Podcasts about Royal household

This week's SENSATIONAL royal drama! Meghan's "As Ever" brand sells out in 30 minutes but REFUSES TO RESTOCK after seven weeks, leaving fans asking WHERE ARE THE PRODUCTS?! The Sussexes spend Memorial Day on SEPARATE CONTINENTS as Harry jets to Shanghai while sources reveal they're creating a "ROYAL HOUSEHOLD" in America! Meanwhile, adorable Princess Lilibet goes BEEKEEPING with "Mama Mountain" Meghan in rainbow boots! King Charles makes HISTORIC Canadian Parliament speech subtly TARGETING Trump without naming him, while opening Sandringham farms AND Edward VII's former LOVE NEST to the public! Plus: Earl Spencer's estate TORCHED by vandals, Dolly Parton wants TEA WITH KATE, and fans go WILD over the King's "HOT EQUERRY" spotted in Canada!Unlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! Get all our shows on any player you love, hassle free! For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app. For Spotify or other players, visit caloroga.com/plus. No plug-ins needed!Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories' with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!We now have Merch!  FREE SHIPPING! Check out all the products like T-shirts, mugs, bags, jackets and more with logos and slogans from your favorite shows! Did we mention there's free shipping? Get 10% off with code NewMerch10 Go to Caloroga.comGet more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com

UK Public funding for the Royal Household has tripled since 2012, with the rise largely driven by repairs and building work at Buckingham Palace. The Sovereign Grant was introduced in 2012 at £31m per year. That has now risen to £132m, data from the House of Commons Library shows, and once inflation has been taken into account, that represents about a threefold increase. Royal aids say the funding will come down again. UK Correspondent talks to Ryan Bridge about the rise and potential talks between Ukraine and Russia. LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prince Harry has issued a deeply personal and emotional plea for reconciliation with his family, lamenting that his father, King Charles III, “won't speak to me” and reflecting on the monarch's ongoing health battle.Speaking to the BBC shortly after a legal defeat in his ongoing battle for police protection in the United Kingdom, the Duke of Sussex said, “"Of course some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book, of course they will never forgive me for lots of things, but I would love reconcilation with my family. There's no point in continuing to fight anymore.Life is precious. I don't know how much longer my father has.”Harry, 40, lost his appeal on May 2 against a Home Office decision to strip him of publicly funded security following his and Meghan's departure from royal duties in 2020. The court upheld that the ruling was “understandable and perhaps predictable,” given the changing nature of the Duke's visits and the UK's approach to risk.Yet Harry remains convinced the matter could be resolved within the family, saying, “There is a lot of control and ability in my father's hands… Ultimately, this whole thing could be resolved through him. Not necessarily by intervening, but by stepping aside, allowing the experts to do what is necessary.”The Palace has consistently refuted suggestions that the King has the authority to reinstate Harry's police protection. Even so, the issue has become a bitter point of contention. According to sources, though father and son had a positive meeting in February 2024 following Charles's cancer diagnosis, communication has since dried up. “His calls go unanswered,” a friend of Harry's said last year. “He gets ‘unavailable right now'.”After attending a two-day appeal hearing in London in April, Harry told *People* he felt “exhausted and overwhelmed,” adding that his “worst fears have been confirmed by the whole legal disclosure in this case — and that's really sad.”In a formal statement after the court ruling, Harry revealed plans to write to the Home Secretary requesting a review of the RAVEC process, saying, “This legal action has been a last resort, but one that has uncovered shocking truths, starting with the fact that the Royal Household are key decision-makers on RAVEC and my sole representation for matters regarding my safety.”The Duke also addressed the broader implications for his young family. “I can't see a world where I would bring Meghan and the kids back to the U.K. given the security concerns,” he said. “I love my country. I always have done — despite what some people in that country have done. I miss the U.K… I think that it's really quite sad that I won't be able to show my children my homeland.”He concluded with a pointed warning: “If anything was to happen to me, my wife, or my father's grandchildren, look where the responsibility lies.”The statement, dated 2025, comes on letterhead with a stylized H below a crown.Unlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! Get all our shows on any player you love, hassle free! For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app which seays UNINTERRUPTED LISTENING. For Spotify or other players, visit caloroga.com/plus. No plug-ins needed!  You also get 20+ other shows on the network ad-free!    Subscribe to Deep Crown's free newsletter at https://deepcrown.substack.com

The Equality Conversation podcast with bestselling author Joy Burnford explores what we can all do to champion gender equality at work and is dedicated to the retention and progression of female talent in organisations. Each episode offers inspiration, stories and practical solutions from experts, leaders and senior business women from around the world. Achieving gender balance at work isn't about fixing the women, it's about changing the system. So, if you're looking for insights, guidance or advice on how to enable women to thrive in your organisation, grab a cuppa, go for a walk, or escape for a while and join us for today's conversation.It is a pleasure to welcome Kerensa Jennings as my guest today. Kerensa is a business leader, non-executive director, and adviser, a Professor of Media, Strategy, and Communications, and CEO at Inglenook Global. She has previously held senior roles at the BBC, the Royal Household, and BT. She's also written a bestselling psychological thriller, ‘Seas of Snow.' She joins me today to share tips and advice on promoting gender equality within organisations, drawn from her incredible career.

Send us a textToday's episode is A Tale of Two Podcasts where Dominic teams up with Jordan Evans-Hill: creator and host of the Charles Dickens Museum's Inimitable podcast.Here Jordan takes the listener on a tour inside number 48 Doughty St - the house where Dickens lived and worked as he completed Pickwick, wrote the entirety of Oliver Twist & Nicholas Nickleby and began Barnaby Rudge …Jordan is a former footman from the Royal Household where he served the late Queen Elizabeth II. He is also a writer, having recently completed his debut novel and he works as the Head of Marketing and Commercial at the Dickens Museum. And as you journey through the house you can follow the Dickens Museum's online interactive tour and walk around the rooms virtually as we go. Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Kate is faced with a familiar challenge: how to glean as much information from the Royal Household as possible? Ailsa Anderson, Queen Elizabeth II's former press secretary, joins Kate in the studio for a one-to-one chat about journalism, royalty and what really goes on when you work behind the scenes at the palace. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 7Music and the Coronation Dr Matthias Range Has published widely in both history and music, with the focus of his interdisciplinary research being sacred music and religious culture since the sixteenth century. An area of particular interest is the history of the British monarchy, which is the topic of his major book publications. He currently works as a post-doctoral researcher for the Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music at the Faculty of Music, University of Oxford. His book Music and Ceremonial at British Coronations CUP 2013 is one of the key works on Coronation Music.Dr Grahame Davies CVOHe spent 12 years in the Royal Household from where, as Deputy Private Secretary, he oversaw the music for the Coronation of King Charles III, and the Honours of Scotland ceremony, as well as leading the project to create the Cross of Wales, which led the Coronation procession. He is the author of 19 books in Welsh and English and a winner of the Wales Book of the Year Award. He has a degree in English from Anglia Ruskin University, a doctorate from Cardiff University, honorary doctorates of letters from Anglia Ruskin and Aberdeen Universities and is an honorary Professor of Practice of the University of Wales. Since November 2023 he has been Director of Mission and Strategy for the Church in Wales.

We're joined by investigative reporter Ellie Hall to talk about the revelation of Princess Catherine of Wales' cancer diagnosis, and the media pressures driven by memes, stan groups and online conspiracy theories that forced her to reveal the condition. Ellie talks to us about the structure of the Royal Household's media operation, how its splintering in recent years has made it difficult to report on the Royal Family, and the ways that new platforms like TikTok are making it difficult for the palaces to keep a lid on sensitive information. We also discuss the aftermath of #whereskate, and what mainstream media outlets will have learned from the affair. Link to Ellie's timeline of the whole affair: https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/03/this-is-just-weird-buzzfeed-news-former-royals-reporter-on-kate-middleton-palace-press-and-distrust-in-the-media/ -------- PALESTINE AID LINKS As the humanitarian crisis continues to unfold in Gaza, we encourage anyone who can to donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians. You can donate using the links below. https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donate https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/how-you-can-help/emergencies/gaza-israel-conflict -------- PHOEBE ALERT Can't get enough Phoebe? Check out her Substack Here! -------- This show is supported by Patreon. Sign up for as little as $5 a month to gain access to a new bonus episode every week, and our entire backlog of bonus episodes! Thats https://www.patreon.com/10kpostspodcast -------- Ten Thousand Posts is a show about how everything is posting. It's hosted by Hussein (@HKesvani), Phoebe (@PRHRoy) and produced by Devon (@Devon_onEarth).  

In this episode Dr Natalie Lancer, with Professor Jonathan Passmore, Xenia Angevin and Kaveh Mir, discuss the realities of running your own coaching practice or working for a large, digital coaching platform. We cover the fundamental questions to help you consider how to find your clients, decide on a niche and philosophy and tap into different coaching markets. We explore: •    What counts more: coach expertise or experience? •    How can coaches be tactical and strategic when navigating the gig economy of coaching? •    How do you develop your own unique coaching identity in a business context? •    What do you want your day-to-day coaching life to look like? •    How has coaching evolved to where we are in the current coaching marketplace? •    What can a coach earn, as a novice or an expert, working for a large digital platform? •    How do you choose whether you want to work for a digital provider and which one? •    What are the selection criteria for coaches that digital platforms use?  •    What are the benefits and constraints when working with a digital coaching provider? •    What are the different roles a coaching psychologist can adopt as part of their portfolio? •    How can coaching become more inclusive as a profession? •    Why is coaching psychology a good second career? The digital coaching landscape is evolving and has arguably transformed coaching from a ‘cottage industry' to a global, scalable enterprise. We query whether coaching education needs to be updated and how coaching standards can be maintained and measured to reflect this new context. Our guests today are: Professor Jonathan Passmore is an award winning and international renowned Chartered Occupational Psychologist and the Inaugural Chair of the BPS Division of Coaching Psychologists. He has published widely, with 40 books, 150 book chapters and 100+ scientific papers. His forthcoming books in 2024 include: ‘Becoming a Team Coach: The Essential ICF Guide' (Springer), ‘The Digital & AI Coaches Handbook' (Routledge), ‘The Health & Wellbeing Coaches Handbook' (Routledge) and the second edition of ‘Becoming a Coach: The Essential ICF Guide (Springer), with three new titles plus a host of research projects in progress for the future. He is listed in the Thinkers 50 Marshall Goldsmith Top 8 Global Coaches and Global Gurus Top 30 Thought Leaders. He is currently Professor of Coaching and Behavioural Change at Henley Business School, Senior Vice President at EZRA (the coaching arm of LHH) and previously worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers, IBM Business Consulting and OPM. His current research interests include AI, digital and well-being. Kaveh Mir is currently an ICF Global Director at the Institute of Thought Leadership and a Master Certified Coach who works with Executives on critical psychological processes using Positive Behaviour Change and evidence based Coaching Psychology. He is licensed in a portfolio of psychometric assessments tools and a BPS qualified assessor on User Test Occupational Ability and Personality. Kaveh has a degree in Computer Science, a Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction, a Master's degree in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology and an Executive MBA.  Kaveh has coached senior executives from international organisations such as Deloitte, Amazon, and Google. He has held various senior executive roles and was the founder of a technology start-up firm. He wrote ‘Wars at Work: An Action Guide for Resolving Workplace Battles' which seeks to identify causes for workplace conflict and offer solutions to effectively resolve these issues. Xenia Angevin, MBA, is a Coaching Psychologist, promoting a dialogue within the Helping and People professions, and across the scientific domains. Xenia's specific expertise is in differential psychology and atypical neurodevelopment. She is a Principal Coaching Psychologist and Head of the Research Lab at Shimmer, directing a coaching practice portfolio for adults with ADHD, Autism and other neurodevelopmental presentations. Xenia is a Steering Group Committee member of the Neurodiversity-Affirming Research & Practice SIG at the Association for Contextual Behavioural Science. Xenia is a Fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (2008) and has worked in complex socio-political environments for the BBC News. Xenia served as a Head of Research and Government Liaison (Diplomacy) Unit at The Royal Household of Queen Elizabeth The Second. In the past 20 years, she has focused on the professional application of non-directive approaches including coaching, mentoring, mediation, supervision, facilitation, organisational development, and policy work in support of these. Your host, Dr Natalie Lancer, is a Chartered Coaching Psychologist, and British Psychological Society (BPS) Registered Supervisor. She is the Chair of the BPS's Division of Coaching Psychology and an accredited member of the Association for Coaching. She is the host of this podcast series and invites you to email any comments to docp-tcppod@bps.org.uk https://www.bps.org.uk/member-networks/division-coaching-psychology © British Psychological Society 2024

Where is Kate?For two months, the press has gone along with the official version that Kate had abdominal surgery and was recovering, but William's sudden change of plans this week has shifted the narrative, with the tabloids now wondering where the princess is.The Mirror went as far as printing: One particularly bizarre theory suggested the Princess is actually in Miami where she is recuperating from a Brazilian butt lift.The Mirror added: Another theory suggested Kate is Banksy, while yet another said she had donated a kidney to the King.Banksy, it should be noticed, has not been heard from since Kate went in the hospital.The news.co.au broke ranks reporting that in early February, journalist Concha Calleja turned up on Spanish TV to say that she had “spoken to an aide from the Royal Household in a completely off-the-record manner” and that the princess had been “in great danger” after her operation.Calleja reportedly said: “The doctors had to take drastic decisions at that moment because of the complications that arose. The decision was to put her in an induced coma. They had to intubate her. There were serious complications that they didn't expect because the operation went well, but the post-operative period didn't go so well.“The concern in the royal household was palpable. It was about saving her life.”Kate has not been since Christmas, which is of course…Christmas…a day when the Royals are normally seen.The palace is sticking with: Kate “continues to be doing well.”Royal Insider Deep Crown tells us, “William must have been fully aware that his absence would set the tabloids ablaze with speculation. Now we're caught in a whirlwind of 'where is Kate?' rumors, and yet, there's a conspicuous silence on their part to quell the chatter. Elizabeth managed to meet with Liz Truss and was dead two days later. That we haven't seen Catherine is all rather curious, isn't it?"

Meghan Markle accused two — not just one — members of the royal household of making racist remarks, a shocking new book claims. Jamie Foxx has hit back at a lawsuit in which he is accused of a sexual assault. Britney Spears and her estranged husband, Sam Asghari are close to finalizing their divorce. Rob is joined by his dear pal Garrett Vogel from Elvis Duran and the Morning Show with all the scoop. Don't forget to vote in today's poll on Twitter at @naughtynicerob or in our Facebook group.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For 69 years Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who was laid to rest in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday, was traditional prime minister to three successive Zulu kings, beginning with King Cyprian Bhekuzulu in 1954. He served under King Goodwill Zwelithini, the longest-serving monarch of the Zulu kingdom, from 1968 to March 2021 and more recently, under the current king Misuzulu kaZwelithini, until his death last week. For 44 years Buthelezi was also at the helm of the Inkatha Freedom Party - IFP- from it's founding in 1975 until 2019 when his hand picked successor, Velinkosi Hlabisa was elected unopposed as the new leader at the party's 35th National General Conference. Until his passing last Saturday, Prince Buthelezi was at the centre of developments, successes, tensions and challenges faced by the two institutions. Now that he is no more, will his shadow continue to shape the two organisations into the future? For a look at the road ahead for both the IFP and the AmaZulu Royal House, Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to political analyst,  Zakhele Ndlovu and academic and cultural expert, Dr Gugu Mazibuko, both from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Welcome to today's ICYMI, where we kick off the week with a quick game-changing tip from one of our guests that you might have missed. Wedding season is officially in full swing, and if most of your friend group is getting ready to tie the knot, it can feel like a lot navigating all the do's and don'ts, from bridal showers and wedding gift-giving, to dress codes and what to wear at different kinds of weddings. Luckily for us, etiquette expert Myka Meier has the answers. Myka has been coined the “Marie Kondo of etiquette,” is the author of two best-selling etiquette books and even trained in London under a member of The Royal Household of the Queen. She started Beaumont Etiquette which offers courses on etiquette that are super relevant to society today and also co-founded The Plaza Hotel's Finishing Program. She brings a fresh and modern perspective to manners, breaking down the stereotype that etiquette is stuffy or outdated. Listen to our full episode, #53, with Myka here.Tune in every Monday for an expert dose of life advice in under 10 minutes.For show notes and more adulting tips, visit: teachmehowtoadult.caSign up for our monthly adulting newsletter:teachmehowtoadult.ca/newsletter Follow us on the ‘gram:instagram.com/teachmehowtoadultmedia instagram.com/yunggillianaire/instagram.com/cailynmichaan/Follow Myka:@mykameierBuy her books: Modern Etiquette Made Easy: A Five-Step Method to Mastering EtiquetteBusiness Etiquette Made Easy: The Essential Guide to Professional Success

Guest: EWN KZN correspondent Nhlanhla Mabaso joins Mike to share updates on the Zulu Royal household following claims that King Misuzulu may have been poisoned.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

