Scooby Doo: Day Three

The first thing I did on Wednesday was head to the LRC to update the blog (see Scooby Doo: Day Two), and no matter how many times I go there people still look confused to see me.

I soon found out that I didn't have my Creative Writing lecture that day (lucky for the lecturer) and instead I met with my group and we went over our pieces.

Afterwards I headed to Galleria, a shopping mall in Hatfield...

While I was there I experienced a new reaction. For the first time since I put this costume on, I was hated - by a toddler. I quote "I hate Scooby Doo", it hurt, and then it was accompanied by a secondary school kid in McDonalds shaking his head at me disapprovingly - ouch!

After shopping we went to the Fame office as we heard that next door there was a focus group for students that involved free pizza and wine (wow I'm getting dictated by my stomach like Scooby!).

After a lengthy discussion about student scholarships it was time to get ready for the night ahead: Bonk! feat. Ms Dynamite @ The Forum Hertfordshire.

It was the kickboxing social and Davut Unsal's birthday celebrations so we decided to pre-drink at the Elehouse, a bar next to the Forum.

Once inside, I was told that Ms Dynamite had agreed to conduct an interview for Crush Radio. I had tweeted her beforehand warning her that I'd be dressed as Scooby Doo, but wasn't sure she would have seen it. Yet, the first thing she said when she saw me was "didn't you tweet me!?". I realised that you're a lot more memorable when you're dressed ridiculously and after a brilliant interview conducted by Lynette Moore I headed to the crowd to watch Ms Dynamite perform!

During her performance she stopped to take pictures of the crowd, said she'd put them on Twitter and asked "who knows about Twitter?"... looking around the crowd she shouted for all to hear "I know Scooby does!" - puppy love!

Can you spot me?

Clubbing in a full Scooby-suit is not the best thing for your health but after meeting the garage legend herself and getting the oppotunity to teach people the "Scooby Skank", it was definitely worth it!

Scooby Doo: Day Two

The second day of being the beloved cartoon dog and I'm still loving the way people smile and wave when they see me. It makes everyone a lot more sociable when there is someone dressed like a dog!

I started the day in the LRC (Learning Resource Centre) on De Havilland Campus and then headed off to my lecture. The problem with being dressed so obviously is that you actually have to pay attention to your Philosophy lecture (that alone is sponsor worthy!).

After lecture, I headed to Club de Hav to sort out my shifts and chill for a bit...

Would you serve Scooby? (Luckily my ID was around my neck!)

Now you may judge me for having so much chicken in the space of two days, but after going to Nandos yesterday I managed to fill my loyalty card and so was entitled to a free WHOLE chicken! So we went to Nandos - in Hatfield this time.

Note: for the second time I was the fifth wheel, Bad times!

Then of course it came to that time on a Tuesday where I present my student radio show on Crush Radio. The studio is normally hot, so being in a Scooby outfit didn't help but the whole show was done while in the costume, whilst shout outs were done in my best impression of Scooby Doo.

and that took me through to exactly Midnight!

Scooby Doo: Day One

So the sponsored Scooby week has begun, and as promised I will be blogging everyday to show you what I've been getting up to!

So Monday 28th March 2011, day one, and I went to work at The Grapevine Magazine...

After the office got used to having a large cartoon dog around, I also began to get used to the costume and forgot I was wearing it for a bit. Until I went to lunch around Welwyn Garden City!

I decided to go to KFC and on the way I had little children pointing, with almost everyone smiling at the sight of me - it was nice!

After work I had kickboxing, so I decided to train with the others for a bit...

but after about two minutes of skipping I started to overheat! So I had to stop to be frank(furter)... HOT DOG.

The 28th was also my housemates birthday - Davut Unsal. So I left kickboxing early and when he arrived home we took him to Nandos in Stevenage and then the arcade.

Watch this space to see what I get up to over the rest of the week!

Scooby Di Lietooooooo

This will be me for a week...

 

I mean this quite literally.

March 28th 2011, I will start my week as Scooby Doo, and by the Friday I hope I will have raised enough money to make it all worth it.

I will go to work, training, lectures  and seminars in the costume - but I haven't told lecturers yet! I will do my radio show, go out socially, and study in the LRC as Scooby Doo. It will become so much a part of me that I may even catch fleas and start snacking on Scooby Snacks (if this does happen please take me to a mental home, rather than for a walk) and it is all in the name of raising money!

All money I get will go to UHAU Wolves, my kickboxing club (that are in desperate need for funds) and a chosen charity.

If you see me around, stop me, tickle my belly, then throw me a bone and sponsor me!

I will be documenting my journey as the cartoon canine everyday, to provide evidence and inspire those that haven't to sponsor me.Watch this space.

Reversal

My ambition is to become a presenter, be it on radio or TV, and after organising interviews with other presenters it made me realise something...

One day I could be the one getting interviewed!

This is supported by the fact that Greg James was a presenter on his student radio station and now he is known all over the country! Meeting the likes of me...

...and going out with none other than Ellie Goulding (who I managed to get a glimpse of that night). This gives me hope of obtaining radio success and a beautiful singer-girlfriend.

It's a strange realisation thinking that one day the roles could be reversed. Knowing the struggle I have gone through previously, I am going to openly say that if I can (and have no genuine reason otherwise) I will grant ANY student media representative an interview!

