer publicly available without an account, and many people prefer to avoid the platform, I have reproduced verbatim below my tweets from the UK Community Radio Network Conference & 2024 Community Radio Awards held on 16th November 2024.
I have left in errors from the original post, and there will be some formatting errors due to the manual process of converting the content, further edits will be made in the future to fix these formatting errors and to embed the couple of missing video clips (once I work out a simple way of doing this.)
The main purpose of this is to 'archive' the content in an hopefully more secure and accessible location, thus I have retrospectively set the published date of this post to the original event date to aid search. Various details and some videos of the event have been published on the organisers YouTube channel and some of my thoughts on the event I may publish separately in the future (after I've refilled the coffee machine!)
27th December 2025

Nov 15 24 · 4 tweets

I’ve been a bit more passive on here recently and lots of people seem to be jumping ship.

I’m off on the first of a couple of conference trips and I’ll be doing some of my “regular” live tweeting as I enjoy doing that.

I’m also considering experimenting a bit over at that place where the sky is more blue than the view from my @CrossCountry Trains train window this morning.

My handle over there is: philedmonds.uk

Trains
Vintage Wireless set
Radio history
Attempt to listen to Red Dragon FM

Hopefully so slightly more up to date technology to drool over later with a trip to @BBC Wales

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Verified BBC Wales tech is very shiny!

Great tour round last night, though we had to be guided away from group photo bombing the newsroom backdrop of S4C evening news.

“Is it okay to take pictures?”, “Yes” So I ended up taking millions of pictures.

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Nov 16 24 · 1 tweets

So in location at Cardiff City Stadium for today’s UK Community Radio Network National Conference.

Coffee and swag for starters.
#UKCRNconnect

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Nov 16 24 · 7 tweets

The day is opened by @Nathan Spackman introducing a packed morning timetable.

#UKCRNconnect

Round up of @UK Community Radio Network activities from @martinsteers various work with Ofcom. Martin is “hopeful” that discussions with DCMS is “positive noises” for increase in Ofcom Community Radio Fund pot.

Talks of pilot on audience research and hope that that can be rolled out nationally via a new independent organisation to get robust figures to unlock government advertising etc.

Hue Stephens in conversation about his career starting doing Duke of Edinburgh award volunteering at Rookwood Sound hospital radio.

Learnt in hospital radio the key of the respect of the listener and respect of studio.

In 1999 youngest Radio 1 presenter in Welsh music opt out show before taking on the John Peel slot and feels even today is continuing his legacy.

Huw’s trips for presenters:

“Always listen to your producer.

Always challenge your producer.”

Always in every programme mentions once “I’m in Cardiff” but don’t make a big song and dance about it.

Thinks Community Radio has exciting role in promoting local music BBC have only limited capacity for new music esp. on local level.

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Nov 16 24 · 2 tweets

Next @UK Community Radio Network conference session Steve Allan from @Rookie talks of their change from hospital radio to community “Health and wellbeing station” on SSDAB.

Steve notes an all so familiar story of lots of admin hoops from bodies like IRN, PRS Charity Commission etc.

Never underestimate the work involved.

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Nov 16 24 · 8 tweets

#UKCRNConnect Break time and more food.

Next sessions are on the @Bro Radio academy and Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Bro radio run a number of accredited courses.

(Apologies for colour streaks on pictures, some strange refresh rate conflict with my phone camera)

Positive outcomes for academy beneficiaries video clip

@ JamieRadio concludes with note every council in the UK has statutory duty to provide a youth provision. Ideal opportunity for Community Radio and invites stations contact him for more pointers if they are interested in developing a training provision.

BBC Local news partnership’s Jason Gibbs, talks of shrinking news rooms, loss of local government or court reporting and establishing Local Democracy Reporting Service. bBC fund 165 reporters employed by local in commercial news providers.

Highlights expansion of different types of outlets of partner networks.

Opportunities for Community Radio stations to be a partner to receive content or as a supplier to employ a LDR (the later being a complex tendering process out of scope of many Community Stations in my view.)

Tendering to be a supplier is start of December, suggests that any station wanting to apply to just be a partner waits until January.

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Nov 16 24 · 2 tweets

A discussion on “The future of Community Radio” with New Government, new era?

Chat on Ofcom recent outcome of the Key Commitments consultation. tation. Risk of too few limits? @Gareth Joy

Asks will station stop being Community Radio with no restrictions. @martinsteers suggests his reading is Ofcom will be looking at the quality of output. #ukcrn @UK Community Radio Network

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Nov 16 24 · 2 tweets

Lunch and networking almost done, with an afternoon agenda including @River Radio @bf s, @Rhondda Radio 106.1FM & 97.5FM and @Community Radio Awards – Sponsored by

Aiir

#UKCommunityRadioNetwork2024NationalConference

#UKCRNConnect

And now @martinsteers has just outed any train/transport nerds in the audience.