William and Kate, Harry and Meghan, the pageantry, ceremony, the Crown Jewels, and a special chicken recipe: What should we expect from the coronation of King Charles III?This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com/DUBIOUS today to get 10% off your first month of therapy. In 1937, the 11 year old Princess Elizabeth had watched her father, King George VI crowned in the elaborate ceremony and 16 years later on 2 June 1953, her own official coronation was to take place. Now, Prince Charles will become King the moment Her Majesty passes away. And William will be watching his father's coronation. Prince Charles was the first child to witness his mother's coronation as Sovereign. Princess Anne, his sister, did not attend the ceremony as she was considered too young. He received a special hand-painted children's invitation to his mother's Coronation. 1 The Coronation of King Charles will be scaled down, less expensive and more inclusive than any other previous similar ceremony. 2 Prince Charles and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall are to be crowned side by side, together, and I like that a lot. Camilla will become Queen Consort. The last time the honor was bestowed was in 1937 when the Queen's mother sat alongside King George VI. 3 In this episode we also discuss The Royal Mews – the Gold Coach, the royal cars and the horses - , as well as the Crown Jewels and their significance. The St. Edward's Crown, made in 1661, will be placed on the head of The King during the Coronation service. It weighs 4 pounds and 12 ounces and is made of solid gold and 44 gemstones, including rubies, garnets, sapphires and tourmalines. After the crown, the orb, also made in 1661, is the most important piece of regalia. It is a globe of gold surrounded by a cross girdled by a band of diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphire and pearls with a large amethyst at the summit. The Coronation ring, known as 'The Wedding Ring of England' – because the monarch's first duty is not family but country – will be placed on The King's fourth finger of his right hand in accordance with tradition. This ring was made for the Coronation of King William IV in 1831, William himself commissioned the British jeweler Rundell, Bridge & Rundell to create the symbolic sapphire ring with baguette-cut rubies in the form of a cross across the face. The rubies represent the cross of St. George (for England) and the sapphire represents the Scottish flag. 4 When Charles becomes King, he will change the royal insignia, he will put his own stamp on the reign by changing the designs of everything from mail boxes to police uniforms. Instead of the ER II insignia, during Charles' reign, the Tudor Crown design will be used. We also debate whether a traditional coronation recipe called Coronation Chicken is exceptional or.. disappointing. The recipe is linked below. 5 1. 50 Facts about The Queen's Coronation. The Royal Household. ⇤2. Mehera Bonner. This Is What Prince Charles's Coronation Will Be Like (Because Yep, It's Already Planned). Cosmopolitan. June 2022. ⇤3. Kate Mansey. Charles and Camilla to be Crowned Side by Side: Prince of Wales's Plans for a Scaled Down Coronation Codenamed 'Operation Golden Orb' that will be Shorter and Cheaper are Revealed. The Daily Mail. February 2022. ⇤4. Queen's Platinum Jubilee Final Day 05/06/22. Youtube. June 2022. ⇤5. Andrea Soranidis. The Original Coronation Chicken. The Petite Cook. February 2019. ⇤

On this week's Studio 1: Matthew speaks to the man who last week was appointed Surgeon Oculist to the Royal Household - or as Matthew used to know him when they were kids, “Graham from next door” Matthew Layton and Sam Rickard present Studio 1 - Vision Australia Radio's weekly look at life from a low vision and blind point of view. On this week's show… The third and final show recorded during Matthew's unexpected, last minute trip to London. Matthew speaks Mr. Graham, Duguid, consultant surgeon at the Western Eye Hospital in Central London. Graham is the son of the late great Mr. Ian Duguid, who was also a consultant eye surgeon and the man who operated on Matthew's eyes when it was discovered that he was born with congenital cataracts  And, as you may have worked out by now, the Duguids lived next door to the Laytons for about forty years. So this one's personal. –EMAIL: studio1@visionaustralia.org   TWITTER: http://twitter.com/varadionetwork and http://twitter.com/whingeingpom   – [PHOTO CAPTION: Havanese Socks with his human Mr Graham Duguid, who is a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at The Western Eye Hospital] Vision Australia gratefully acknowledges the support of the Community Broadcasting Foundation for Studio 1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's an exciting first for Composing Myself this week, with this episode's guest holding a position in none other than The Royal Household of the United Kingdom. Judith Weir - Master of The King's Music (and former Master of The Queen's Music) – talks to Wise Music Group CEO Dave Holley and Creative Director Gill Graham about an illustrious life of creative adventure, from a fortuitous mentorship by Sir John Tavener to being appointed to a Royal position by Queen Elizabeth II. Stops along the way include the Battle of Stamford Bridge (“an iconic moment in English history”); how deadlines – “the composer's curse” – are actually a big help; Judith's inspiring work in the broader community; why singers are “the most amazing people in our profession”, and the myriad joys of blogging. A life less ordinary reflected on by a wonderfully eloquent composer.https://www.judithweir.com/Judith Weir (b 1954 to Scottish parents in Cambridge, England) studied composition with John Tavener, Robin Holloway and Gunther Schuller. On leaving Cambridge University in 1976 she taught in England and Scotland, and in the mid-1990s became Associate Composer with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and Artistic Director of Spitalfields Festival. She was a Visiting Professor at Princeton (2001) Harvard (2004) and Cardiff (2006-13) and in 2014 was appointed Master of the Queen's Music. Since Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022, Weir is now Master of The King's Music. From 2015 to 2019 she was Associate Composer to the BBC Singers.She is the composer of several operas (written for Kent Opera, Scottish Opera, ENO and Bregenz) which have been widely performed. She has written orchestral music for the BBC Symphony, Boston Symphony and Minnesota Orchestras. Much of her music has been recorded, and is available on the NMC, Delphian and Signum labels. She blogs about her cultural experiences at www.judithweir.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change has the great privilege of welcoming H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco to launch our ninth season.For our 123rd episode, Michael and Prince Albert have a wide-ranging and insightful discussion, on the work of the Prince Albert II Foundation to safeguard the planet and its oceans; the Prince's lineage and its deep connections to oceanography; the Prince's adventures and the awakening on climate they prompted; and the joys of success - and the perils of failure - in winter sports.The episode was recorded at the Palais Princier de Monaco. Cleaning Up would like to thank the Royal Household and all those inside and outside of the Palace who supported production of this special episode.As always, please like, share, and if you haven't already, subscribe to Cleaning Up. Relevant Guest & Topic LinksLearn more about the work of the Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco: https://www.fpa2.org/en/index Watch Cleaning Up Episode 7 with Bertrand Piccard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MeGpW2HOek Watch Cleaning Up Episode 96 with Aksel Lund Svindal here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRc1VCBnVgI Guest BioH.S.H. Prince Albert, Alexandre, Louis, Pierre, Sovereign Prince of Monaco,  was born on 14 March 1958. His Highness is the son of Prince Rainier III, Louis Henri-Maxence-Bertrand and Princess Grace, née Kelly. H.S.H. Prince Albert II succeeded his father, Prince Rainier III who died on 6h April 2005. On 12th July 2005, at the end of the period of official mourning, the Prince's accession to the throne was celebrated.In April 2006, H.S.H. Prince Albert II visited the North Pole by dog sled from the Russian base of Barneo 120 kilometres away. This journey was the opportunity for him to pay tribute to his great-great grandfather, Prince Albert I of Monaco, a pioneer of modern oceanography, who, in 1906, set out to Spitzberg, in the archipelago of Svalbard, the most successful of his four Arctic exploration campaigns. In January 2009, Prince Albert II of Monaco undertook a three-week scientific journey in the Antarctic. He visited a large number of scientific stations and visited the South Pole in the company of the explorer Mike Horn. In June 2006, H.S.H. the Prince set up the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation dedicated to protecting the environment. It encourages sustainable and fair management of natural resources and places man at the centre of its projects. It supports the implementation of innovative and ethical solutions in three broad areas: climate change, water and biodiversity.HSH the Prince participated in five Olympic Games, from Calgary in 1988 to Salt Lake City in 2002, as a member of the national bobsleigh team. A member of the International Olympic Committee since 1985, He is President of the Monegasque Olympic Committee.The Prince's complete biography can be found here: https://www.palais.mc/en/princely-family/h-s-h-prince-albert-ii/biography-1-5.html

