Night out with Wendy

November 11, 2014Family RootsKings Cross, London, Wendy ShearerMatt Shearer

Sometimes it’s nice to pretend like it was 10 years ago, before the brood, before the busy busy. We had a great night out.

News Labs at MozFest 2014 Science Fair – look: BEARDS!!

October 24, 2014At BBC, BBC Connected Studio, BBC News Labs, Collaboration Work, Demo AppearencesAlex Norton, Graham Lenton, Greenwich, Karl Sutt, London, Melody Kramer, MozFest, Ravensbourne, Rosario Rascuna, Susanne WeberMatt Shearer

Another amazing tiring, flat-out exhausting demo marathon at MozFest’s 2014 event “Science Fair”. And this year, slightly more bearded men than last year.

Melody Kramer from NPR visits News Labs

October 23, 2014At BBC, BBC News Labs, Broadcasters, Collaboration Work, News OrganisationsJournalism, Melody Kramer, NPR (National Public Radio - USA)Matt Shearer

We had the pleasure of Melody Kramer popping into the Lab today.

Recording Drum Tracks at NJA for The Dees’ new Album

October 17, 2014Bands, Music, Recording StudioDrums, Kent, Niall Acott, NJA.me.uk - NJA Audio, The Dees, The Dees Album (2014-2015)Matt Shearer

Just spent a day laying down the Drums parts with Niall Acott at NJA Audio Productions for the first 6 tunes from The Dees‘ new album.

University College Dublin – Insight4News Visit News Labs

October 14, 2014BBC Connected Studio, BBC News Labs, Collaboration WorkGeorgiana Ifrim, Insight4News, Neil Hurley, University College DublinMatt Shearer

Happy Ada Lovelace day 2014! Today we had Neil Hurley and Georgiana visiting from University College Dublin to demonstrate Insight4News.

Meetup at Dreambags

October 9, 2014Catch-upB&W, DreamBags & JaguarShoes, Hoxton, Ian Guest, James Magnus, London, shoreditchMatt Shearer

Had a great night at Dreambags and in Hoxton. Was planning to meet with Andy Matthews too, but he got stuck at work.

News Labs & Imperial College get started on EEG Neurotech Feedback

October 8, 2014BBC News Labs, Collaboration WorkBBC R&D, Dr Chao Wu, EEG, Imperial College London, Innovation, Neurotechnology, Simiao YuMatt Shearer

Just had a great day today with Simiao Yu and Dr Chao Wu from Imperial College London. We’re getting started on some work around Neurotechnology feedback loops and media experiences.

Responsive Radio, “Unconventional Screens” & BBC Blue Room, Salford

October 7, 2014BBC News LabsAli Shah (BBC), BBC R&D, BBC R&D North Lab, BBC Worldwide Labs, Hannah Blake, SalfordMatt Shearer

Hannah Blake and I made a trip to Salford today to look at some developments in BBC R&D, and also at the shiny, new Blue Room in BBC Salford.

myBBC, News Team & News Labs Recommendations Workshop

October 6, 2014At BBC, BBC News, BBC News Labs, Collaboration Work, Stage AppearencesInnovation, myBBC, Oliver BartlettMatt Shearer

Quite an intense workshop today, discussing personalisation, recommendations and how we are going to prioritise in more of the great plans around myBBC.

BBC Science & Nature Team – get together in W1

October 4, 2014Catch-upBBC Science and Nature, Becky Palmer, Candice Lo, Kathy Neal, London, London Pubs, Peter Harvey, Rhys Pritchard, Richard Williams, Simon Mackie, Stephen Mather, W1Matt Shearer

Simon Mackie was just passing the 10 year mark at BBC, and he decided to get the old BBC Science and Nature folks together. Great evening. We shared some old tales, and talked a little about what’s been happening since.

Education Domain “Autumn Asynchronous Workshop”

September 30, 2014BBC News Labs, Collaboration WorkAlex Norton, Asynchronous Workshop, Basile Simon, Bloomsbury, Curriculum, Education Domain, Jeremy Tarling, Karl Sutt, Linked Data, London, London Pubs, Lord John Russell, Melanie Moeller, News Storyline Ontology, Paul Rissen, Paul Wilton, Richard Lynton-Evans, Rosario RascunaMatt Shearer

A new opportunity has arisen, and the BBC News Labs Team decided to look into it. The question posed was “How might we contextualise the Education Curriculum with News and Current Affairs?”

Eurovision Academy with European Broadcasters, Geneva

September 18, 2014BBC News Labs, Broadcasters, Collaboration Work, News Organisations, Travel3FM Netherlands, EBU, Eurovision, Geneva, Justin Kings, News Storytelling, RTP Portugal, RTVE Lab, RTVE Spain, SwitzerlandMatt Shearer

I’ve just spent 2 days at the Eurovision Academy looking at digital storytelling formats & challenges with a group of European Public Broadcasters. Fascinating.

Wendy’s New Business “Story Boat” – First Sessions

September 18, 2014StorytellingLondon, Story Boat, Wendy ShearerMatt Shearer

Wendy has recently started a new business – “Story Boat” – that provides Performance Storytelling sessions for schools, Storytelling for adults, and Storytelling Workshops. She has just given the first sessions, which have gone down very well.

Future of News – Audience Session for BBC News

September 10, 2014At BBC, BBC Connected Studio, BBC News, BBC News Labs, Demo Appearences, Speaking Appearences, Stage AppearencesBBC Council Chamber, BBC R&D, George Wright, Innovation, Miles Bernie, New Broadcasting House, Steve Herrmann, Venn Diagram Fun, Window on The Newsroom PrototypeMatt Shearer

Hosted by Steve Herrmann, we ran an Audience Session for the “Future of News” project today. George Wright, Miles Bernie and I showed some prototypes.

Kenwood House, North London – Summer Afternoon Visit

August 31, 2014Family RootsKenwood House, London, Wendy ShearerMatt Shearer

I must recommend Kenwood House in North London – a wonderful place to spend an afternoon relaxing.

Family Trip to Disneyland Paris

August 17, 2014TravelDisney, Disneyland, Disnleyland Paris, Europe, Eurostar, France, Parent, Paris, Wendy ShearerMatt Shearer

We just had an amazing trip to Disneyland Paris – great stuff. Here are some thoughts that other parents may find of interest: our own top 5 best and 5 worst things.