My background is in Journalism and Production. From being a Documentary and Drama Producer I became an Executive Producer and Commissioning Editor at the BBC commissioning Independents to make factual programmes. As is the way with large organisations I then took a management role in the Drama Department and set up an Editorial Advisory Surgery where we discussed and managed controversial storylines for mainstream series such as EastEnders, Casualty and Holby City which reached audiences up to 12 million viewers.
When I joined the BBC's blue sky team early in 2001 we had lots of room to experiment in a lab-like structure called BBC Imagineering. We were a cross-disciplinary team and really benefited from working with each other. Since that time, as is the way in R&D and Innovation cycles we have experimented with two different Innovation models - and we have learned that change comes often and often we have to protect the lifecycle of the projects beyond the lifecycle of the organisation.
Some of our work is strategic, some blue sky, some is original research and some is organisational. I recently enabled six departments to come together to agree a framework for the BBC to start blogging and a trial to test the demand and the needs from the audience. It sounds like nothing, but to those who work in large organisations - you will know what it was like
I have an interest in media and social inclusion and have done voluntary work with several NGOs. I will be speaking at the Grand Finale of the Hi8Us project in November and look forward to catching up with my roots.