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is  Kelly Molson, Founder of Rubber Cheese.Download the Rubber Cheese 2022 Visitor Attraction Website Report - the first digital benchmark statistics for the attractions sector.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcastCompetition ends July 31st 2023. The winner will be contacted via Twitter. Show references: https://ats-heritage.co.uk/https://twitter.com/ATS_Spencerhttps://twitter.com/ATS_Heritagehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerclark/ Spencer ClarkAs a newbie to the sector, I started my career in attractions back in 2012 when I joined ATS to help grow the business. There was so much to learn, but I used my experience in design and creative problem solving and a natural ability to understand clients needs quickly.Today I am in the privileged position of co-owning and leading the company as MD with a fantastic team and a reputation to match.My underlying passion is in creating value through great design and unrivalled customer service. I love nothing more than to listen to clients describe their problems and to be asked to help them overcome them, often in a highly creative yet pragmatic way.I love how we can use technology (thoughtfully) to elevate an experience. At ATS, we are pioneers of on-site and on-line digital visitor experiences across the cultural sector, delivering amazing audio & multimedia tours, digital apps/tools, films and tailored consultancy services.We help our clients to engage with millions of visitors and we're privileged to be trusted by attractions small and large across Europe, including St Paul's Cathedral, Guinness Storehouse, Westminster Abbey, Bletchley Park, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Titanic Belfast and Rembrandt House Museum.Outside of work, I'm busy keeping up with two active daughters and try to get on the water paddle boarding, on the hills mountain biking, or roaming around in our camper van.  Transcriptions: Kelly Molson: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Kelly Molson. Each episode, I speak with industry experts from the attractions world. In today's episode I speak with Spencer Clark, Managing Director of ATS Heritage.Spencer shares his insight into what the biggest pain points are for attractions when developing their stories, and the ATS methodology that helps bring out the very best experience for your guests.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue. Kelly Molson: Welcome to Skip the Queue, Spencer. It's lovely to have you on. Spencer Clark: Thanks for having me, Kelly. Kelly Molson: It's taken a while for me to persuade Spencer to come on. I'm not going to lie, I've had his arm right up his back for a while, but he's finally here. Spencer Clark: I've relented. Kelly Molson: He has relented, but he might regret it. Right, icebreakers. What's the worst gift that anyone's ever given you? Spencer Clark: Who's going to be listening to this? I'm not so much worse, but once you get, like, your third or fourth mug, it might be personalised and tailored to you, maybe they're quite amusing, some thoughts gone into it, but when you get a few too many mugs, that creates a little bit. Kelly Molson: Would you rather socks than mugs? Spencer Clark: Yeah, I'm getting into my socks now. Yeah, some nice socks would go down a treat, I think. Kelly Molson: Yeah, I'm with you on this. So this was a Twitter discussion, so the team at Convious sent me some lovely Convious branded socks the other week. They're great. And I had them on. I took them a little picture, I put them on social media and then everyone was like, "Oh, socks. Yeah, were going to do socks for giveaways", but everyone said, "No, socks are rubbish". And I was like, "Absolutely not". Socks are, like, low of the list of things that I want to buy myself. So if I get free socks, I'm going to wear them. Spencer Clark: That's it. And you get your favourites. Kelly Molson: Good. No mugs for Spencer. Okay, this is a random one. If you can only save one of the Muppets, which muppet do you choose and why? Spencer Clark: Oh, man, that's quite a good one. Miss Piggy is a little bit hectic for me. I don't think I could spend a lot of time with her. The chef's quite entertaining, though. The hoodie gordie chickens, I think is. Yeah, I think he was smiling face and, yeah, I like a good chef, so, yeah, I keep him. Kelly Molson: It's a good choice. And I wasn't expecting the impersonation either. Impressive. Spencer Clark: There you go.Kelly Molson: Really, we're taking this podcast to new levels, people. This one would be quite easy for you if you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life. What would it be? Spencer Clark: That's a good. That's really good. Back after Uni, 1999, I went travelling with my best friend and we had a little campervan and went around New Zealand for four weeks and we bought two tapes when we landed in Auckland and we had those two tapes and we listened to just those two tapes for four weeks in a camper van. And one was Jamiroquai Synchronised album, big Jay Kay fan. And the second one was Californication by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Kelly Molson: Excellent. Spencer Clark: And I can still listen to them over and over again now. Kelly Molson: I think I'll let you have the two because it's a great story and really good memories attached to those two. Spencer Clark: Oh, every time we put it on. And Dave is not a great singer, but it's a memorable voice he has. So we're travelling around, these tracks pop up and I'm taking straight back to a certain lovely mountain right here in New Zealand. It's Delcito. Thanks, Dave. Kelly Molson: Lovely. Thanks, Dave. Good memories, good story, good start to the podcast. Right. What is your unpopular opinion? Spencer Clark: So it's QR code, but in a particular setting. And that is where, in restaurants or places to eat, where the QR code is that's your menu. It's the way you pay and everything. And I think just sometimes it gets just a bit frustrating. It's not a great experience because I like a big menu, not necessarily with pictures on the food, I don't need that. But a good menu with everything on it, so you can kind of see the choices, but on your phone you can't really see the whole menu, so that's a bit annoying. And then you got to just order it and add it to your basket and then you think it's gone, then do all the payment. Spencer Clark: I know it's supposed to be easy, but in that environment, I prefer just chatting to a waiter or a waitress and just and having a good experience. Kelly Molson: I agree. When there was a need for, it was great. Obviously, during pandemic times, that was great that you could go in and you could do that. But, yeah, I want to ask questions. I can't decide between these three dishes. What would you pick? You want that conversation, don't you? That's the whole part. It's all part of the experience of eating out. Spencer Clark: It definitely is. And I did a lot of time as a waiter in my late teens and early twenties. And a great waiter makes your night. That's the way I see it. All your day. It's just under use. You don't want to cut them out, you want to go just all on the app. Kelly Molson: Right, listeners, that is a good one. Let me know how you feel. Are you up for having a little chat with your waiter? Straight waitress? Or do you just want to go QR code, cut them out, no chat. No chat. Let me know. Spencer Clark: Sometimes I have those moments as well, of course, but overall, I'd rather chat with someone. Kelly Molson: All right, tell us about your background before you got to ATS. It wasn't in the attraction sector, was it? Spencer Clark: No. So ATS where I'm at now, I've been eleven years and this is the first entry into attractions culture sector. So I did product design at uni and I was never going to be the best designer. It worked out, but I love design and I love the process of essentially being given a problem and find ways in which you can design something to solve it in the best possible way. So to design was definitely in my interests. And then after Uni, I had an idea. My sister is profoundly deaf and so we had an idea for some software, or had some ideas for some software that helped communicate with businesses using your PC. This is pre Messenger and pre WhatsApp all of that. Spencer Clark: So it's kind of when using modems, if anyone remembers those, I'm really sure my age when talking about modend dial ups and yeah, I went to the Princess Trust actually for a bit of funding, a bit of help, and kind of did that start up. So that was inspired by trying to find a solution for an issue that my sister was facing. But then, yeah, the internet really hit us and we had messenger and thankfully, communications with deaf people are far better now. And on almost any cool playing field we've got WhatsApp texts, all of that sort of stuff, and email everything, so it kind of levelled it a bit. Then I set up another business with her and it was deaf awareness training. So we would train healthcare professionals, predominantly. The front of house, health care, how to communicate better with deaf patients. Spencer Clark: Again, driven off of a pretty horrible experience that my sister had. And so, yeah, trying to sell something and making the experience better was really important to us. So that was really good. And through that, funny enough, I met ATS along that route because ATS were looking for some sign language tours. They were the first company to really start to do it on handheld devices. And yeah, that's how I met them, because they found us doing deaf awareness training and signing and asked us for some help. That was the seed. But then at the same time, when I was doing small business consultancy around childcare businesses, really random, but it was the same sort of thing. Spencer Clark: I love working a bit of entrepreneurial spirit in me and I loved helping organisations, smaller businesses, particularly with their cash flows and their marketing ideas, and just general small business help, really. And then I found ATS and that's a whole other story. Kelly Molson: I love that. Yeah, well, great story. I didn't realise that you had a startup and you've been part of all these quite exciting businesses and it's those businesses that kind of led you to ATS. Spencer Clark: Yeah, I had a moment and as many of us do, I suppose I was getting married and I was working in these different jobs and it was quite randomly kind of moved to different things and I was trying to find the focus, what do all these different businesses and these things do? And I was kind of looking at what I enjoyed, what I was good at, and I went through a bit of a career reflection and had someone help me do that. And we're looking, what's the common thing here? And it was creativity, it was working with people. It was definitely small business, not big corporates. And at the time, because I'd already known ATS through doing some of the sign language stuff, they went on my list as, “I need to have a chat with Mike about that one day”. Spencer Clark: He's the founder of ATS. And then yeah, eventually we sat down in the chat and invited me on board to try out. And that was eleven years ago. Kelly Molson: And that was eleven years ago. Tell us about ATS, tell us what they do for our listeners and what's your role there? Spencer Clark: Sure. So I'm now Managing Director ATS. So I've been there in that role for two and a half years now, two or three. Prior to that, I was Business Development and Sales Director, so driving new business. And yes, so ATS, we've expanded out now, but I guess we're a full service. From Creative Content so predominantly known for audio multimedia guides to on site interpretation and storytelling. So our core business is around coming up with brilliant stories, working with our clients to write scripts, and then looking at the creative ways in which we can tell that story to their target audiences. So whether it's families, adults, overseas, we then come up with all these great ideas. And whether it's audio or multimedia, with film or apps, with interactives and games, we try and find all the unique ways of telling that story, of that unique site. Spencer Clark: So we have predominantly in house, fantastic production team, editors, filmmakers, developers, we have interpretation specialists and script writers. So once we've done all the content, we've also got all the technology as well. So part of our business has we manufacture our own hardware, so multimedia guides, audio guides, we have software that runs on all of them. We also do apps and PWAs, and we have a tech support team as well, who are out managing all of our clients. So we have 45,000 devices out in the field at the moment, so there's a lot being used, a lot of experiences being had one of our devices, but they all need battery changes, servicing, all that sort of stuff. So we got a tech team for them as well. So complete end to end from consultation, content, hardware, support.Kelly Molson: Yeah, and great sector to work in. You talked about developing stories. Heritage organisations have the best stories, right? So it is an absolutely perfect fit. I want to talk about the process that you go through and how you make that happen for the heritage sector. What is the biggest pain? So I'm in the marketing team of a heritage organisation and I've got a pain and I know that ATS can probably help me solve it. What is that pain that I bring to you? Spencer Clark: There's a number that we get approached about and I guess the first one, though, is we've got great stories. So, yes, heritage and cultural sites naturally have loads of great stories, so the most prime problem really is them to say, "We want to understand which audience we want to tell our stories to", number one. And then number two, "once we know that, how do we tell the stories in the best memorable, entertaining, educational way?" So really, they're the starting point, really, is helping them understand who their audience is and then going, "Right, how are you telling that story?" I often say with a creative conduit between the site and its heritage and their audiences. And we're the guys in the middle. Spencer Clark: You go, Right, we're going to understand these really well and come up with really great ideas to tell that story to that person in that experience. And that's the prime too. But then it expands out because once you start chatting to them and you go, well, those stories can be told in different ways to different audiences, but also the experiences are very different across sites. So you could have a linear tool, so you kind of know that the story has to make sense stop after stop and it's kind of a narrative thread, whereas other sites are random access, so you're moving around. And so therefore, everything needs to make sense in that situation as well. Kelly Molson: Very interesting, isn't it? I hadn't thought about how the building itself or the area itself can have an influence on how the story is told. Spencer Clark: Absolutely. So we do guides at St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, and you're thinking, "Right, big ecclesiastic sites, they must be very similar", but they're not. St Paul's random access. So once you've done the introduction, you can go wherever you like in St Paul's and access that content. The storytelling within that space, however you like. Westminster Abbey is very linear and so you start at point 1 and you have to go through and there's a fixed route to it. They're two very different buildings architecturally, so the challenges with that, for example, is when we're designing the scripts and designing the experiences, saying, "Well, what is the visitor journey here? And where are their pinch points?" I think in one spot in Westminster, we had 10 seconds to tell a story. Spencer Clark: People can't stay more than 10 seconds in that area because it just ends up backing up and then it's awful for everybody else. Whereas St Paul's is very different. You've got a lot more dwell time and a lot more space that you can sit and just listen. So two very different experiences that we design. Kelly Molson: That's really complex, isn't it? So you're not only thinking about how to tell the story in the best way to fit with the venue and the access and how people walk around it, but also from a capacity perspective, people can't stay in this area for longer than 10 seconds. So you've got to get them moving. Spencer Clark: Exactly. Kelly Molson: It blows my mind. Talk me through your methodology then, because I think that's quite interesting. Like, how do you start this process? They've come with the pain. We've got this great story, we're not telling it in the best way that we could. How can you help us? Where do you start? Spencer Clark: It's a good place. What we love is you get face to face and you walk the current experience and you walk through it. And it's great to talk to visitor experience teams, curatorial, front of house, as well as senior stakeholders and having a conversation with all of them to kind of really get a sense of what's the outcome I'm starting with what's wrong or what do you want to better? What do you want this outcome to be? And then we kind of work backwards because we have a lot of experience to share. And so there's things around this routing, wayfinding, dwell time. There's things around operations and logistics of handing out hardware or promoting an app if that's what clients are pushing out to their visitors. But we all got to understand there's lots of different models as well. Spencer Clark: So some sites, for example, you may pay to get in, but then you may pay for an audio or a multimedia guide or an app afterwards. So you're paying for your ticket and then you've got a secondary spend for a guide. I have seen a lot of our sites, especially some of the bigger ones, they have an all inclusive. So you buy your ticket and you get your guide included. But those two models means two different things because on the all inclusive, the majority of your audience are getting that guide. Therefore that story that we're going to create for you is being told to the biggest proportion of your audience, whereas those who buy additional, you know, the take up is going to be lower, therefore that message is not going to get to that many. But you don't need as many devices. Spencer Clark: And so we look at kind of whether they can handle a stop of hundreds or thousands of devices in some cases. Kelly Molson: Oh, you mean like where they're going to put them? Spencer Clark: Exactly. Kelly Molson: Yeah, it's all about that. Spencer Clark: These castles and heritage sites didn't really they weren't designed to hold racks or racks of guides, which is why they end up in some funny places, sometimes moat houses and whatever. So we start there, that's kind of walk it through. We want to listen and understand what everybody as a stakeholder, what they're wanting from it, but then we really kind of go, what does the visitor really need and want? What are they paying for? What are their expectations? And how can we have our impact on the visitor experience, which is essentially what it is. We're involved with storytelling content, visitor experience and technology, essentially the delivery method of it. Kelly Molson: What's a good case study, then, that you could share with us? I guess the proof of the pudding is in people being engaged with those stories. So it'll be about the feedback, right, that the organisation gets once people have been through the experience and they get good TripAdvisor recommendations and all that kind of thing. What's a good example that you can share with us of something where you've worked on it and it's made quite a vast difference to that experience?Spencer Clark: I'd like to say every single project. We generally want every client. We're passionate about making a difference. You're investing in time and money and we want to add as much creativity to it, but we want it to be as effective as possible, which is why I really want to understand what clients are wanting to get. If we look at this in a year's time, what do you want to see happen? And if it is better, TripAdvisor does that. I think we're hitting that really well, because not many sites, I'd say you have visitors kind of commenting on the audio or the multimedia guide back in the day. But when you look at a lot of our client sites, they get mentioned in TripAdvisor and how it's made a massive difference. Spencer Clark: So I was chatting with a client today, the guide is eight years old, a multimedia guide. We did a full film production for the introduction film, but then we also put that content into the guide, so it felt like this really the continuity in the storytelling. So once you arrive, you watch the film, you got the characters on the film, but they also feature in your guide. So as you've watched it, you go off and you go to a dinner party and we're just chatting today and they said, eight years on and it's still really good and getting reference to and we've got prospect clients and new clients who go over and check it out and they just love it. Just because we've designed it to last a long time, it shouldn't date because it's often our sector. Spencer Clark: They're not refreshing content like that every couple of years. It needs to last as long as it can and get its money's worth. The output is a great Visitor experience. Hopefully we're inputting on the NPS score, so hopefully people are saying, “yes, the overall, we're one part”. My colleague, Craig, he says it people don't go to a site for the multimedia guide. Right. They're not going, oh, we're here ATS are great, let's definitely go to one of their sites. They don't they go there? And then once they get this wonderful experience with the front of house with a fantastic audio multimedia guide that's been thought about and really designed well. Spencer Clark: And then the retail was great and the food and beverage was good and there was parking and whatever, and it was a sunny day because if it's a rainy day, everyone has a really bad experience. It's raining, which is obviously out of control of many sites. So, yeah, we're one element, but an important one, we feel, that really impacts on ATS and TripAdvisor and feedback and repeat visits. Kelly Molson: Do you get asked that question, actually, about how long this will last? So you said that guide has been around for about eight years now and I'm thinking, "yeah, that's good going, that's good return on investment, right?" We get asked that quite a lot about websites. "How frequently do you need to update your website? How frequently do we need to go through this process from redesign and development?" And I think it really depends on how well it's been done to start with. So we've worked with attractions where we did their website, like six or seven years ago. It still looks great because it was thought out really well, it's planned well, the brand was in place and it's the same, I guess, with your guide, if it's done well from the start, it's going to last longer. Spencer Clark: Absolutely. And to me, that's part of the brief, that's the design process, looking at the brief and the clients and asking those questions, "Well, you're, you can update this" and you kind of know they're not going to update it in a year. So how long was the shelf life of this product? What do you want it to last? And so once you know that at the beginning, you start producing it in a way that you say, well, that might date, you could have contemporary fashion, but that might look a bit dated in five, six, seven years time, whereas if we go animation, you can make things last a lot longer. But then, yeah, realistically you could be looking at how long does this last? Eight years, nine years? Spencer Clark: We've got clients up to ten years now. As long as you write it, you have an awareness that you don't mention potentially people's names who work there because they may move on and maybe even the job title might change. So you got to just be a little bit careful of kind of mentioning that, especially at site's consideration. When you've got 12, 13 languages, you make one change in the English, you've then got to change all that. So again, it's this understanding at the beginning saying, well, the risk of having a celebrity or whoever if you don't want them and they're out of faith or whatever, or they're not available to do any rerecords you got to think about that and say, well, that's going to have a knock on effect, and that will change then eventually. Spencer Clark: So, yeah, there's all these little secrets of the way in which things are, but we're aware of them. And that has a massive impact on the cost down the line. And the quality, of course.Kelly Molson: That's the benefit of the consultancy approach that you take as well, isn't it? Is it, that you are asking those questions up front and you're thinking long term about what's best for the organisation, not what's necessarily best for you? Is it better for me if they update this every three years or every eight years? But what you want is to get them the best experience from it and have the best product possible. So you ask all the right questions to start with. Spencer Clark: Absolutely. And sites are all different. The story at one place might not change, but they might have a different view on it and so or a different angle coming in. Well, there's a different story or theme within that place. So we did know National Trust site, so they had a big conservation project and so we've done the restoration conservation story. They've come back to a couple of years and now we're looking at different stories within them and telling stories very much around female stories at the house as well. So we're bringing that in. And what we can do, we're going to layer it and put in with the content so it will start to really. You have this lovely kind of layering of story and content that people can dip in and out of depending on what they're interested in. Spencer Clark: But that means it is evolving, but you're not recording loads of other stuff, you're just starting to build up on this nice kind of collection of content. But then you got sites such that you know they're going to have temporary exhibitions every year. So Buckingham Palace, we do their permanent tour, but then the exhibition changes every year, so we'll be going in there and rewriting content just for that element of it. So, yeah, most places don't change a lot of their content, but when you do, it's usually just elements of it, or adding languages or adding an access tool or something like that. Kelly Molson: Yeah, and I love that.  But actually what we're trying to do is just make something better. And that doesn't always mean that you have to spend a shitload of money on making something, you know what I mean? You don't have to start from scratch, you can make something really great with what you have. So we've been talking a lot with attractions about just making what they have better. They don't need a new website right now. What you could do is just add these things in and that would make your website 10% better than it is now. Amazing, right? You've saved yourself a lot of budget, but you've still got this brilliant project and that's the same with what you're talking about. It's not a start from scratch, it's just building on and improving what you have. That's a good place. Spencer Clark: It's a good offer to have. I think it is, because sometimes you just want a little refresh and actually just slightly dated or that's not the language or the tone we use completely. So we just want to change this intro and often the introduction is the beginning of the experience. So if you can tweak and change that can actually set the tone for the rest of it anyway. We often go and say, "Well, what have you gotten? What improvements can you make on a minimal budget?" And that's the honest conversation you have early on and you're going, "What do you want to happen realistically? What are your budgets, what's your time scales?" And then we'll come back to you with something that's tailored to you and see what we can do. Spencer Clark: And often a review of the current experience and will be constructive and we think you could just improve these bits at the moment. Kelly Molson: Yeah, I love that approach. And also, do you have a moathouse that you can keep all these devices in? And while we're on the topic of that, let's talk about something that you mentioned earlier, which is this app versus devices debate. So you mentioned, and it hadn't even occurred to me. Do people have the storage space for all of these devices? Are they going to be able to put them somewhere? And I bet you get asked us all the time, isn't it going to better if we have an app because people have got that phone in their back pocket all the time and so then you don't necessarily need as many of the devices as you might need. There's quite a big debate around this at the moment, isn't there? What's your take on it? Spencer Clark: Well, of course I've got my opinion on this one, Kelly. But you know, these questions when I joined the ATS, so I joined eleven years ago and I started going to the conferences and the shows and the exhibitions and you know, apps were around and it was the, "Oh yeah, they're going to be the death of the audio guide". So there's me, joined a company thinking, "Oh okay, I wonder how long I'll be around for". But what history has shown me is that what drives a really good product and a good solution, whether it's an app or a device, is really understanding those outcomes and visitor behaviours and COVID was obviously a point in time where people weren't touching things.Spencer Clark: And it was a concern at the time like, “okay, I wonder how long is this going to play out?”. But what we found is humans fall back into an ease of life and convenience and quality, I think is kind of where people say, "Oh, no, they won't use devices anymore and they won't use touch screens". And I remember chatting with Dave Patton from Science Museum and he said, “Yeah, in COVID, we turned all the touchscreens off”. Everyone kept going up to them and touching them because they thought they were off to turn them on, so they turned them off so that people wouldn't use them. And actually what they're doing was touching that device more. Do you remember the days people were wiping down all the trolleys? I'm quite an optimist, so I was sitting at the time. Spencer Clark: Once we passed this and through it, I feel we will kind of fall back into, you're not going to take your own cutlery to a restaurant a year, so that hasn't happened. And QR codes are less and less visible on those restaurants. Yeah. What it really is about for us is, and I touched upon it, there's a few things around why ultimately you can do everything. Our multimedia guides and audio guys can do pretty much one of these, but for a number of reasons, visitors aren't necessarily going straight over to these and dropping the hardware. If I rock up with my kids, got two kids, they don't have phones, so they're not going to download an app when they get there. My phone is my car key, it's my travel, it's my wallet, it's everything, so I'm using it all day. Spencer Clark: And there's obviously battery concerns there as well, so you kind of start getting kind of battery anxiety of that where you carry around a charger. But there is something and the more and more we work with clients and we compare, we put apps in places as well as multimedia guides or audio guides, and we look at the take up and we look at the behaviour of visitors. And even more recently, we're doing a site. At the moment, it's got temporary exhibition for six months. I'll be able to say a bit more about it once we've done the end of the review, but essentially we've had kind of AB testing and looking at how the take up is for guides versus apps and we're positively seeing big demand for devices for a number of reasons with the audience time who were there. There's the quality. Spencer Clark: As far as I've paid my ticket, especially on the all inclusive, I get my guide and it's really well designed and this is part of the experience designed for it. I'm not worrying about battery and the headphones are in there. I haven't got people walking around with audio blaring out because they've gotten their headphones, which is really annoying to all the other visitors that I've been to a few museums and seen that and heard that it's not a great experience. There's definitely a quality thing there about it's part of, this is part of. Kelly Molson: Do you think it's part of, it's escapism as well? So, like, for me, I'm terrible if we're out and about, if me, my little girl and my husband are out for the day, my phone is in my bag the whole time and I forget to take pictures. I forget to tell social media that I've been to a place, "Oh, God, what I've got for lunch”, because I'm too busy doing it. And I think with the kind of headsets thing, there's an element of escapism there, isn't there, where you don't have to have your phone. I like not having to be on my phone. I like that for the whole day. I've had such a great day, they haven't even thought about looking at my phone. So I don't know whether there's an element there. Kelly Molson: We're so tied to our phones all the day, all day, aren't we?  For work and things.  I'm just going to put these headphones on. I'm going to escape into a different world where I don't need to think about it. Spencer Clark: Yeah, don't get me wrong, there's definitely a place for apps and there's a use for them, which is why we've developed a platform that makes apps as well. But the devices over this recent exhibition, I'm just learning more from visitors and the staff who are there, and they're saying, "Yeah, you take your phone and you might have the tour going, but I don't turn my notifications off, so I'll still get interrupted by things". And you're right, I want to be in this experience. And my attention, I'm hoping, is mostly on what's there and the stories that are being told to me. So, yeah, there's a lot around there. There's also perceived value. Spencer Clark: I did a talk at Historic houses pre covered, but I had like 160 people in the Alexandra Palace and I asked them all, "how many of you just have downloaded an app in the last twelve months?" A few hands put up and then said, "Okay, how many of you paid for an app out of those?" and all the hands went down. There's this thing about, would you spend £5 on an app? Probably not a lot of people would. It's got to be really well promoted and maybe in the right circumstances, the right place, the right exhibition, you'd get someone doing that, but people will pay and you see it. They will pay £5 for a device that's being designed and put in there as part of the official experience of this site. Spencer Clark: So you've got to look at the take up and the reach that an app will bring over a device as well. So there is perceived value. See if you can charge for it great or if it's in ticket price, it just makes the whole value of the experience even better. I'm not sure what's your experience when was the last time you paid for an app, Kelly? Kelly Molson: Bigger question, as you asked it, I was thinking, and I can't remember. There must be something that I've paid a minimum value for, like it was like, I don't know, £0.69p or £1.29 or something like that, but I couldn't tell you what it was or when I downloaded it. Kelly Molson: I mostly have car parking apps on my phone. Honestly, I think at one point I counted I had seven different car parking apps on my phone because all of the car parks obviously stopped taking cash. I'm terrible with cash, I never have any of that. A lot of them. But they're all free.Spencer Clark: There's definitely something there around perceived value and what it means to the experience, I think. Kelly Molson: Yeah, it's really interesting, actually. Spencer Clark: The debate will continue for years, though, Kelly. The debate will carry on.  And if that's about telling a great story to as many people as possible. Right now, in our view and our data that shows across all these sites is devices that are doing a better job than apps at the moment. But there's still a choice. Some people will have them. And I think it's going to be a blend. It's going to be a blend, but overwhelmingly the device is more. Kelly Molson: But it's interesting because you mentioned and one of my questions is, how is ATS evolving? Because I guess that you didn't always have apps as an option for people. So that's probably one of the ways that you've evolved over the years, right? Spencer Clark: Yeah. So we started doing audio guides. That was the initial and then again, Mike, the founder, was really spotted multimedia as an opportunity, screen devices as we started coming through. Not everyone had smartphones at that point. And so to provide a screen device, it was great for putting additional content and film content and also accessibility, sign language videos and things like that, which is how I got into ATS, sign language videos. So putting them on a screen and you look at how much audio visual content we now all consume on a small handheld device, he definitely saw something. And that's where ATS kind of drove that element. A lot of our work was multimedia guides over audio guides. Spencer Clark: And it was about not just playing audio with an image on the screen, because that's not adding much for the sake of this device, you need to add a lot more to it. And that's where we grew our in house production team. So all the editors coming up with really good ideas and animations and videos or interface designs, all that sort of stuff, and interactives and games and things like that, you could be really just opened up a whole world of opportunity, really. Yeah. So we started pushing that. But again, part of that design process was, and going back to the kind of we only had 10 seconds to tell this story or whatever, it's the same with these devices, and when we're creating content, visual content, it's got to warrant the visitor's attention. Spencer Clark: If you've got an amazing masterpiece in front of you, then of course you don't want to be head down in the screen, you want to be looking at it. But what could that screen do, if anything? We may decide not to even put anything on there, just go audio. But there could be something there that you want to, a curator might be interviewed and show you certain details on the painting and you could point them out on the screen. That then allows you to look and engage with the art in front of you. But, yeah, we drove that kind of way of delivering interpretation on site through multimedia guys, but we do a lot of audio as well. Spencer Clark: I'm just plain, straight, simple audio, I say simple, but lovely sound effects, really nice produced, choosing the right voices, really good script, sound effects, that sort of stuff. So, yeah, it's quite a pure way, I guess you would say, with audio owned.Kelly Molson: Nice, you mentioned the word warrant back there. Which brings me to my next question, which I think is fascinating, because there aren't many organisations that are ever going to achieve this, but ATS has a Royal Warrant now. Spencer Clark: Yeah, yeah, we got it in March 22. Kelly Molson: Absolutely phenomenal. Tell us a little bit about that. Spencer Clark: Yeah, so we've worked with Royal Household for quite, well, a couple of sites for over 15 years. We provide audio multimedia guides across pretty much all of the raw sites now, which is a wonderful achievement, we're really proud of it. And, yeah, we applied for a Royal Warrant. They're awarded to about 800 businesses in the UK and they range from one person, sole trader, craftsman, craft people through, to multinationals and SMEs and everybody in between. And it's a mark of quality and excellence in delivery of service and sustainable as well over a long period of time. We applied for it and were awarded it in March. It was a really lovely accolade for us as a business and it was a great moment to get so we've got a hold of that now. Kelly Molson: That must have been lovely. So, again, at the start of the episode, you mentioned that you'd moved into the MD role, and that was a couple of years ago. Right. So you've been an MD through COVID times, which must have been a challenge for you. As a founder of an organisation myself, I know that was a big challenge, having to learn how to do things in a completely different way. That must have been a really lovely kind of success story of those times. Spencer Clark: Definitely. We have got such an amazing team and one that people stay with us, our team stay with us for a long period of time and it was also a point where I was taking over and the founder, Mike, was properly retiring. So for him, it was really great to get for him. And we had one made up for him as well, a plat, so you can have his own he's got his own rule warrant, but yeah, for the rest of the team, it is a recognition. What's really important for me is that everybody in the team is responsible for the quality of service that we deliver from picking up the phone and working on projects, the development team, the service team, the teams that go on site. Spencer Clark: We've got staff as well, so we staff at St Paul's Cathedral and Bucks Palace and Windsor Castle, so we got members team handing out guides and operations there. And it's everyone's responsibility in our business to offer a great service in everything we do. And it definitely was yeah, it was a really great recognition that we could share with the team. Kelly Molson: Amazing. Right, what is next for ATS? What exciting developments are they're coming up that you can share with us? Anything on the horizon? Spencer Clark: Yeah, I guess this year feels like many, and I've been speaking to, you know, it's nice to get back into conferences and exhibitions and stuff where you kind of chatting to the sector, but this feels a little bit more normal as a year. I think last year was still a kind of bounce back out of COVID but this year seems to be mor. There's tenders coming through. People are now doing new projects, so that's good to see. So there's an appetite. I think what it's really shown is there's an appetite in the sector to really improve the quality of visitor experiences. I think that's what's really that I'm seeing and something that we're well positioned to support clients in is that quality of a visitor experience. On the back of that, we're looking at always continuing to look at different ways in which to tell stories and the way in which we can engage with the visitor, which doesn't always mean the latest tech. Spencer Clark: We've looked at AR and things like that and we've tried it, but what you got to be careful, what you got to understand is, instead of when you've got visitors from 8 to 85 year olds, your solution has to be accessible to everybody. And as soon as you might put in something that might if the technology doesn't quite work in that environment because it's too dark or too light or whatever, or the tech just isn't there to do it, then it suddenly breaks the magic of that experience. Spencer Clark: And so you look at different ways of being innovative and that can just be through a really different approach to the script writing, or putting a binaural 3D soundscape instead, or having a really good interactive that just brings the family in to answer questions or something like that. We will always continue to innovate, but it's not necessarily about technology. But we love tech. But you've got to think about the practical implications of tech in the projects. And that goes back to earlier I said about sustainability in the budget and some organisations just don't have the appetite or the budget to invest in some of this tech, even though they see it and they say, “we want that”. Okay, “this is how much it's cost. And it's brand new”, so you'd be developing from scratch or whatever. Spencer Clark: And it's not always palatable with the budget holders. So, yes, you got to think about operationally sustainable. What's the best solution that reaches your outcomes, essentially? So, yeah, where else are we heading? Great content. We've got new products coming through, new devices, that sort of stuff, which has kind of been, like I said, our core business. But we're also doing a lot more online, so digital exhibitions, things like that. So we're taking our onsite storytelling experience and moving online. So we've done some virtual tours, but not just 360s where you've got hotspots. We add the ATS magic to it. What else can we add into those kind of online experiences? It's a different experience, but we can definitely add some lovely creativity to the storytelling on that. So we did that with a number of clients, including Glenn Palace. Spencer Clark: We did the Churchill exhibition, which was a full three day film shoot over COVID, which was a huge challenge. But yeah, there was a high risk factor there when your main star is a Churchill lookalike and if he got COVID, the whole shoot pretty much cancelled, but we managed to get through that, so that was good. So, yeah, more of that sort of stuff. So, looking at the online space, we're getting into 3D digitisation of collections, so we've got a partnership going on where we can photogram using photogrammetry to create 3D models. And then what we're saying is we add the ATS magic to that, where you got that model. Let's put it in context, let's tell that story around that actual object. Spencer Clark: It's a 3D model, so, yeah, we're playing around with areas on that and some other things that I'm sure I'll share in the future. We're not standing still. That's for sure.Kelly Molson: No. And I'm sure I'll hear about it at whatever conferences that we're at together at some point, Spencer. We always ask our guests about a book that they love that they would like to share with our listeners. What have you prepped for us today? Spencer Clark: I'm in the car a lot, so I do a lot of audio books, if anything. I don't know if it's an excuse, but I just don't find time to sit and actually read. Busy family life, busy work life, all that sort of stuff. So a lot of audiobooks. But also, I love business books, whatever you can learn from kind of business and marketing. And obviously I had that role previous to ATS, I was kind of supporting small businesses and stuff. So there's one I had, I attended a session by a marketeer called Bryony Thomas and she's got a book called Watertight Marketing. Her session was brilliant, it was really practical, it's really scalable. So it could be for a one person company, sole trader, up to an organisation that has multiple products online, wherever. Spencer Clark: It was just a really good book that just gives you clarity and thinking. And there's this takeaway straight away from it and a really good approach to kind of reviewing your marketing and how well it's working, and then just picking those things that are going to work quickest to find out where the weaknesses are, the leaks, essentially, she calls them. So, yeah, I'd really recommend it. I'm hoping quite a lot of your listeners are interested in marketing. We're all looking at trying to get visitors back in and what our service and products are. So I'd recommend Watertight Marketing by Bryony Thomas. Kelly Molson: Oh, I think that's a great recommendation. I've read that book, I've met Bryony once a very long time ago and it's so simple, it's ridiculous, isn't it? And you think, "how is this the first book that's talked about marketing in this way?" That's what blew my mind when I read it and it is, it's just about plugging the gaps, filling the holes in your bucket. It's absolutely brilliant concept, great book. Thank you for sharing. Right, listen, if you want to win a copy of that book, and I would recommend that you do, if you head over to our Twitter account and you retweet this episode announcement with the words I want Spencer's book, then you might be lucky enough to win yourself a copy. Thankfully, it was only just one book today. Everyone else tries to kill my marketing budget and goes with two. Kelly Molson: So well done you, Spencer. Thank you ever so much for joining us on the podcast today. It's lovely that you came on, I'm really pleased that you did. Lots to think about there and loads of tips for our listeners if they're thinking about enhancing their stories. So thank you. Spencer Clark: It's been a pleasure. Thanks, Kelly. Kelly Molson: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip The Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, rubbercheese.com/podcast.

