Sarah’s Paralympic Games Blog

For the next two weeks we will be handing our news pages over to Bookings Assistant, Sarah Dodds who is taking time out of the office to work as a runner on the Paralympic Games for one of our international broadcast clients.

Please do check back during the course of the games to see how she is getting on. Her first post is below:

So my post-Olympic blues have mostly subsided and my memories of leading a double life have almost been forgotten. For two weeks I joined the miserable ‘I’m a Londoner, get me out of here’ crowd whenever any travelling was necessary, but was an overexcited sports fan (plus an absolute expert, of course…) any time a member of ‘Team GB’ popped up on my screen. Next week, however, I will be embarking on a different journey, and my excitement will not be limited to my living room. During the Paralympic games, the next big event in London 2012’s calendar, I have been hired as a TV Venue Runner for an overseas Broadcaster.

So for me, the preceding events were merely a practice round for the Paralympics (which is, in my opinion, even more inspiring than the Olympics). As a fairly new addition to London, and with no experience of working on something that will be viewed around the world, it has set me up for something I hope will bring the same spirit, enthusiasm and national pride as the Olympics did. From the steadily mounting hype, and super smooth adverts, I have no doubt that it will not disappoint.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the job is that by day I’m a Bookings Assistant for a Media recruitment agency, where I’m responsible for helping to get TV freelancers this kind of job themselves (I also owe them myself for this exciting opportunity) So by fulfilling this role, and becoming a freelancer myself, I’m hoping that it’ll give me, and maybe you as well, an insight into the other side, so to speak, and maybe I’ll empathise more with our freelancers in future if things go wrong. Bit like secret millionaire…except I’m not a millionaire.

Not to worry though, I have no delusions of grandeur and I know what a TV runner’s job entails, so unfortunately I doubt I’ll be updating you on my TV helicopter flying skills or my live interview with the queen. However, I will be able to keep a record of the atmosphere, the experience and the ins and outs of what it’s like to work on an amazing, potentially once in a lifetime, event!