Does prove the venn diagram overlap of radio and train enthusiasts.

#ukcrnconnect

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Nov 16 24 · 3 tweets

Lunch and networking almost done, with an afternoon agenda including @River Radio @bfbs, @Rhondda Radio 106.1FM & 97.5FM and @Community Radio Awards – Sponsored byAiir #UKCommunityRadioNetwork2024NationalConference #UKCRNConnect

And now @martinsteers has just outed any train/transport nerds in the audience.

Does prove the venn diagram overlap of radio and train enthusiasts.
ukcrnconnect

And now a brief history of Welsh radio with @Nathan Spackman – claiming Wales as birth place of radio not Chelmsford (paging @The British Broadcasting Century podcast for verifiation……)

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Nov 16 24 · 4 tweets

Presentation on Northern Ireland’s River Radio’s Christmas Toy Appeal (sorry tagged wrong River Radio in my previous post).

Been a major awareness raising tool for the radio station as well as a worthwhile activity in its own right, with thousands toys donated

Next session @BFBS Radio who run a number of Community Radio stations.

They work with combined Producer-Presenter roles, new recruits tend to be based in one of their UK stations (also operate stations overseas.)

Talks of being embedded in the forces community and opportunities for presenters to work in overseas stations.

Does BFBS fits “hyper-local”? Yes in the sense of stations based in locations with big military presences and need to reflect this. But notes that each local service uses the BFBS network as a sustaining service and may have only a handful of local staff.

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Nov 16 24 · 1 tweets

In the conference break cake report:

@UK Community Radio Network branded chocolate cake from our venue hosts @Cardiff

City FC

Four stars ****

Tune in a week on Monday to see if @Radio TechCon can match or better this in the conference cake department.

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Nov 16 24 · 1 tweets

Session on @Community Radio Awards – Sponsored by Aiir with two previous winners talking about what the win has done for them. Priya says it gives validation or what you are doing.

Ste – of course it gives a bit of an ego boost, but found listeners “shared” the good feeling.

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Nov 16 24 · 1 tweets

Rhondda Radio talk on Rhondda Heritage Hour, a year long weekly hour programme funded by Lottery Heritage Fund. Story telling workshop across the valley and people recorded their memories on their mobile phones, and a quantity of information boards in the community. #UKCRNConnect

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Nov 16 24 · 2 tweets

Live recording of @ RADIO CREATORS

Podcast with @Steve Randall with @Harrison RB and Terry Mann from @GTFM

Harrison RB talks of the need to constantly outreach with local events. You can’t just assume people will be aware of you.

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Nov 16 24 · 1 tweets

So that concludes the UKCRN conference. Now time to hit foot it back to my hotel to change before the @Community Radio Awards – Sponsored by Aiir later tonight.

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Nov 16 24 · 1 tweets

Just arrived at the Community Radio Awards. Ready to wear whatever hat ends up prize winner either @Oldham Community Radio 99.7fm|DAB|Device|Online (as their solo rep tonight) –  or @ALL FM 96.9, (other people mingling somewhere).

Or I could end up with two hats on or sobbing in the corner….
#CRAs24

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Nov 16 24 · 3 tweets

Martin Steers Chair of the awards opens this evenings proceedings. Good luck to everyone nominated for an award this evening. Everyone is a winner!
#CRAs24

A fitting tribute to the late Tony Wyn Jones Chair of Mon FM in Anglesey receiving a Community Radio Honours award.

Follow along on the @Community Radio Awards – Sponsored by Aiir account for all the winners I’m not going to duplicate that, I’ll just drop in the odd bit of anything special! #cras24

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Nov 16 24 · 1 tweets

We’re a winner….

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Nov 16 24 · 2 tweets

@Oldham Community Radio 99.7fm|DAB|Device|Online wins gold

#CRAs24

My slightly overwhelming at us winning acceptance. #cras24

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Nov 16 24 · 1 tweets

And this is where I confused people as well as being Technical Director at Oldham Community Radio, I’ve been “head of wires” @ALL FM 96.9 since 2002 access radio pilot days. Again it’s the team that deserve all the credit.

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Nov 16 24 · 1 tweets

So a certificate and mug (pinging @RadioMugsUK) and does anyone want to sponsor certificate frames for next year? #cras24

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Nov 17 24 · 1 tweets

And a brisk walk round Cardiff Bay to get my 10,000 steps in before midnight wraps up a fun day @UK Community Radio Network conference and @Community Radio Awards – Sponsored by Aiir

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