Rob Ashton is a writer, entrepreneur, and a former research scientist and editor, who's had a lifelong fascination with how the things we read and write influence what we think and do. He's been investigating the brain science of reading and writing for more than six years, giving him a unique insight into why so much of our written communication fails. He says writing is ‘the invisible medium, hidden in plain sight'. And his research reveals that much of the misunderstanding in the world stems from our new reliance on tapping on our keyboards and phones instead of actually talking to each other. Rob also founded the global learning company Emphasis in 1998. With his team, he's enabled more than 80,000 people to make much more impact with their professional writing. His advice has been sought by everyone from the tech giants of Silicon Valley to the Royal Household at Buckingham Palace. In this can't-miss conversation, learn about What most people get wrong about press releases The hidden impact of the words we read Why reading is unnatural What journalists know about what makes news, why it makes news, and how to use that to get their attention Negativity bias in the media--why it is natural The symbiotic relationship between PR pros and journalists The bridge that always gets hit by trucks Much more! Get Silent Influence -- Free! This is a five-part (free) email/audio course I created to help raise awareness of some of the science behind how written words influence our thoughts and decisions. (It's an actual course, not a sales/marketing funnel.) PR After Hours listeners can sign up here: robashton.com/influence. Connect with Rob: https://www.robashton.com/ Get Alex's book, THE PODCAST OPTION--NOW IN PAPERBACK: https://amzn.to/3gOCYLj Listen to our entire library of episodes and more on the show website: PRAfterHours.com. Drop a buck in the tip jar here. Announcer: Mary McKenna. PR After Hours Theme: https://filmmusic.io "Bossa Antigua" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC. Sound effects. This PR After Hours Podcast episode was recorded and mixed at Green Shebeen Studios in beautiful Kansas City, Missouri. Copyright 2023, all rights reserved. No reproduction, excerpting, or other use without written permission. As an Amazon Associate, we earn a small commission on some of our Amazon links. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alex-greenwood1/message

Jane Boleyn, sister-in-law of Queen Anne Boleyn and wife of George Boleyn, found herself embroiled in the dangerous politics of the Tudor court. Following the execution of George and Anne for treason in 1536, Jane managed to navigate the treacherous world of Tudor politics and maintain a position in each successive queen's household. However, her association with Katheryn Howard ultimately led to her downfall, and she was executed alongside the queen in 1542. Jane's story is a cautionary tale about the perils of power and ambition in the Tudor court. I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. James Taffe about his new book, Courting Scandal: The Rise and Fall of Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford. During our conversation, we delved into the intricacies of the Tudor royal household and the role that Jane played in it. I learned so much from our discussion, and it gave me a greater appreciation for the fascinating and complex world of Tudor history. Commercial FREE for patrons! Love the Tudors? Read the stories of the Tudors on Tudors Dynasty! -- Credits: Host: Rebecca Larson Guest: Dr. James Taffe Edited by: Rebecca Larson Voice Over: David Black Music: Ketsa, Alexander Nakarada, and Winnie the Moog --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rebecca-larson/message

In this episode of the Culinary Chronicles Podcast, Lisa talks with Kyla. Kyla Kennaley is a Canadian Pastry Chef judge on The Great Canadian Baking Show, Food Lover, Learning and Development for Food and Beverage Teams for Luxury UK Venues and The Royal Household. She now lives in the UK but grew up in rural Ontario surrounded by small farms in the lakeside country. In their conversation, Lisa and Kyla talk about; How she transitioned from business owner to TV show host What her entertainment career as a judge has been like What her relationship with food was like growing up and now. What her best food experiences have been like, with her exciting life of travel Why it is her passion to understand the concept of flavour Resources: Get the Show Notes HERE for exclusive episode insights and resources. Use code PODCAST20 to check out the classes at LeDolci.com HEREP.S. 60 second request: If you enjoyed the podcast, would you be so kind as to review it on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotfiy? It doesn't take long, and it really makes a difference in booking hard-to-get guests on the show! For Apple Podcasts: Scroll to the bottom of the podcasts' page in the iOS or macOS app and to "write a review". Simply open this LINK in Apple Podcasts to rate and review the Culinary Chronicles podcast! For Spotify: From the podcast page in the Sporify app (iOS and Android), you can tap rate one to five stars, as long as you've listened to at least 30 seconds of an episode on Spoitfy. Simply open this LINK in your Sporify mobile app. Special thanks to our sponsors, Juli's Cookie Company and Le Dolci Culinary Classroom. Music by Dusty Decks/Dust till Dawn/www.epidemicsound.com

The holiday parties have officially begun so this week we're throwing it back to one of our favourite episodes from 2021 on an often underappreciated topic… modern etiquette! But fear not, this is NOT a stuffy table manners lecture about minding your P's and Q's. According to our guest, etiquette expert Myka Meier, modern etiquette is about being kind, thoughtful and respectful, presenting your best self, and having the emotional intelligence and social skills to go anywhere with confidence. Sign us up!Myka has been coined the “Marie Kondo of etiquette,” is the author of two best-selling etiquette books and even trained in London under a member of The Royal Household of the Queen. She started Beaumont Etiquette which offers courses on etiquette that are super relevant to society today and co-founded The Plaza Hotel's Finishing Program. She brings a fresh and modern perspective to manners, breaking down the stereotype that etiquette is stuffy or outdated. Join us as she answers all our Qs on:When you should bring a hostess giftHow to (politely) remind someone to pay you backWhen you should send a thank you noteHow to set a standard table settingHandling the bill on a first dateHow to network and self-promote tastefullyThe 101 on business dining etiquetteWe hope this episode empowers you to walk into your next holiday party or event feeling totally prepared and confident!For show notes and more adulting tips, visit: teachmehowtoadult.caSign up for our monthly adulting newsletter:teachmehowtoadult.ca/newsletter Follow us on the ‘gram:@teachmehowtoadultpodcast @yunggillianaire@cailynmichaanFollow us on TikTok: @teachmehowtoadultFollow Myka: mykameier.com@mykameierGet Myka's books:Business Etiquette Made Easy: The Essential Guide to Professional SuccessModern Etiquette Made Easy: A Five-Step Method to Mastering Etiquette

Ngozi Fulani, who founded domestic violence charity Sistah Space, was questioned about her background by Lady Susan Hussey, Prince William's godmother, at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday. Ms Fulani was at the reception representing her London-based charity, which supports women of African and Caribbean heritage across the UK who have faced domestic and sexual abuse. The late Queen's lady-in-waiting has since resigned. The palace described the remarks as unacceptable and deeply regrettable, and a spokesperson for Prince William said racism has no place in our society. Lady Hussey was a key figure in the Royal Household for many decades, having started working for the Royal Family in the same year the Queen gave birth to Prince Andrew, eventually becoming her longest-serving lady-in-waiting. Buckingham Palace announced last week that Lady Hussey and the other former ladies-in-waiting would subsequently be known as "ladies of the household" - a role which involves helping to host occasions at the palace. Today's Mishal Husain spoke to Ngozi Fulani about the incident. (Image: Ngozi Fulani, Credit: PA)

Mention written communication and most people immediately call you out for being ‘old school'.Yet today more than ever before most of our communication is actually written.  In fact, many argue that verbal communication is now a thing of the past.From email to text messages, we spend most of our days writing -  to customers, team members,  friends and even family.  Unfortunately, while technology has made written communication faster and easier, it has not made it better.  More often than not, it's made it worse.From misunderstandings to misintrerpeted messages - our writing can be our downfall.But are there short cuts or techniques - or forgotten rules - that can help us make this better? I'm Jane Singer and thank you for joining me here on A Seat at The Table.It is my pleasure to have written communications expert Rob Ashton with us today.In 1998 Rob founded Emphasis, a global learning company that has enabled more than 80,000 people to make much more impact with their professional writing. His advice has been sought by everyone from the tech giants of Silicon Valley to the Royal Household at Buckingham Palace.Rob has been investigating the brain science of reading and writing for more than six years, giving him a unique insight into why so much of our written communication fails. He says writing is ‘the invisible medium, hidden in plain sight'.Today Rob will be talking about:Typical mistakes that can make many of the messages we write backfire.What a neural circuit breaker is - and why they stop us from getting the decisions we want.The real (and surprising) reason that email makes us angry.Why often its better to not write, but to talk instead.One of the most difficult things to write is a job description.  I always struggle with this.  And yet it is a critical part of being able attract the right talent to your business.  The competition to find top talent and fill those critical position is one of the biggest challenges companies face these days - especially in certain markets.That's why top corporations and even smaller enterprises rely on Asianet Consultants to help them fill key positions.  Since 1988 Asianet has been working in partnership with its global clients to help them make the right strategic hires.  They have a well-earned reputation for being able to fill even those difficult to fill positions.So if you need to recruit new talent - or think that you might be doing that soon, head on over to their website. That's asiannetconsultants.com.Now let's learn from Rob how to improve our written communication.USEFUL LINKS:Asianet Consultants:  www.asianetconsultants.comConnect with Rob Ashton:  https://linkedin.com/in/robashton1Follow Rob Ashton:  https://www.facebook.com/robashtonwritesRob Ashton on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/robert_ashtonEphasis website: http://www.writing-skills.com/Visit A Seat at The Table's website at https://seat.fm

