Firstly with full disclosure I cant say I’m a fan of this blog writing stuff, I mean who’s really interested in my short insights into anything? Lets face it, if you’ve read past the headline and first sentence I’m winning in this less than 6 seconds world of commercial advertising and flick through TikTok posts.

So, here we are. Hmm what to scribble down today. Not that I’m actually scribbling with an implement on paper – oh, god no – imagine that! How old do you think I actually am? She say’s while trying to download a new app thats not bloody working on my android. Yes, I’m half anti Apple too! (lets not get bogged down with that right now and leave it for another rant instead).

Today I’ve decided to write without the aide of any AI, oh the audacity of it all. How antiquated and fuzzy it must seam for an actual human to take the time to write anything themselves these days. Imagine I’m sitting typing every word here with coffee in hand jotting down my actual thoughts on a subject – random as this might be.

I mean what is blog writing today other than dropping a title and a few opinion leads into an AI programme and hoping that what comes out the other end and aligns with what you thought you might like to say on a subject? I do believe in schools these days there are only a few handwriting classes given at nursery level and those are soon to be upgraded to high speed cerebral connections for the kids, fitted as standard before junior school is reached.

Okay, that’s not true. I was merely testing if you were still actually reading this far or if my efforts are simply going to be SEO cannon fodder in order to gain traction to my new sexy website. Either way it’s a win for me really and maybe not so much for you.

Now I’m not going to rant on about a hatred for AI – after all it’s here to stay and it will evolve as programmed and further. It merely makes me smile when the speed of technology is so fast that instead of stopping to ask at the onset if it’s actually going to benefit us? Is it safe? Could we hope to control it in the future? We instead, as passive humans usually just accept it all as progress – until it’s too late.

Recently in the news, we heard that once again we are trying to play catch up on restricting access to harmful online content for the young and vulnerable. Content that is causing hatred, suicides, murders and even wars. It feels all a little too late but necessary, passing laws to prevent harm from apps, trolls, online violence and worse. Lets face it, the genie was let out of the box so long ago now I’m not entirely sure how we could restrain it, if at all.

In the realms of politics and fake news we are often questioning what is verified, real, balanced or impartial when it comes to content. Has that photo been altered? Is that a real person in that advert? Was that world leader really just say that on X or was that all made up, AI generated, auto suggested, algorithm sorted and sent to us on mass just to cause engagement?

At this stage, all I ask for is a little transparency and honesty from companies and individuals and that we be made aware when something is synthetic, enhanced, altered or created digitally. Just tell us it’s not entirely real. Be truthful and up front that the look of something is imaginary, the aesthetic appeal attainable or fiction or that this is a post thats entirely made electronically and it’s not necessarily true or accurate.

After all I think today we are used to sussing out fakery in play, at least I hope we are. I’d like to think that if a company no matter it’s global size and presence had the nuts to say, look the people wearing our brand clothing on our website are avatars. The world would probably respect that they are being up front and that it’s not just a cost cutting exercise but done so with thought and purpose. That would be welcome.

It’s at this point I’d like to ask if you are a Vintage lover. For a long while now the trend for vintage has been growing and often I find myself being dragged to vintage fares by my daughter. Do you share this passion? Yes, it’s true I’ve better crappy, older clothes hanging in my closet than those on their rails and my stuff could rack up some serious coin. However, I don’t think it’s about buying better quality or saving the planet and saying no to fast fashion. I wonder if what I witness of this trend is that it’s a generation grasping at a reality, something tangible to purchase of a past that actually existed and a need to belong to a real world rather than what is so disposable?

And just as I feel the younger generations may be searching for a past to buy into and hold onto? Are the older amongst us desperate to re-ignite memories of old with vinyl, vintage games consoles and cortina’s? Are we too acting in haste to hold on to nostalgia fast fading like polaroids. Hoping to hold onto our timelines as evidence of an existence until eventually one day we are FB legacy erased.

This coming from someone who like the intro of my fav TV show,’What they Do In the Shadows’ has a collection of fast fading polaroids like Nadia in her big hair era. I find it funny that today U just spent over £100 on a polaroid camera and film for my daughter so I can explain how at a celebration in my day this was the only way to get instant images without having to drop in your snaps for processing at a chemist and wait 7-10 days for development. I know right?

So, you tell me? I mean have you actually read this far without looking at notifications that have pinged, popped a filter on a post or skipped the adverts on your TV? Well, if so then we are winning and saving ourselves from mobile phone double chins, (its a thing). Thanks for sticking with me this far and I might just add another post rather than heading to the *gym.
*got ya, don’t believe everything you read not least by an actual human.

The post It’s all rubbish – Blogs, Vintage, polaroids appeared first on Ingrid Johnson.

So, before I talk about anyone famous, notorious or revered, let me get one thing straight. The most incredible stories are often those you stumble onto. Those chance meetings on trains when your guards down and it all begins with just a smile and hello. People who often work tirelessly without recognition with a reality thats not just gritty and grounded but human and beautifully real.

But todays blog isn’t about that. This is about passport security checks, frisking and metal detector screenings long after your flight to The Netherlands lands. Your private car takes you to the Soestdijk Palace and the Dutch royal family gather with delegates and dignity’s from the EU and UN.

Yes, I’m incredibly humbled by the various companies I’ve have the pleasure of working with and the unique adventures these often present. One highlight to this day has to be the winter I met a former President, Mr Bill Clinton who was to give an emphatic speech on Climate Change and reveal to the world his new pledge and future working path.