Now I realise I may get people quoting this blog if they are committed enough to research me this in-depth. So this is a message to anyone that does:

"Congratulations on your dedication! I will be happy to talk to you"

I would also like to ask for fun, game-show type interviews. Like the one conducted by Thom Palser with Miquita Oliver. He asked her to prove she hadn't become too diva by getting the Asda Smartprice right. Something like this would fun, although I can't see myself shopping in M&S just because I have fame and fortune.

Interview Etiquette

Another post about interviews at The Forum, but this isn't about the success of interviews. Rather, it is about those that have said "no" to an interview.

Firstly, I am totally sympathetic to those that say "no". There are multiple reasons why guests can't, either they are bound by their managers, in a rush to go to the next venue or have been told by their PR not to.

Usually those that have said no have been of a much higher status, for example Trey Songz, Tyga and Lloyd all US international stars. However, The Game also came to The Forum and said yes to an interview by Samuel Recko.

Although, this may not be the best example. From Samuel Recko's words, The Game (or just "Game" now? :S) was very unresponsive and kind've rude - he was using his phone whilst being spoken to.

Now I'm not saying it's just US stars that reject student radio interviews Tinie Tempah, Tinchy Stryder and Roll Deep all said "no" too. But it is about how you say the dreaded two letter word. Tinie spoke to me directly, he apologised, and even promised "next time" (I intend to hold him to this).

Another guest that came to the University of Hertfordshire's club was Reggie Yates. Although we were told "no interviews" he was probably the nicest about it anyone could be! He told Callum Hale and myself that we could speak to him directly, not just his manager and agreed to a photo with us.

This is where my point about etiquette comes in...

Although student interviews may be considered unimportant to a presenter that is used to being on Radio 1 every week, he still aknowledged and respected us.

And so, my message to future guests of any student union and something I myself will consider when I'm hounded for interviews in the future:

If you can, say yes, five minutes of your time may effect the whole future of a budding journalist. If you can't, say no respectfully and maintain a good reputation among your fans.

How Aggro Santos, Kiss Radio and my desire to network lead to a Twitter account...

As I have already told you I organise the interviews at The Forum. This means any guests that come to the club, I can usually meet (if they are accomodating!).

I only got this role properly at the begining of 2011 and one of the first people I met was Aggro Santos!

He was a really nice guy to be honest. He said yes to two interviews when previous guests have said no to any! On top of that he didn't rush them and was really talkative.

But how does this tie-in with Twitter?

Well, I used to always disregard Twitter, I thought it was only worth getting if you were a celebrity and used to always say "I'll make an account when I'm famous". I recently changed my mind.

After the interviews with Chloe and Omnia (from Let's Talk on Crush Underground) and Whitney an alumini of UH, he said to us "tweet me and I'll tweet back". This seemed irrelevant to me at first, but a couple of weeks down the line after meeting a few other guests I figured something out...

Twitter is the only way to keep in contact with those that are famous.

However this wasn't the sole reason I activated another social networking account (celebrities are on Facebook too)...

The Kiss Chosen One competition: for those who want to become a Kiss radio presenter, and the main reason I got Twitter. Naturally I entered the competition and that was how I became so interested in it, but sadly I didn't give the auditions my all (I didn't leave and think "Smashed It!" like Fidel Shelly - Final 10 Contestant). However the interest did feed my next journalism assignment, and I decided to interview the Final 10.

Strangely, a good friendship was fostered from this with Miss Maisy James, and soon the Final 5 were announced (this is where my Twitter comes in). She needed support on Twitter and so I had a good reason to activate an account. Although we were both pretty new and rubbish at using the site ("Tweetards") I soon got used to it and now I'm addicted!

It has paid off, as I have received tweets from people like Bashy and individual tweets from each member of The Scarletz (more about this in my next posts).

FOLLOW ME:
@CalumDiLieto
http://twitter.com/#!/CalumDiLieto

Shout out to Emily Harwood for taking my Twit-ginity (minus the random stranger!)

First Post

Ok so I've been meaning to create a blog for a while, but the irony is; the more interesting and busy my life becomes (and the more material I have to blog) the less time I have to actually sit down and write it all up!

This will change as of now.

I have been collecting more titles than Kim Jong-Il since I started university, and unlike Kim mine aren't as complimentary as "Mastermind of the Revolution" or "Invincible and Iron-Willed Commander" nor are they self-proclaimed. The reason I'm going to list them is because these are the kind of worlds I'm going to explore when blogging. If any of these interest you then keep reading my blog!

Editor - FAME Magazine
Editorial Assistant - The Grapevine Magazine
Head of Music - Crush Underground
Presenter - Crush Radio
Head of Interviews - UHSU Media/The Forum Hertfordshire
Social Secretary - Wolves Kickboxing
Barman - Club de Havilland
3rd Year Student of Literature, Philosophy, Creative Writing & Journalism - University of Hertfordshire (UH)

This is all I can think of for the moment (and that I'm playing on my friend's Inter-Mural football team at UH).

I have tried to list everything (even though it may sound a bit 'extra') so that you don't think I'm being inconsistent when I write something like: "I was on the bar at work" and you think "I thought he worked at a magazine", or I write: "I've written a new article for FAME" and you think "I thought he wrote from The Grapevine".


I'm going to be 100% honest in this blog (no fiction).

Also I'm a bit of a nomad, in that "home" is various places: West London (born and raised, some of my family still there), Surrey (where my mum has moved to) and Hertfordshire (where I study and work). So this is another inconsistency I feel I should clarify so you don't get confused.

Now all the boring stuff is out of the way... "It's blogging time!" (said like The Thing from Fantastic Four)