DISCLAIMER - Stefan & ich haben diese Folge zwei Monate vor dem Tod von QUEEN Elizabeth II aufgezeichnet. #PFL pres. PASSION FOR LIFE I S1.E3 I feat. Master Chef of Great Britain Stefan Pappert Stefan Pappert war dieses Jahr in aller Munde. Zum 70sten Thronjubiläum von QUEEN Elizabeth II stand plötzlich überall in der Presse, dass ein Deutscher für die Küche verantwortlich ist. Und das stimmt! Stefan ist Chefkoch vom Wembley - Stadion in England und hat dazu an manchen Tagen für die QUEEN in Windsor oder in Kensington gekocht. Die meiste Zeit ist er allerdings für 95 000 Gäste im Wembley zuständig, bekocht da auch Stars wie Ed Sheehan, David Beckham, die englische Fußball-Nationalmannschaft, das DFB Team etc. https://de.everybodywiki.com/Stefan_Pappert#Events_und_Gäste_–_Auswahl https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk7Zu9SPG9cLHPapRHRPXKA https://www.instagram.com/stefan.pappert/ ------------------------------------- Check gerne meine anderen Folgen aus & lass mir Feedback da! Peace! www.patrickfritzsche.com www.instagram.com/paddyfritzsche/?hl=de www.youtube.com/channel/UCYywR_ta90K1... open.spotify.com/show/02mIu5zMJaY67mMiinO6sj ------------------------------------- Danke an Bild, Ton, Schnitt & Technik! dariuszp.com www.instagram.com/b._piechowskie/ Danke an die Sprecherin des Intro! www.instagram.com/lea_rstk/?hl=de Danke an den Fotografen des Bildes / Banner www.instagram.com/paulmitschke_/?hl=de Danke an die Grafikerin! www.instagram.com/alicia.plthn/ Danke an´s MMZ - Halle für die Location! https://mmz-halle.de

On Wednesday, the body of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will travel in a public procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, carried on a gun carriage, with King Charles leading the procession behind his mother's coffin, which will be draped in the Royal Standard. Once in Westminster Hall, the coffin, topped with the Imperial State Crown, orb and sceptre, will lie in state for four days, with each corner guarded 24-hours-a-day by soldiers from units that serve the Royal Household. When the Queen Mother lay in state two decades ago, thousands lined to view her coffin. Many more mourners are expected to pay their last respects to our longest reigning monarch before the funeral on Monday. In this episode of the Fourcast we speak to our presenter, Cathy Newman, who broke the news of the Queen's death on Channel 4. We look back on the historic days we have witnessed since and ahead to a new era under King Charles. Sources: AP Producer: Freya Pickford

Shermer and Ashton discuss: what it's like advising Google and Buckingham Palace on how to communicate • what makes writing appealing and effective • how to write better emails and social media posts • why the messages we write often backfire • why emails so often make us angry • How has written communication changed in the last five years? • What makes Donald Trump such a powerful communicator that he can seemingly hypnotize tens of millions of people and dictate entire news cycles with a single statement? • when you should stop writing and pick up the phone to talk instead • How much information is too much? Rob Ashton is a writer, editor, and a former research scientist (a molecular biology researcher who helped develop the first tests for HIV). For the last six years, he's been on a quest to discover the science of how the words we read and write affect what we think and do. His experience includes 24 years advising some of the biggest names in commerce, such as Google, as well as working with national governments, charities and even the Royal Household at Buckingham Palace, all in an effort to help their people communicate more effectively in writing. He calls writing ‘the invisible medium'. And he believes much of the misunderstanding in the world stems from our increasing reliance on our keyboards and phone screens to ‘talk' to each other. But he says it's always frustrated him that so much of the communication advice on the web and pushed by consultants is based on a mixture of pseudoscience, hearsay and wishful thinking. Read more at: robashton.com/influence

Unlimited Business Wisdom Ep #113 With Rob Ashton

Coworkers come in all shapes, sizes and ages. How do we bridge the gap? Is it really a gap or is something deeper at play? It's not easy getting on with everyone at the best of times, let alone during a pandemic. While some are parachuting out, others are struggling to learn new technologies and skills…others are being replaced. On this episode of Mouthwash, we're talking about you, your coworkers and we're going in for some hard truths…ABOUT ELIZA (@drelizafilby)Dr Eliza Filby is a writer, speaker and consultant who specialises in ‘Generational Intelligence' helping companies and services understand generational shifts within politics, society and the workplace. Eliza has worked with a variety of organizations from VICE media to Warner Brothers, from the UK's Ministry of Defence to the Royal Household, with banks such as HSBC, Barclays, BYMellon in Canada and Macquarie in Australia. She has spoken at the EU's Human Rights Forum on teenagers and technology; the Financial Times CEO forum on the future of work and to the UK's House of Lord's Select Committee on intergenerational unfairness. Find out more about Eliza here. SPONSOR: Season 4 of Mouthwash is proudly sponsored by Workplace from Meta. To make your place of work a great place to work, visit workplace.com/human Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today's show, we have Royal Expert, Commentator, and founder of The Monarchists (Themonarchists.com) Thomas J. Mace-Archer-Mills. He's the visionary creator of EIIR: The Platinum Record, a Jubilee Anthem, that was released on the Queen's 96th Birthday (4/21/22), honoring Her Majesty for her unprecedented 70-year reign. Thomas will be speaking about this and all things The Royal Family.      Thomas is the Founder, Visionary, and Director of the British Monarchists Society, President of the Centre for British Royal Studies, Editor-in-Chief of Crown & Country Magazine, creator of Crown & Country Radio, a Freeman of the City of London and a member of the Order of St. Thomas of Acon. In addition to the aforementioned, Thomas runs his own consultancy group. As a Royal Consultant for Protocol to the Princely House of Their Highnesses, Prince Waldermar, Princess Antonia, and Prince Mario-Max of Schaumburg-Lippe (a branch of Europe's oldest Royal family going back to the Viking Kings and the Royal Household of Denmark since 936. His Highness Prince Waldermar of Schaumburg-Lippe is in the line of succession to the British throne), Thomas further works with other international companies, businesses and Royal households. Mace-Archer-Mills has further carried out consultancy duties for, and not limited to, the Serbian Royal family on a series of occasions, most notably the 2017 Royal wedding of Prince Philip of Serbia.  Professionally, Thomas is a Consultant, Royal historian, award-winning author, media personality, and educational speaker. Thomas has been a radio presenter for London's W!zard Radio, which is broadcast internationally to over 15 countries, where he had several different shows and themes over five years. Thomas' last show was dedicated to helping the youth of the world overcome issues, challenges and negativity which face the daily lives of his listeners on “Therapy with Thomas Mills”. Thomas addressed the Annual General Meeting of the Australian Monarchist League in Sydney during the Summer of 2015 to thousands of members and has just recently lectured for Model Westminster and the Young Adults Forum in Parliament in February of 2017. In April of 2017, Thomas undertook a tour of America where he opened the Royal Society of St George – California Branch, completed several meet and greets and further attended events and book signings for his new release: “Their Majesties' Mixers – when they reign, they pour”, which has since won the Gourmand Award. In 2019 Thomas created the internet-based radio station, Crown & Country Radio" and continues to broadcast on his own specially themed shows. ​Thomas is well versed in the International Business Auditorium as well as Royal history, with degrees and certificates from American and European universities in History, International Political Economy, International Business Administration, International Relations, Humanities and Political Science. In honor of Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee in 2012, Thomas penned his first book with permission of the Palace, to which he was granted the use of the official Diamond Jubilee Logo. “To The Queen: A Royal Drinkology” sold 5,000 copies in the months following the central Jubilee weekend. Over the past decade, Thomas has worked (and still works) tirelessly on behalf of Crown and Country, building the British Monarchist Society and Foundation, which has become the leading organization for not only British, but international Monarchists which he funded himself. He has worked hard to incorporate like-minded people to be a part of this much-revered society within the United Kingdom, in which cumulatively, under Thomas' direction, brings British traditions to the next level. Thomas has been busy perfecting and readying his team to organize and carry out international celebrations for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor for the Platinum Jubilee in 2022. Thomas and the BMS hosted several events for The Diamond Jubilee in 2012, The Diamond Anniversary of the Coronation, the births of Prince George and Princess Charlotte and the celebration of the longest reign: when The Queen's reign exceeded that of Queen Victoria on September 9, 2015. This is an exciting and challenging time for Thomas and his team, and it is with great commitment, energy and foresight that he is looking forward to producing an educational celebration within his latest project, “Crown and Country Magazine” that will leave a lasting legacy for future generations of Britons. In his spare time (which is very limited), Thomas enjoys traveling, horseback riding, the arts, theatre, music, fine dining, reading and writing. In addition to all this, we'll hear a piece from his Jubilee Anthem on today's show.  To keep up with all that Thomas is up to, follow him on the web at: Themonarchists.com Also on today's show, we have the founder of Rivermont Records, musicologist Bryan Wright, Ph.D. Rivermont Records was founded in 2003 to preserve and promote ragtime, jazz and 'hot dance' music. Wright's vision, with the label, is to respect the pioneers who created the music a century ago while supporting today's musicians.  With this, Rivermont Records is proud to announce the upcoming premiere release of 'One Step to Chicago', a 14-track album that features an all-star lineup of jazz music legends. Recorded in 1992 and then laid aside until now, the album is the product of legendary producer George Avakian.  The album features a who's who of notable jazz instrumentalists, including pianist/arranger Dick Hyman, clarinetists Kenny Davern and Dan Levinson, guitarists Marty Grosz and grammy-winning bass saxophonists Vince Giordano and nearly a dozen more. 'One Step to Chicago' is set to be released on July 15, 2022 in deluxe CD and vinyl packages. Additionally, we'll also hear 'Nobody's Sweetheart' from the album which dropped on 5.27.2022. To keep up with all that Bryan is up to, follow him on the web at: Rivermontrecords.com  Thank you for listening and follow the show on IG at: Thebigfatjoeyshow      

Getting correspondence from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth was a surprise. Being appointed to represent the Royal Household was a SHOCK ! But there's even more to the story ...

Queen Elizabeth will not attend the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey this week.People has reported the Queen's absence is not due to illness but comfort around travel as her majesty has been using a walking cane since October last year and has recently complained of mobility issues.In a statement issued by Buckingham Palace, it was revealed the monarch, who has recently recovered from Covid, will instead be represented by her son and heir, Prince Charles."After discussing the arrangements with the Royal Household, The Queen has asked The Prince of Wales to represent Her Majesty at the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on Monday,"The statement continued, "The Queen will continue with other planned engagements, including in-person audiences, in the week ahead."Prince Charles will be accompanied by his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall as well as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Queen's first cousin, Princess Alexandra.Unfortunately, after a Covid diagnosis, the Queen's cousin, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester will no longer attend.Commonwealth Day is celebrated every year and observed by millions of people in the Commonwealth including the Pacific, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Americas.Queen Elizabeth tested positive for Covid in late February and was said to experience "mild cold-like symptoms" as she continued with light duties.A statement released by Buckingham Palace said, "She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all the appropriate guidelines."Following the Queen's diagnosis, she returned to work, leading two video calls with ambassadors from Andorra and Chad.A photo was snapped showing the impeccably put together royal on screen talking to the ambassador of Andorra, Carles Jordana Madero, at Buckingham Palace, before engaging in discussions with Kedella Younous Hamidi from the Republic of Chad.

We know how important it is to be inspired by both big businesses and individuals, which is why we are excited to present Talking Leaders, a bi-monthly initiative from the AHDB which will see a series of inspirational speakers share their life experiences and deliver impactful stories to the AgriLeader community. In our December broadcast, we are delighted to have expert coach and consultant: Nick Davies to discuss Negotiation: How to Get the Result You Want  Nick is the author of ‘How to be Great at the Stuff You Hate: the straight-talking guide to persuading, selling & networking'. He is also a trainer of Communication Skills to Members of The Royal Household and a visiting Lecturer at University College Dublin Smurfit Business School, Dublin. He is also the co-founder and director of the training, coaching and consulting company https://tricres.com/ (Tricres Ltd.) Whilst his background is in field and retail sales (as well as being called to the Bar in November 1999) and briefly working as a lawyer) he has been a trainer and speaker since 2006. Over the years he has accumulated a wealth of experience, training and teaching lawyers, accountants, fund managers, senior managers & civil servants, from the exceptionally junior to the incredibly senior how to sell, persuade, close, speak, present, negotiate, network and develop business, either one-to-one or in large groups. Although the majority of this work has taken place in the U.K., he has been lucky enough to speak across the globe, including amazing places such as: Monaco, Antibes, The Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Singapore, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Wellington, Auckland West Virginia, Beijing & Southport. Nick performed stand-up for ten years and continues to deliver after-dinner speeches and host award ceremonies. Over the past few years he has worked and shared stages with a buffet of reasonably well-known people; including The Rt. Hon. Michael Portillo, Sir Digby Jones, Jenny Bond, Kate Adie, Roger Black MBE, Alan Hansen, and Alastair Campbell.

This week's episode is a topic you may not have realized you needed to learn way more about…modern etiquette! But this is NOT a stuffy table manners lecture about minding your P's and Q's. According to today's guest, etiquette expert Myka Meier, modern etiquette is about being kind, thoughtful and respectful, presenting your best self, and having the emotional intelligence and social skills to go anywhere with confidence. Sign us up!Myka has been coined the “Marie Kondo of etiquette”. She even trained in London under a member of The Royal Household of the Queen — YAS QUEEN!She started Beaumont Etiquette, which offers courses on etiquette that are super relevant to society today. She brings a fresh and modern perspective to manners, breaking down the stereotype that etiquette is stuffy or outdated. She co-founded The Plaza Hotel's Finishing Program, and is the author of the two best selling books: Modern Etiquette Made Easy and Business Etiquette Made Easy. Tune in as we answer all your Qs on:When should you bring a hostess giftAppropriate engagement, wedding and shower giftsHow to (politely) remind someone to pay you backWhen you should send a thank you noteHow to dress for weddings, funerals and job interviews.How to set a standard table settingHandling the bill on a first dateHow do you make a good first impression in a job interview or meetingWhere to sit in a boardroomHow to network and self-promote tastefullyThe 101 on business dining etiquetteWe hope this episode empowers you to walk into your next social situation feeling totally prepared and confident!For show notes and more adulting tips, visit:teachmehowtoadult.caSign up for our monthly adulting newsletter:teachmehowtoadult.ca/newsletter Follow us on the ‘gram:instagram.com/teachmehowtoadultpodcast Follow Myka:@mykameierBuy her books: Modern Etiquette Made Easy: A Five-Step Method to Mastering EtiquetteBusiness Etiquette Made Easy: The Essential Guide to Professional SuccessFollow Gillian:instagram.com/yunggillianaire/Follow Cailyn:instagram.com/cailynmichaan/

HAPPY SPANKSGIVING. I recall an old radio show that more or less shaped the basis of my way of thinking  Algorithms and fake fanbases. All you have to care about is yourself & those around you. Member of the Royal Household aren't all human. We talk androgyny and the symbol for medicine. Stephen Hawking warns humans to leave Earth. We check out and old commercial that blows me away. Was Floyd Mayweather's fight with Logan Paul a real fight? We check back up on a fat man from YouTube. We compare two pictures of people who were in the news because of tragedies. Actors? You decide. Are all celebrities IN on some grim secret or are those just the thoughts of lunatics? Our cringe music of the week segment this week is torn between two world record freestyle attempts. We check out the INVERSE of a toroidal field. We try to look into the Festival of Saturnalia. Finally, we check out a law enforcement video warning each other about sovereign citizens.  JOIN THE MINUS WORLD: buymeacoffee.com/TheWrongWarp If you live in the US & want a T-shirt, head over to TheWrongWarp.com/Tshirt Email the show: Ketsuban@TheWrongWarp.com Follow on Instagram @thewrongwarps  Follow on Twitter @TheWrongWarp Join our Facebook group, The Wrong Warp.  Check out The Blue Hues on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6nffJGtjWZwrssFzfpKLJU

Last week, Caroline Nokes, former minister, Conservative MP and the chair of the Women and Equalities Committee - accused the Prime Minister's father of groping her 18 years ago at a Conservative Party Conference. Stanley Johnson has so far declined to comment on the allegation, saying he has no recollection of it. Caroline talks to Emma. ‘The Drifters Girl' is a musical which tells the story of Faye Treadwell, one of the first Black women to manage a vocal group in the US. Singer and actor Beverley Knight plays Faye and joins Emma to discuss this remarkable woman. Peng Shuai is one of China's top tennis players, but there are global concerns over her safety after she accused the former Chinese vice-premier, Zhang Gaoli, of raping her in 2018. We talk to Cindy Yu Broadcast Editor at The Spectator. Have you ever been affected by persistent, unexplained pain in your vulva? Vulvodynia is a chronic condition that is thought to affect up to 16% of women. Emma is joined by Claudia Chisari, a PHD researcher in Vulvodynia at King's College London and Sheren Gaulbert, who suffered from Vulvodynia for 10 years. Joan Rhodes could bend steel bars , lift two men at a time, and rip phone books apart. Often described in the press as the strongest woman in the world, she became friends with Marlene Dietrich and even performed for the Royal Household at their Annual Christmas bash. Triona Holden got to know her before she died, and has written her biography ‘An Iron Girl in a Velvet Glove: The Life of Joan Rhodes. Presenter: Emma Barnett Producer: Lucinda Montefiore Photo credit of Beverley Knight: @Johan Persson