It was the inaugural year for the Clinton Climate Initiative and though he’d been out of Office for 5 years, and his Autobiography and other books were a success. The security measures prior to my arrival at the Palace that day with the cavalcade of black sedans filled with the large teams of Secret Service men undoubtedly shouted that Mr President, (as they are still to be referred to following their term of office), was still very imposing and impressive as we mortals all walked the final steps in the rain up the stairs and into another world that December day.

The build up from the entourage arrival, the elegance of the Palace, famous faces in the crowd, the excitement in the air was electric as the room as we took our seats. Hearing a former sitting Presidents address on Climate Change was something I’d not experienced or been close to before so this was going to be a first. Bill’s entrance into the room was rapturous as everyone rose and it was quite surreal if I’m honest.

With a casual wave of a hand, a smile that was clam and enigmatic, Bill delivered a presentation for 2hrs with passion. His presence,  emphatic, engaging and personal in it’s tone with equal measure of climate change fear and hope. A bold message that we can an all work together for change to save our planet and a call to action for all.

https://rb.gy/siz2bz

A few of us were given a moment to meet Bill after his long address in which he was relaxed, chatty and informed. As you can see here from the picture we shared a light joke, which to this day I cant tell you what it was. Giddy from the euphoric statements that together we were going to change and save the world it all seamed to go by so very fast.

A former colleague who worked across political circles had warned of the Clinton affect prior to my visit, that state that they’d witnessed before. It’s a kind of charming hypnosis they said with a mixture of warmth in his drawl that only a local lad from Hope, Arkansas could possess. The charisma affect that took Bill so far and left more than a lasting impression whilst in office from the son of a nurse and a father who died before he was born.

So I guess Bill was just one of those everyday people that I mentioned before, just with a path that lead him to govern a nation and a country he clearly adores. A country that to this day he hopes to instigate real change in and as an entire family, President Clinton, Secretary Clinton and Chelsea all work on together with the Foundation.

https://www.clintonfoundation.org/

So the next time you look yourself in the mirror and ask where dose your story lead you. Know that your choices each day matter, however small and that with real drive and passion you can action anything you put your mind to. Today why not choose to do something that stretches you and shakes up your everyday routine? Start small and learn something that intrigues you and inspires you to do more, more for those that you spend time with and in the end rewards you all.

The post The day I met a President  appeared first on Ingrid Johnson.

Even the most basic of methods are really very quick and far more reliable than some in the past and this has been the way for quite some time but lets not forget the heritage of the crazy long winded analogue processes and often frustrating failed digital methods we’ve had to go through to get to this exciting, fast and sometimes instant ‘record and share’ culture of today.

Lets go back to the start – well the beginning for me entering the world of Radio Broadcasting anyway. As the first female presenter on Metro radio I began my audio and broadcasting life technically mastering Reel to Reel. A huge machine that you had to use large car wheel sized tape, a chinagraph pencil to mark an edit and a sharp razor blade to splice it then stick it together with splicing tape – goodness it all sounds so prehistoric now and today – well it would be a Heath and Safety nightmare?

So there we are, it’s the 90’s we are playing actual records – 7” singles that you had to physically book out of the music library yourself from a chap that wore socks with his sandals no matter the season. You played your adverts from ‘Carts’ or tape of a smaller size on a large individual cassettes that only held one commercial at a time which you loaded manually and pressed a play button for each advert separately, you really had to know them all by heart. Carts which had to be literally wiped clean of their audio when used by sticking your hand into a magnetic box to erase or wipe them clean for the next recording and yes, you had to make sure you didn’t have your watch on whilst doing this procedure.

Luckily for me that was an end of an era as we soon moved onto shiny new CD’s pretty quickly as tighter record playing rotations came into force and song durations shortened. As a female presenter you often hoped you’d have Sinead O’Connor, ‘Nothing Compares To You’, on your playlist as with a 5 min plus duration this was a must if you were in need of a toilet break just to make it up and down 2 flights of stairs and back to the studio without a dreaded silence. But lets stay on point.

Next, you’ll see in my treasure trove of digital materials in the image for this blog, a small haul of recordings I’ve saved over the years on various digital formats. DAT tape, the smallest form of tape recording we ever advanced to prior to the dreaded MiniDisc – truly unreliable and which once led to the loss of a very important face to face interview with Cher in her London home sitting on her swing in the lounge over looking the Thames, which thankfully we used a backup machine on, so hurray for being prepared.

After this came many first and often now forgotten recording methods which all were often dreadful quality and thankfully fell by the wayside, giving way to the truly revolutionary digital gear we use today be it Phone, Computer, Ring doorbell or TikTok.

Thankfully, we no longer need to be in the same studio with a subject to record audio of outstanding quality should the set up lend to it. We don’t need to be in the same country, continent nor need to book a satellite dish to broadcast from abroad then deal with 6 maybe 10 seconds delay.

Today our communication is instant as we gather on group chats, go live on platforms and record templated videos from socials. Sharing and collaborating with colleagues, followers and friends across the world all now achievable without any great thought at all.

But save a thought for the times that have gone before us and those huge equipment filled rooms of before. Studios stuffed full of equipment with mixing desks as big as a house, libraries of acetate and engineers as tech will no doubt continue to evolve. One things for sure it not going to stand still and I wonder what advancements are to come? I’m imagining where it will next take us and welcome where our creative minds can explore.

The post The Digital changes of Audio  appeared first on Ingrid Johnson.