Sir Marcus Setchell, Knight Commander of the Victorian Order, is a leading obstetrician and gynaecologist and the former Surgeon-Gynaecologist to HM The Queen & Royal Household. He attended Lady Louise Windsor at Frimley Park Hospital, the first royal child to be delivered at an NHS hospital. In July 2013, he led the team at the birth of Prince George of Cambridge at the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital in Paddington. Since retiring Sir Marcus has been an important advocate for women's health charities and the restoration of the Great Hall at St Barts Hospital. He was Guest of Honour at Felsted's 450th Anniversary Speech Day and is also former President of the Old Felstedian Society. Felsted School online Website: www.felsted.org Instagram: felsted_school Facebook: felstedschool Twitter: felstedschool LinkedIn: FelstedSchool 

In this episode of #TheSpeakerShow, Maria Franzoni interviews Javier Bajer who helps organisations move from ‘talking about culture' into living new behaviours every day, at scale and in just a few months (without the need of actually ‘talking about culture'). His team has influenced many of the world's largest cultures.  From Swiss Re to Accenture, from Google to Airbnb and from the largest mine in Mozambique to The Royal Household in the UK. He is the Chief Editor of Emerald's Strategic HR Review and a visiting Professor at three international Business Schools. In this fascinating episode, we discuss a range of his views on issues including: Cultural Architecture Designing Culture Culture Changing City Cultures Changing Organisational Cultures Links: More about Javier Bajer More about Speakers Associates Connect with Speakers Associates on LinkedIn Connect with Maria on LinkedIn To book any of the speakers featured on the Speaker Show podcast, click here Listen here: Libsyn  iTunes  Google Play Spotify  

Scholars know that Shakespeare's Twelfth Night was performed at court. But what does that mean?  In today's episode, we're diving into what producing a play at court looked like for Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as how performing at court influenced characters and themes of plays like Twelfth Night.  Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Korey Leigh Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com   Works referenced: Bergeron, David M. “Court Masques about Stuart London.” Studies in Philology, vol. 113, no. 4, 2016, pp. 822–849. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44329617. Accessed 18 June 2021. Henslowe, Philip. The diary of Philip Henslowe, from 1591 to 1609. Printed from the original manuscript preserved at Dulwich college. London, Shakespeare Society, 1845. Hirrel, Michael J. “Duration of Performances and Lengths of Plays: How Shall We Beguile the Lazy Time?” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 61, no. 2, 2010, pp. 159–182. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40731154. Accessed 23 May 2021. Lucy Munro. “Actors, Plays and Performances in the Indoor Playhouses, 1625–42: Boy Players, Leading Men and the Caroline Ensemble.” The Yearbook of English Studies, vol. 44, 2014, pp. 51–68. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5699/yearenglstud.44.2014.0051. Accessed 18 June 2021. RANKIN, MARK. “Henry VIII, Shakespeare, and the Jacobean Royal Court.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 51, no. 2, 2011, pp. 349–366. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23028079. Accessed 24 May 2021. Streitberger, W. R. “Chambers on the Revels Office and Elizabethan Theater History.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 59, no. 2, 2008, pp. 185–209. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40210263. Accessed 23 May 2021. “The Royal Household and Its Revels.” Music in Elizabethan Court Politics, by Katherine Butler, NED - New edition ed., Boydell & Brewer, Woodbridge, Suffolk; Rochester, NY, 2015, pp. 76–104. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.7722/j.ctt7zst07.10. Accessed 23 May 2021. Vanhoutte, Jacqueline. Age in Love: Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Court, University of Nebraska Press, 2019, pp. 1–32 & 121-158.

Prince William recently discussed his love for Scotland by revealing Scotland is at the heart of some of his happiest and bleakest memories. In this conversation, Grant looks back discusses the moments around these memories. Grant was a former butler to HRH The Prince of Wales and while employed in The Royal Household of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, Grant did work at Balmoral on numerous occasions.

Balmoral Castle has been the home of the British Royal family since 1852. During his time with The Royal Household, Grant visited this castle and estate on many occasions as well as visiting the castle as a child with his parents and brother. Grant shares his memories and experiences at Balmoral.

The 19th May 2021 marks the 3rd wedding anniversary of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Grant shares his memories from that day, and what went on behind the scenes, as he was invited as a guest to this Royal Wedding. Grant was a former butler to HRH Prince Harry while employed in The Royal Household of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall.

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is  Kelly Molson, MD of Rubber Cheese.Download our free ebook The Ultimate Guide to Doubling Your Visitor NumbersIf you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcastIf you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this episode.Competition ends August  27th 2021. The winner will be contacted via Twitter. Show references:https://www.stephenspencerassociates.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/customerexperiencespecialist/ Stephen Spencer + Associates is a collaborative consulting and training organisation with a simple purpose: to help you extract maximum value from your customers' experience of you. Transcription:Kelly Molson: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in, or working with, visitor attractions. I'm your host, Kelly Molson. Each episode I speak with industry experts from the attractions world. In today's episode, I speak with Stephen Spencer, Founder of Stephen Spencer + Associates, a collaborative consulting and training organisation. We discuss why customer experience is so important right now, how to maximize interactions to drive value, and what attractions can do to foster a more innovative culture. If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on all the usual channels by searching, "Skip the Queue".Kelly Molson: Stephen, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today, it's really lovely to see you again.Stephen Spencer: It's an honour and a pleasure, thanks very much, Kelly. Kelly Molson: So many people have recommended that we speak to each other. But, as ever, this podcast, we're going to go straight into our icebreaker questions. So, I would like to know, what is the worst job that you have ever had?Stephen Spencer: Oh, that's easy. One Easter, when I was a student, I worked for an employment agency, so it's a different job every day. And, the worst job was cleaning out the undercarriage of a private jet that belonged to an Arab Sheik. There's a bunch of us put in a van, we had to wear so much protective clothing, and visors, and things over our heads, that you literally couldn't see, and then you had high-pressure hoses. And, you could just glimpse the luxury within the jet through the open door, but we were underneath just spraying out the oil, and grease, and dirt, and god knows what else. It was a horrendous, horrendous day. I sort of thought, "My life is over before it's begun. If this is how I'm going to spend my life..."Kelly Molson: You were so close to the luxury, you could almost touch it.Stephen Spencer: It was. You could see it was all very beautifully, ornately designed, in keeping with the culture inside. But, underneath it was just a regular old, filthy old bit of kit. Kelly Molson: I feel like that sums us all up, right? Inside, we're all just regular, normal, filthy old people. Stephen Spencer: Well, you speak for yourself. I thought we were all looking up to the stars. "We're all in the gutter, but some of us are looking up to the stars." That's the quote, isn't it?Kelly Molson: Maybe, I'm trying to keep real, Stephen. I've gone a bit retro with this one, so I'm hoping that you remember this program. Do you remember a program called Stars in Their Eyes? Stephen Spencer: I do.Kelly Molson: Excellent. Okay. So, let's go back. If Stars in Their Eyes was a thing now, who would you perform as?Stephen Spencer: Oh, it's easy, Elvis. Absolutely. Elvis is my go-to for karaoke. Funnily enough, I've been a massive fan of Elvis since the day he died, because he wasn't obviously relevant in 1977, but the day he died I spent the whole day playing all his music. I just got absolutely hooked. And years later, there's an attractions connection here, I got to meet and work with a heroine of mine, the late Debo, Duchess of Devonshire, at Chatsworth. I discovered that she was a massive Elvis fan. And, what I didn't know, but later read in her autobiography, was that she too became a fan the day he died, because she saw all the programs and heard all the music. Anyway, yes. No contest, I would be Elvis.Kelly Molson: What song? You said he's your karaoke go-to, what's your karaoke song?Stephen Spencer: Funnily enough, it's a song that he did I think very well, but not originally his song, it's My Way. Which, kind of also is my personal theme tune. Kelly Molson: I love this.Stephen Spencer: I never do things anybody else's way, it's always my way. But, not in a command and control way, just, "This is my way, and if it facilitates stuff, that's great, if you don't like it, there are lots of other people who will do it your way.Kelly Molson: Excellent answers, I'm enjoying this very much. Let's move on. I would like to know what your unpopular opinion is.Stephen Spencer: Well, I think my unpopular opinion is that Line of Duty is increasingly disappearing up its own fundament.Kelly Molson: Oh, gosh.Stephen Spencer: ... Or should we say, that Jed Mercurio has believed his own hype. The last series was a sort of ragbag of references to the previous series, a completely flimsy plot. I'm not just saying the ending was disappointing because it was, spoiler alert...Kelly Molson: You can't do that, what if no one's... Stephen Spencer: I said spoiler alert, people could have switched off at that point. The thing that got me slightly suspicious of Jed Mercurio was The Bodyguard, that one-off series that he did. Where, we were expected to believe that a man wearing an explosive vest would be allowed to walk from one end of London to the other to go and visit his wife and children, rather than being taken out before he could put the entire population of Central London at risk. I just thought, "This is ridiculous." So, I spent part of lockdown watching all the previous series of Line of Duty, and the early ones, absolutely brilliant. Stephen Spencer: But I tell you a series that's better than Line of Duty, and that's Spooks. There was never a bad episode of Spooks. I think it was nine series, we watched about 100 episodes, and there wasn't a single bad episode. And also, they constantly refreshed the central characters. Whereas we all love Ted, obviously...Kelly Molson: Who doesn't?Stephen Spencer: ... And Kate, and Steve, it is inconceivable that that man would still be in that job, considering everything that he's, for the best of intentions, done and got himself mixed up in. It's ridiculous. Kelly Molson: Oh my gosh, Stephen.Stephen Spencer: I'm sorry if that's an unpopular opinion.Kelly Molson: I think it is an unpopular opinion.Stephen Spencer: Now we can nearly go back to the pub, or we can go back and sit outside, we need to keep ourselves warm, there's no point in everyone just sitting around saying, "Did you see Line of Duty, it was really good wasn't it?" No, let's actually be real here.Kelly Molson: I think this is really going to split our listeners. I do know that there was a lot of people that were really unhappy about the ending. And, if I'm completely honest, I was one of them. However, I have loved every single minute of Line of Duty. And, I did love the final season, if it is the final season, we're not quite sure.Stephen Spencer: I don't think it will be. Clearly, if they want to do another series, there's more to uncover. Maybe they shouldn't bring it back. Unfortunately, it's a bit like what happened to Doctor Who, which was amazing when it was rebooted with Chris Eccleston. I'm not talking about the latest incarnation of the Doctor, I'm all for that, but it's just the fact that the writing got more and more self-indulgent. And, if you're writing Doctor Who and it's unbelievable, you really should take a look at yourself, I would suggest. Kelly Molson: Okay, let's move on. So, Stephen Spencer + Associates, it's a collaborative consulting and training organisation. You've got a simple purpose, and that is, "To help extract maximum value from your customers' experience of you." A few topics that I really want to cover today, but let's start with the biggest one which is, why is customer experience so important right now?Stephen Spencer: I think right now, clearly, it is really important because it has changed so much, and the changes are going to be with us for the foreseeable future. We've had this dramatic, probably five years of accelerated adoption of online and, as we're doing now, remote meetings and so on, people shopping from home, in a year or less. So, straightaway, businesses don't have that personal contact with customers that previously they could have actually exploited or at least known what was going on. Stephen Spencer: Secondly, there's still going to be an element of public health and social distancing, people are going to be nervous. There's going to be a need for businesses to continue to demonstrate that they're providing a safe, healthy environment for customers, which risks creating an experience that's compromised. Stephen Spencer: And thirdly, I think, for the foreseeable future, there's probably going to be less customers around. There may well be fewer staff serving them. And, there's probably going to be less money in the system as well. For many attractions, obviously, the international market is going to take, quite possibly, two to three years, if not longer, to recover. That's what all the predictions say. So, it means we've got to do more with less. So, fundamentally, how do we focus in on every customer's experience, and maximize every interaction so that we get maximum value out of it, both for the customer and for the business?Kelly Molson: Maximizing interactions. And, I guess, it's understanding what elements of the experience drives the most value. How do attractions do this at the moment? What are the steps that they need to go through to look at how they can make that happen? Stephen Spencer: Well, I think something that could be done a lot better in many attractions, and I've worked in many attractions and with many attractions, is a much more joined-up approach between marketing and operations, and possibly finance and strategy as well. The challenge with being a Customer Experience Consultant is a lot of what you're saying, sounds like stating the bleeding obvious. But, the reason you have to state it is because it passes a lot of organisations by, for all sorts of reasons, good and not so good. But, really, really understanding who are your customers, breaking them down into recognisable subsets.Stephen Spencer: I'm a great believer in developing customer personas. And, one of my favourite ways to do this working with organisations is, "If this group, or this couple, or this individual was a celebrity, or a band, or a team, or a character in a soap, who would they be?" You find as soon as they've identified that person, then they can really start to put layer, and layer and a layer of, "How would we treat this person? What would this person want from us? What kind of communication would they appreciate? What would make them go, "Wow"?" Stephen Spencer: And, I think what often happens is, the marketing focus tends to be on idealised segments, and the reality on the ground is real people. What really works is when marketing gets out there, and gets stuck in, and talks to the customers, and sees who's coming in, and there's a complete consistency between strategy and execution. Because, at the end of the day, whatever you do, the most powerful thing you can do for a customer is speaking to them and treat them the way they would want to be treated. And, the only way you can do that is if you are able to look and listen, and observe, and take that time to engage, and, again, keep listening, and give that customer the response they're looking for. Stephen Spencer: You see it time and time again, the most high-tech attractions, attractions that have incredible properties, whether it's heritage properties or brands brought to life in amazing ways, it's still the human interaction that's the most powerful thing. So, understanding, which is important also, to give your team the confidence to talk to customers in the right way, understanding who they are, is fundamental for me, and that being consistent through the whole organisation. Kelly Molson: How does that change? We're recording this, it's the 11th of May today, so next week, the 17th, most indoor attractions will be able to open. We're still looking at capped capacity, we're still looking at a reduction in operation staff, probably front of house staff, for attractions. How do you look to monitor that now? And, how does that change as restrictions start to get relaxed and you get more, and more, and more people through the doors? How does that process change? What can people do? Stephen Spencer: I think, given what I've said, the most important thing you can do is to maximize your customer's every interaction. Many people know this, some people won't know this, in customer journey mapping, which is the classic way to think about your customer's experience, you identify all the touchpoints, so all the interactions between the customer and the attraction. Obviously, starting with before they ever visit, so advertising, or the website, or review sites, whatever it is. And, you map all those touchpoints. Then, you identify, what we call, the moments of truth, which are the real make or break touchpoints. So, the points at which you could really deliver on the value proposition or not. Stephen Spencer: By doing that, and then matching that customer journey to those customer profiles, you can start to say, "Right"... I think, for example, the work that people like BVA BDRC and Decision House have been doing, in terms of sentiment research, really plays into this as well. Because, they've identified some COVID personas, in terms of where people are at, in terms of their willingness to go back, their nervousness, or confidence about interacting again. So, you build all this in. Stephen Spencer: So, what I'm saying is, bring your team together and say, "Let us work through the experience that we're going to give to our visitors when they come back when we're able to reopen. I hope that attractions have already been thinking about how they add something extra, really make visitors feel, not just welcomed back, but that there's something extra special that's been laid on to welcome them back. And again, that doesn't have to be something very expensive, it doesn't have to be something high-tech, but it just has to be something that is appropriate to the brand and relevant to the customer. Bearing in mind, obviously that we're talking, for most attractions for the foreseeable future, it's the local/staycation market, rather than international. So again, just a great opportunity to say to the team, "Everything's changed. Everything's new. Isn't it exciting? We're opening up again, maybe we've done some work behind the scenes, a new exhibition, new information that we've had the chance to research about our site that we can share. Whatever it is. Let's now plan the reopening or the next stage of reopening, almost as if we're planning a family Christmas or a celebration. And, think what we can do." Just get everybody involved, and everybody shares the excitement. Stephen Spencer: We know that there are challenges for teams coming back who've been maybe furloughed, or new staff being recruited in a lot of cases as well who have never had the experience of working at the attraction before. And now suddenly We're reopening, it's a big deal. But, some of us weren't here before, some of us are nervous about being back. It's all a bit strange. Some of us have been here the whole time and we're knackered. So actually, that is another reason to bring people together, not just for, what I call, pre-opening training, which is almost like going through the motions, but to make it really, really special.Stephen Spencer: We've been recently working with a museum that actually was closed already before the pandemic for a major refurbishment, and also rebrands, and a repositioning of the museum. And, we created, first of all, with a workshop that we ran for all teams across all departments, a fact-finding workshop. And then, translating that into pre-opening training that was much more about exactly what I've been talking about, "What are we going to do? How do we take this great new shiny vision that we've got and turn it into customer interactions? Who are our customers? What do we know about them? What do we need to do? What would we do if it was our granny, or our brother, or our friend coming, what would we do?" And, just turning it into a mission that is translatable to everybody's role and everybody's capabilities.Kelly Molson: I love that idea, that you position it as a real celebratory event. It's such a nice way of looking at it. And, what does that mean to people? Like you say, for attractions, you've got such a different range of people that will visit, what does that celebration mean to them? How do you apply it to that individual person? I think that's such a nice way of framing it. Also, one of the things that attractions have been really good at as they've been talking about reopening and that process of how they do that, is most attractions haven't been talking about reopening and going back to normal. They've actually been embracing the idea that they don't have to go back and do the things that they used to do, they can embrace something different. And, like you say, they might have a new attraction, they might have a new collection, they might have something new that they've got to celebrate. But, even if you don't, you still can improve that customer experience by shifting the way that you do things. Kelly Molson: And, that's the next thing that I want to talk about. How do attractions reimagine what they've been doing and be a bit more innovative moving forward from being able to open again?Stephen Spencer: For just the reasons that you said, I've always been slightly wary of the expression, "Build back better" because, superficially, great. But actually, I think it implies that we're trying to get back to what we were doing before but just a little bit better. Well, I don't know about you, but before the pandemic and before I knew there was going to be a pandemic, I had this feeling, and I think a lot of people did, that we couldn't go on the way we were going. Whether it was overtourism, obviously there was a lot of inequality and division in the world, we were literally on course to destroy the planet. And, it just felt like this isn't great. And then, we had that period of reflection in the first lockdown when if you had a garden, if you had access to green space, you had time on your hands, it was just wonderful to be able to reflect on, "Wouldn't it be great actually if the birds every year we're able to be born into a world that was that much cleaner? Or if the canals in Venice, bring it back to tourism, ran clear all the time, rather than views of Venice being dominated by these enormous ships?"Stephen Spencer: So, I've really tried to talk about building forward better, because I think it is about this process of true innovation, which is actually creating something new and different. So, to do that I think you have to be really, really clear on, what is your purpose? What is your reason for being? What is your vision? Organisations and consultants use smoke and mirrors to talk about purpose, and mission, and vision. But, when I talk about mission, I'm really referring to why we're in business, what we're trying to achieve. It's different for the public sector, and private sector, and third sector organisations. For the private sector, it may be about share price, or it may even be about selling the business at some point in the future. For museums and charities, it's about a very long-term project.Stephen Spencer: And then, vision, I say, "Why is that of interest to the customer, the visitor, the person that you're aiming that experience at?" And, within purpose is also values, and I think it's a great time to revisit mission vision values and say, "This is what we believe. This is the difference that we want to make in the world. Now, how do we go about it?" An example of that, back in 2012 I was helping to launch the Emirates Air Line cable car, in the run-up to the London Olympics and Paralympics. It had a very complex structure because it was ultimately owned by Transport for London, TFL, and then Docklands Light Railway, DLR, and then it was operated by the cable car company Doppelmayr. The front of house team was Continuum, which I was working for. The sponsor was Emirates. There was a security company and a cleaning company. I think there were about eight different stakeholders. Stephen Spencer: And, we had to design what the passenger experience would look like. And, we created, what we call, a passenger charter, which is basically everything you need to know as a new employee, and they're all new employees, and they're all coming from Newham in Greenwich. Most of the recruitment had already happened in Newham in Greenwich for the Olympics. So, we were sort of hoovering up what was left in a way. And, I mean that actually very positively, because what we got was a whole load of people who'd never worked in customer-facing roles before. Some of them had really interesting and quite often harrowing backstories about how they came to even be in London. And, there were 40 ethnic backgrounds across 100 initial recruits. And then, as I say, all these different brands. Stephen Spencer: So, how did you bring it all together? We came up with the very simple, what we called our vision statement, "Inspiring Journeys", and so everything had to be measured against inspiring journeys. So, the uniforms, they looked, rather than TFL uniforms, they looked like airline uniforms. But, when it came down to more mundane things like selling a ticket, issuing a refund, handling a lost property inquiry, we did not use the TFL standard procedures, which were, to put it mildly, bureaucratic and not very customer-friendly, because it wasn't inspiring journeys. We talked earlier about pre-opening training, when we ran pre-opening training on the passenger experience and presented each of the new recruits with their passenger charter, they were whopping, and cheering, and yelling, and stamping their feet at the end of these workshops. I've never had a reaction like it.Stephen Spencer: I had people asking me to autograph the charter for them because they felt it was such a special thing that they were doing. And within three months... Bearing in mind, we opened literally... It was such a steep learning curve. We had 30,000 passengers a day, almost from week two. We were moving ropes and stanchions around. I had to move 1000 people while they were all standing in these ropes and stanchions because it wasn't working, the queuing system. Again, that goes back to every interaction. You don't just look at a load of cattle in a pen and say, "Okay, that's the guest." You think about, "Hmm, the way they're queuing, it's not right, it's not working." The end of that story is that we came top of the TFL passenger survey for London within three months. From a standing start, never had a cable car before, these people had never worked in customer-facing roles before, but they all got what we were trying to deliver.Stephen Spencer: So, for attractions, obviously, not everyone can open a cable car, but you can go back to, "What is your essence?" This museum I was talking about earlier, they were founded in the 19th century and had quite a set offering, and they have re-imagined it for the 21st century in a way that makes it accessible to everybody. It's totally accessible. There's no one who can't actually find an angle for this to be relevant to them. So, I think it starts with that. We've created, not just for COVID, but for the long term, what we call our innovation toolkit, which facilitates this process. And, the middle part of the process is the fun part, because it's the brainstorming, it's the innovation facilitation. Where we say, "You've clarified your purpose. You've clarified your vision. You've also identified your assets. Because you've got some challenges, you've got some burning issues you have to deal with, whether it's financial or other issues that you have to deal with right now because otherwise, you'll be out of business. But, beyond that, you've identified what are your core assets. Now, we need to think about who are the potential audiences for those assets. And, of course, some of them, who were there before, are not there for the foreseeable future, or they've changed. So, we look at trends as well as segments. Stephen Spencer: Then, we look at all the different business models, all the different revenue models that you could... It doesn't have to be purely revenue, but because we're very much about sustainability and recovery, I think it's important that we identify every revenue opportunity. And we say, "If you take your asset where you're particularly strong, and you apply it to these audiences where it really resonates, and you've got these potential business models that you could..." I'm talking for attractions, it could be anything from a virtual curator tour to a new family play area, to a new petting zoo, it could be anything. Virtual, physical, or a combination of the two. Stephen Spencer: And then, you do some evaluation based on effort vs reward. There's a simple matrix that just allows you to prioritise your long list down to a shortlist, and now you can start to work out, "Which of those ideas can we turn into reality?" Some of them we can probably do very quickly, some of them are medium-term, others are longer-term aspirations. But, what should come out of that is something completely new. Because, you didn't start with, "This is what we do now, how can we make it a bit better?" You started with, "Why do we exist? We don't exist in a vacuum, so for whom does that matter? And what could we do?"Kelly Molson: One of the things that you talked about earlier was about getting the whole team involved, from marketing to operations, to front of house, in that whole customer experience journey. How do you do that from an innovation perspective? What can attractions do to foster a more innovative culture within their organisation so that people feel that they're part of that process, they can input to it? Stephen Spencer: I think one of the exciting things that definitely happened in the last year was that organisations had to become less siloed. Kelly Molson: Definitely.Stephen Spencer: You see lots and lots of organisations for all sorts of reasons, some of it historical over very long periods of years, but others quite new. When we had the cable car, we found that there was a different culture on the north side to the south side. The team members started saying, "Can we work on the south side today?" And when you probed and said, "Why?", "Oh, it's like being on holiday over there, it's lovely." And, part of the reason was because the management team was on the north side, so there was a bit more scrutiny, a bit more structure. And, we were like, "Crikey", that shows how quickly culture forms because that was within three months that happened. Stephen Spencer: So, not being siloed is a really difficult thing. But, because of COVID, so many organisations had to think across all departments, across all of those touchpoints, because they had to plan safe and also viable visitor experiences, visitor journeys. I think it's really important to keep that going. It's really important that departments all work together. The organisation and it surprises people when I say this, that I've worked in that was the least siloed was actually The Royal Collection. I'm very old, so I was lucky enough, one of the perks of age, to be around when Buckingham Palace first opened to the public, so I got to do the shop. We had a single mission at that time, which was to raise £37 million to restore Windsor Castle after the fire of 1992. I realise for many of your listeners it will be a revelation that Windsor burned in 1992 because they probably weren't even born, but look it up in the history books, it happened. And, it was really important that we raised this money, because the Government had tried initially to say the Government would pay, and there'd been a public outcry, and so it was declared that the Royal Household would raise the money itself. And so, opening Buckingham Palace to the public was one of the ways that it did this. Stephen Spencer: What I found was, we worked in an office where it didn't matter which department you were in, curators, curatorial people, marketing, commercial people, we were quite a small team, but we literally worked all cheek by jowl. So, you could pop into the office of the keeper of Queen's pictures and say, "I want to crop this picture to put on a range of stationery. I can't quite decide which bit to crop." In a lot of organisations, I know the curator would say, "You can't crop it. Don't put it on a range of stationery, it's not appropriate." Whereas, in an organisation where you might think that would be the reaction, it would just, "Yeah, I'd take that bit, because that's really fun if you do that. Look at the expression on that woman's face, that will really capture people." They loved helping. Stephen Spencer: Part of the reason was because we had a single objective, "We've got to raise £37 million, everything we do has to be commensurate with who we represent." Sorry, I always get a bit... It was such a powerful mission that we're all on. We didn't have big budgets. I was talking about the Duchess of Devonshire earlier, she was one of our trustees, and back before the current Queen's Gallery, the old Queen's Gallery was a real Heath Robinson affair. The shop was awful, it was a brightly lit Formica unit, harsh, totally unsuitable environment for what we were trying to do. Back in the day it turned over about £400,000 a year, even however bad it was. But, the Duchess kept saying, "This shop is a disgrace. It absolutely is a disgrace. Something needs to be done." We didn't have a big budget, but we had to do something because we had Debo on our case. So, we were given 25 grand, and it was about 1500 square feet of shop, and it needed everything doing, so it wasn't a lot of money.Stephen Spencer: We managed to get an off-cut of a carpet that was being woven as part of the restoration of the castle, which literally an off-cut carpeted the entire space. We borrowed some antique furniture. We found a fantastic designer called George Carter, who can make things look amazing with paint, and just great design, and great lighting. We transformed the shop, and the following year it took one and a half million pounds. The point was, we did not have a big budget. We had to use our ingenuity to find somebody who could do something on a very small budget, relative. We had to really translate what we thought a shop that was attached to Buckingham Palace should look and feel like, so that we could showcase products that people would want to buy. Because, they clearly couldn't get them anywhere else, and because they felt they were almost buying literally a product from the Royal Palace. That's what actually is important, that people are excited, people are emotionally stimulated. Stephen Spencer: On that customer journey, there is... Somebody I really admire called Colin Shaw, who is a bit of a guru of customer experience, and he talks about the peak and the end experience being the two most important for the overall creation of emotion and memory. And, of course, creating the right emotions, the right memories, is so important because so much now is dependent on word-of-mouth, and recommendation, and of course loyalty as well. So, the peak experience, if you go to The Tower of London, visiting the Crown Jewels. Is that a fantastic experience, or is it absolutely awful because you had to queue for an hour and there was no entertainment or cover, and it was raining, and you were shoved through, and everyone was rude to you, it just felt like it was a blur? Or, was that experience facilitated because there was entertainment for the queue, maybe Henry VII's jester was wandering up and down, and when you got inside you were allowed the time to interact with the exhibits, and you came out saying, "Wow, that was incredible"? Obviously, straight into the shop. Stephen Spencer: And then, the end experience, which of course for different attractions might mean different things. It might be the toilets. Really important, Duchess of Devonshire took us into her toilets, the gents toilets at The Orangery Restaurant at Chatsworth, to show us the mint and hand-painted tiles. And, told us, "The toilets are the most important part of the experience", and I've never forgotten that. But, it might be whether somebody says, "Thank you", or wishes you a safe journey, or crouches down to the children's level to talk to the children to find out what they thought of the experience. It's that that sends you off... We always talk about first impressions last, but last impressions are incredibly important. It's like when you have a lovely meal in a restaurant and you build up a rapport with the waiter or the waitress, and at the end, somebody else brings you a bill, and it's like, "Oh". It's like you're having dinner in a friends house and suddenly a complete stranger came to bring you your coats, and you didn't get to say goodbye to your friends. So, it's really powerful, but yet actually really quite simple. Stephen Spencer: Going back to what we started with, you go back to, "Who are my customers? What do they want? What's that emotional journey, as well as that physical journey? How well does it deliver on the brand promise, the value proposition? What are those memories that we're creating, and those emotions?"Kelly Molson: It feels like, from that story that you just shared as well, that the one thread that runs all the way through this, from all of the things that we've covered today, is about everybody in that team having one shared vision. Stephen Spencer: Yes.Kelly Molson: That everybody has that one shared vision. And, that is the core that runs through everything that you do from a customer experience.Stephen Spencer: Yeah. I was incredibly fortunate in my career to go and study at the Disney Institute. The Disney Institute, they don't currently, but they did run programs in the UK, and I know quite a few colleagues who've been on them. They weren't as good, because you weren't at Disney. Going to the Disney Institute is a totally immersive experience. But, the point is, the person in the laundry, the cleaner, it doesn't matter who you talk to, they have the same vision. And, that's how it always was from when Walt was around. They went through a wobble after Walt and then his brother Roy died. There's a really interesting book by Michael Eisner, who now runs Portsmouth Football Club, but he turned Disney around in the 90s about that. It is that idea that everyone has the same vision. Everyone knows and has the same vision of who the customers are. Everyone knows what we should be doing for them.Stephen Spencer: If you follow that up as far as possible with empowering people to do the right thing, which is probably a whole other podcast, that is very powerful too. Because, if people are on the same page they will know what is the right thing, and it's giving people confidence. We recommend teaching people storytelling techniques and communication techniques, as well as just teaching people about service standards. If you teach people that actually this is a skill, and it's a science, and it's an art... Going back to my earliest days in customer experience, we used to talk about French waiters and the fact that they have this immense pride in being a waiter. It's a profession, it's not a job that you just do while you wait for something better to come along. Stephen Spencer: So, if you can convince the people on the front line that they genuinely are as important... I go back to this museum that I was talking about earlier, that's their new approach, is that front of house and back of housework together. Back of house will regularly appear at the front line and talk to visitors. Is one team, because everyone's role is equally important. I don't know many organisations that really, really practice that. A few that might preach it. And, I'm not saying that it's not difficult to do, it's jolly difficult to do. It's jolly difficult, because if you're the leader of the organisation you have other pressures on you that quite often people out in the organisation don't know about or see. But, by the same token, I also learnt that delegation is just the greatest skill to learn, because the more you delegate, if you do it right, the more you empower people, the more you build them up, the more you develop them, the more you allow them to reach their full potential. And then, when the going gets tough, people don't stand back and say, "What are we doing now, Boss? What's your plan?" Everyone just instinctively gets stuck in. As we know, in visitor attractions, you never quite know what's going to happen from day to day. If everyone gets stuck in no matter what, it's more fun, it's definitely more productive, and it's definitely better for the customer. Kelly Molson: I think that's a very good note to end our podcast interview on.Stephen Spencer: I thought so, a little sound bite there.Kelly Molson: I've got one more question for you before you go, where can people find you? If they want to find out more about what you do and what you offer, where's the best place that they can find you?Stephen Spencer: Absolutely. The website is stephenspencerassociates.com. On social media, is Positive Stephen. On LinkedIn, we have a company page, and I'm on there as well. Do have a chat. We may have something specifically that we can offer, our Toolkit we're very excited about, and we'll be rolling that out over the next two to three months to show how it can work in different sectors. As you can tell, I just love talking about this stuff. So, if somebody just wants to have, let's say, a discussion about Line of Duty vs Spooks, then call me.Kelly Molson: Okay. If you want to do that, listeners, we will put all of Stephen's details in the show notes. So, if you missed the website address don't worry, just head to the show notes and they will all be there. Kelly Molson: We always end the podcast by asking if you have a book that you would recommend, so something that you love, or something that's helped shape your career in some way? Whatever you like. Stephen Spencer: Absolutely, I'll show it to you, although the listeners won't be able to see it. It's a book called The Pursuit of Wow! By Tom Peters. I didn't know who Tom Peters was, in 1997 I was very lucky to go on a five-star fam trip to Atlanta to find out about the merchandise mark there, and the facilities for retail buyers. But also, we were shown the very best of Atlanta from Martin Luther King's church, to the Jimmy Carter Library, to CNN, Coca-Cola. We had breakfast with Tom Peters. Stephen Spencer: For those who don't know, Tom Peters wrote the first business bestseller called In Search of Excellence, in 1982, which identified, "What are the traits that make companies successful over the long term?" They're still the traits that we would talk about today. Tom's still going strong. He blew me away with the power of his message and his delivery. It was very much about, We need to get back to, and he still talks about this today, people being the most important raison d'être for any organisation. The little things being the big things, so the details being the really crucial things that make or break experiences, make or break the business. He's passionate about women, as he says, "Women buy all the stuff, they make all the decisions, they're far better leaders than men." He's been saying that for about 30 years.Stephen Spencer: The Pursuit of Wow!, which is a book I went to buy when I'd heard him speak, I was just like, "Wow, I need to know more", is literally about how you can take any experience, however small, whatever size your budget, whatever sector you're in, and you can turn it into a, "Wow!" Experience. In other words, "Why should anyone be excited by this?" How many meetings have we sat in where we've planned things that, quite frankly, we're not excited about, so why should anybody else be excited about it? So, although it was written 20, 25 years ago, it is still my favourite book of Tom's. Stephen Spencer: His brand new book, which is just out, is called Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism, so you can tell he's still talking about the same things, and this is his post-COVID. He's 78 now. I've met him a couple of times, I've interacted with him on social media. And, I said to him, "I can no more believe that you're 78 than I can that Captain Kirk is 90." I got some smiley faces in response. Stephen Spencer: He's basically saying what I'm saying, which is it comes downs to customers interacting with people, and everything else is the luxury that you're afforded by either the fact that you have a site that is already set up, or you have big budgets. But, it will stand or fall on that human interaction. So, that's a message for everyone.Kelly Molson: Absolutely. I very much like the sound of Tom. Stephen Spencer: You'd love him, honestly, he's brilliant. Kelly Molson: I'm going to go and follow him.Stephen Spencer: Yes.Kelly Molson: Listeners, if you are interested in winning a copy of that book, as ever, if you head over to our Twitter account and you retweet this episode announcement with the words, "I want Stephen's book", then you will be in with a chance of winning it. Stephen, thank you so much for coming on today, I think this was an excellent discussion. I'm intrigued as to what the response will be for your unpopular opinion. Kelly Molson: I do hope that people take you up on your offer to have a chat, because I think that there's some really exciting concepts that you talk about there, and I think that they should be at the heart of what attractions are looking to do now they're reopening. So, thanks for coming on and sharing that.Stephen Spencer: An absolute pleasure, Kelly, thank you so much for having me.Kelly Molson: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five-star review, it really helps others find us. And, remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, rubbercheese.com/podcast. 

Why Prince William “threw Harry out” of Kensington Palace, the major takeaways from the KUWTK reunion and what's really going on between Chrissy Teigen and fashion designer Michael Costello. Plus, Nick Cannon poses for ANOTHER set of pregnancy pics and Kevin Hart opens up about a difficult conversation he had with his daughter following his 2017 cheating scandal. Then, ‘Army of the Dead' star Theo Rossi talks his vegan lifestyle and how he (and his kids!) are preparing for the zombie apocalypse. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Samantha Cohen is CEO of the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, the business network of the Commonwealth. Prior to this Sam served in the Royal Household for nearly two decades as Assistant and Deputy Private Secretary to Her Majesty The Queen, having held a previous role as Head of Royal Communications for The Queen's Household. After working on the delivery of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London in 2018, Sam served as Private Secretary to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan, for 18 months. Sam previously held positions with the Minister for Mining and Energy and the Minister for Indigenous Affairs in the Australian Government, the country of her birth. Sam currently also serves as Co-Chair of the climate change charity Cool Earth and is a Trustee of The Queen's Commonwealth Trust. In 2016, Samantha was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, which recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch. She is also a proud judge for the Women of the Future Programme awards. ------- For more details on how you can enter or nominate someone for the 'Kindness & Leadership 50 Leading Lights' list, part of the Women of the Future Programme, please visit: https://www.kindnessrules.co.uk For more information on the Women of the Future Programme and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk

This week's podcast has leadership and history at its core as themes. However we begin with Murdo Fraser who seems to have undergone a road to Damascus conversion with his proposal that Scotland should move to STV for Holyrood elections.Lesley was stunned to find herself agreeing with him but reckons he should be careful what he wishes for while admiring his sheer brassneckedness given his silence on First Past the Post for Westminster.Joanna Cherry and Douglas Chapman are the latest members of the SNP NEC to resign over matters of "transparency and scrutiny". Chris Hanlon has decided to hang on in there. We look at the background to this ongoing dispute and wonder whether staying or going is the better course of action. The Royals seem to have got it right in terms of their reaction to the Johnson proposal for a new royal (not) yacht but revelations concerning the Royal Household's exemption from equalities legislation, at their request, brings into sharp focus, once again, their position at the centre of the   anti-democratic nature of the British state.Joe Biden visited Tulsa to memorialise the hidden from history Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 signalling a fundamental shift,at least in domestic terms, of leadership in the USA.All this plus the usual meanderings.And no, it wasn't Roy Plomley whose catch phrase was "As the sun slowly sinks in the west".It was James A. FitzPatrick.

Serving as chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen isn't what you might expect. The story of Dr. Gavin Ashenden, one of Queen Elizabeth's former honorary chaplains, is likewise something that many people weren't expecting – perhaps most of all Dr. Ashenden himself, who ended-up converting to Catholicism after 35 years as an Anglican priest. This episode is the first segment in our two-part series with Dr. Ashenden. In Part 1, we discuss the fusion of religious and temporal authority within the Church of England, what it means to minister to the Queen, and how a Christian monarchy whose subjects (and members) seem increasingly uninterested in Christianity cannot long endure. 0:00 - Introduction3:15 - Honorary Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II - it's not at all what you think11:55 - Getting to know the Royal Household (and cocktail waitresses)15:35 - Two roles and one personality: Head of State, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and Elizabeth Windsor21:45 - Who cares for the soul of the Queen?24:25 - The next generations of the Royal Household30:10 - Anglican Church 101: A Church tamed by the StateIf you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting Crown and Crozier with a tax-deductible donation here:  DONATE  Documents/Websites referenced Dr. Gavin Ashenden@gavinashendenQueen Elizabeth IIChurch of EnglandHonorary Chaplain to the QueenRoyal Ecclesiastical HouseholdBattle of AgincourtHenry VIIIWars of the RosesPlease note that this podcast has been edited for length and clarity.Support the show (http://missionoftheredeemer.com/crownandcrozier/)

In this week's episode, Robbie chats to Iain Stephens, Senior Conservator - Restorer of Upholstery at The Royal Household With several degrees in subjects as diverse as Biochemistry and Inorganic Chemistry through to Biblical languages, Iain has worked in several countries and in a variety of roles but it's his enthusiasm and love of Upholstery which shines through in this episode. There are some great tips from Iain for anyone wanting to pursue a career in Upholstery, as well as a fascinating insight into what fuels Iain's passion and what he feels the challenges are in the trade today.

A Buckingham Palace statement on behalf of the Queen says issues will be addressed by the family privately.On the Sky News Daily podcast with Dermot Murnaghan we are joined by our royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills, US entertainment journalist KJ Matthews, PR expert Sven Hughes and Alexandra Messervy, a former employee in the Royal Household.Daily podcast team:Podcast producer - Annie JoycePodcast producer - Nicola EyersPodcast producer - Lauren PinkneyInterviews producer - Tatiana AldersonArchive - Simon WindsorArchive - Rob FellowesArchive - Nelly StefanovaMusic - Steven Wheeler

Buckingham Palace has today released a statement sharing their intent to investigate claims of bullying against the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, after the couple said they were victims of a "smear campaign".According to the Times, the complaint was made in October 2018 by communication secretary Jason Knauf who worked for the Sussexes.The complaint alleges Meghan drove two personal assistants out and was undermining the confidence of another staffer, the newspaper reported.The statement from Buckingham Palace said it was "clearly very concerned" about the allegations and that it does not tolerate this kind of alleged behaviour in the workplace.The statement read: "We are clearly very concerned about allegations in the Times following claims made by former staff of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex."Accordingly our HR team will look into the circumstances outlined in the article. Members of staff involved at the time, including those who have left the Household, will be invited to participate to see if lessons can be learned."The Royal Household has had a Dignity at Work policy in place for a number of years and does not and will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace."However, lawyers working for Harry and Meghan said the claims are based on "misleading and harmful misinformation".Meghan's spokesman said: "The duchess is saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma."She is determined to continue her work building compassion around the world and will keep striving to set an example for doing what is right and doing what is good."The report comes just days before Meghan and Harry's two-hour interview with Oprah Winfrey is due to be aired.In clips promoting the interview, Winfrey asks Meghan if she was "silent or silenced", with the duchess' answer not revealed.In response to a comment by the duchess, Winfrey asks: "Almost unsurvivable. Sounds like there was a breaking point?"Harry is seen saying of his mother, Diana, while holding Meghan's hand: "I'm just really relieved and happy to be sitting here, talking to you, with my wife by my side, because I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like for her [Diana], going through this process by herself, all those years ago."A PR expert has described the timing of the interview, with the Duke of Edinburgh currently unwell in hospital, as "horrendous".

You are not governed by this world's system because you've been born again from death into life! You've become a citizen of the Kingdom of God, a member of the Royal Household of Faith! It is your right and privilege to live in the fullness of the blessing.

The pandemic has forced thousands of Brits to overcome their fear of technology, to embrace this digital world and develop skills to stay connected, both on a personal and professional level. Gareth talks to Kerensa Jennings, BT Group Director of Digital Impact. They discuss her amazing career, working with the likes of legendary broadcasters like David Frost and David Attenborough through to the amazing work she is currently involved with at BT. Kerensa’s career path has been far from linear, holding various roles in the production of television news and documentary programmes, including writing “the Slug’ for the Big Breakfast. Five years within the Royal Household forming strategy and delivery for IDEA CIC award to inspire digital enterprise pre-empted her appointment to her current role. Kerensa and her team are on a mission to provide digital skill acquisition to the masses and upskill those seeking employment. Specific programmes targeted to primary school children, school leavers, small businesses provide the opportunity for users to develop a problem-solving mindset, a crucial skill in today’s rapid, ever-changing world, together with inspiring confidence and adaptability. Find out how Kerensa views the impact of AI and the irreversible technological legacy of Covid-19.

Barry and Angelos are back with more stories from their wonderful lives. Today, they provide a rare glimpse into the Royal Household. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Becoming an Upholsterer is probably not how you would picture a former Army Officer making a new career but that is exactly what Kirsty did. Since qualifying, her path has taken a few sharp but interesting turns, the latest resulting in her becoming part of the Royal Household looking after all things upholstery (with a brief spell making bar stools for 007 in between)!

In this episode, my guest, Myka Meier and I are discussing modern etiquette, how to create the best first impression, how to become the most loved guest at the party, main points for a first date etiquette, who should pay on a first date, cellphone etiquette, birthday gifts and thank you cards, resume and interview main etiquette points, etiquette for couples, etc. My Guest Myka Meier @mykameier is an American-British entrepreneur, etiquette coach, and author. She is the founder of Beaumont Etiquette and co-founder of the Plaza Hotel's Finishing Program. Meier has authored two books, Modern Etiquette Made Easy: A Five-Step Method to Mastering Etiquette and Business Etiquette Made Easy: The Essential Guide to Professional Success. Myka was trained in part by a former member of The Royal Household of Her Majesty the Queen, and has attended multiple finishing schools in both England and Switzerland. While all courses are based on Western (American, British and European fundamentals) etiquette and taught in English, the programs were created to be exciting, interactive and modern to reflect today’s global society. http://beaumontetiquette.com/plaza-hotel/ Your Host Olyasha Novozhylova - NotBasicBlonde @notbasicblonde_ NotBasicBlonde Podcast @nbbpodcast Olyasha Novozhylova is the founder and creator of Not Basic Blonde, a fashion, and lifestyle blog dedicated to inspiring young women to create an extraordinary style. The Russian model led an impressive 10-year career in fashion and runway in Atlanta and overseas, as well as enjoying several acting roles. Now a leading influencer, Olyasha shares her beauty, wellness, and fashion tips with an audience of over half a million. https://notbasicblonde.com/about/  

In which Brian, Jules and Sue discuss scoring in the cold, quiet empty stadiums, return to T20, penalty run changes, mascots, more covid measures, private grounds: The Royal Household and Follies Farm Chiddingfold, local rules, The Queen, another top tip for Umpires, smudges. Regular features: Brian's Location ExclusiveA Cake Catch-UpIn this week's interview Sue talks to David Kendix about regulations, stats, DLS and anti-corruptionTwitter: @cricketscorers1Email: cricketscorersuntallied@gmail.com

HM the King To Deliver Speech To Nation on 67th Anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People (Ministry of Royal House, Protocol and Chancellery) Rabat - On the occasion of the 67th anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People, HM King Mohammed VI will deliver, on Thursday evening, a speech to the Nation, a press release from the Ministry of the Royal Household, Protocol and Chancellery announced. One thousand five hundred and ten (1,510) new cases of infection with the coronavirus (Covid-19) and 574 recoveries have been recorded in Morocco in the last 24 hours, the ministry of Health announced on Wednesday. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/aziz-mustaphi/message

In 2014 Flight Lieutenant Nathan Jones was co-pilot on a routine military transit flight from the UK to Afghanistan when the flight suddenly plummeted over 4000 feet in a matter of seconds. Listen to our interview with Nathan to find out what happened and how he managed to prevent the death of the near-200 passengers on board. Trust us; you’ll want to hear this from the man himself. And while this is a clear moment of heroism in Nathan Jones’ career as an RAF pilot, it’s not the only story he has to tell. Jones is also an Invictus Games medalist and has recently spent his hours aloft flying some very VIPS indeed, the Royal Household. And of course, because this is OT: we know that Jones is a fan of watches - in fact, he’s a Bremont ambassador. On top of that, Jones reps Lululemon as well. But in some ways it’s Jones’ on-the-ground work he’s most passionate about, using his experiences to advocate for and educate around improving mental health and resilience. This episode is made possible by Muyshondt Electric Torches. SHOWNOTES: www.otpodcast.com.au/show-notes/s1e21 Declassified Podcast Nathan Jones on Instagram Muyshondt Flieger 1930 Iris Listen Well Lumie Light How to follow us: Instagram: @ot.podcast Facebook: @OTPodcastAU Follow hosts: @fkscholz + @andygreenlive on Instagram. Submit an application to our quasi-professional watch match making service, by email: otthepodcast@gmail.com If you liked our podcast - please remember to like/share and subscribe.

A born and bred hotelier, Edward Griffiths is a Commander of The Victorian Order, something he expands on in this wisdom packed podcast. Edward is in the business of delivering service excellence via his own successful consultancy His pedigree is impressive. After some formative years with the Roux Brothers, Edward was notably Deputy Master of The Royal Household for 14 years, working for Her Majesty The Queen. These days he is a Founding Trustee of The Gold Service Scholarship Award and holds a number of non-executive director roles at high profile hospitality companies including Searcy’s and Portico. He describes Buckingham Palace as a beacon of excellence for service within the hospitality sector “You are invited to a home, not a hotel” reveals Edward as he imparts some fascinating facts and stories from his time in service to The Queen. Edward reveals that the secret to great events lies in the preparation, planning and reviewing, even if it's something you’ve done many times before. Such attention to detail means that it will take 2 days to lay the table for a state banquet. “…and only an hour to clear” he smiles. Edward is passionate about young people taking up the profession and the scholarship was set up for this. “It focuses on service rather than cuisine. Chefs have had a lot of focus over the years but there is an acknowledgement that every great experience in hospitality is a marriage of very good food and very good service.” Edward talks about The Queen as a great leader and the importance of happy employees. “A happy workforce you feel immediately” . Edward is a wonderful orator and this podcast is mesmerising. Smash The Box is a personal development business. Everything I do is with the aim of inspiring you to find your purpose so you can make your mark on the world. One way I do this is by sharing people’s stories. Inspiring stories that the world needs to hear. Stories of breakthroughs, of adversity overcome, of achievements, successes, of setbacks and turnarounds, of realisations and lightbulb moments. This audio experience is a natural and perfect complement to the existing services of Life Coaching, Leadership Coaching, Breakthrough Workshops and Inspirational Talks - all of which forms something quite unique and special. If you are looking to find your purpose in life, in work, or both, then don’t just think outside the box. It’s time to Smash The Box! Connect with us! www.smashthebox.me www.youtube.com/channel/UC7fEEvjX52qS928oyLGCtuQ www.facebook.com/SmashTheBoxMarkPitcher/ www.instagram.com/markpitcher_smashthebox/

People often say, in an off-the-cuff way, that something they organised was ‘like a military operation’.  Well, this week’s guest, Harry Lomas, really does know what it’s like to run a kitchen as a huge, well-oiled military machine.   Harry’s strategic skills have been honed by the 34 years he spent with the British Army.  His amazing career included a stint with The Royal Household; the position of Master Chef with the Parachute Regiment in Cyprus and, to round off, being responsible for feeding troops around the world, including Afghanistan. There he was involved in rebuilding the kitchen at Camp Bastion, which had to serve 25,000 troops at each sitting.   The statistics become more eye-watering with Harry’s next role, overseeing the catering for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. As you’ll hear, the prospect of serving 147,000 people a day, never seemed to daunt Harry.  That’s probably why he’s the perfect fit for the title he holds now: Head of Culinary at Wembley Stadium.   At which point, I’ll hand over to the great strategist himself.  Only Harry can explain the complexities of cooking different meals for thousands of football fans  – and making sure they’re back in their seats before kick-off.  

In 1897 Queen Victoria antagonized family and court with her relationship with Indian servant Abdul Karim. Originally a waiter the devious and arrogant young man won over the queen by playing on her love of Indian cuisine and romantic view of the country,teaching her Hindistani,whilst she signed letters to him 'Mother',bestowing houses and gifts on him and his family. Already shocked that a Muslim should be at the heart of the court the Royal family stepped in when Victoria announced her desire to knight him and they threatened to have her declared insane if she went ahead. It worked. And in 1901 after the queen's death Karim was banished from Royal circles,returning to India where he died. It is only appropriate, then, that Queen Victoria, leader and symbol of the age, was the rummest of the lot. Deprived of her passionate marriage to Prince Albert by his untimely and very inconsiderate death, she sublimated her energies into overcomplicating mourning practices for the nation ("What a load of crepe!" they cried from Land's End to John O'Groats), turning the map pink and cultivating disconcertingly deep friendships with unsuitable types. First, as we all know, there was Billy Connolly who, before he became a successful standup comedian, was a ghillie and then personal servant to the Queen. He died of sporran-mite in 1883 and the Queen went on to develop an equally intense friendship with Abdul Karim, a Muslim native of Jhansi in British India, which was unpicked last night in Queen Victoria's Last Love In the course of their friendship, which spanned the last 14 years of her life, Victoria lavished attention, promotions and delightful, often house-shaped, baubles on Karim, who began his working life with her as a waiter at table and rose to become her personal secretary. It seems to have brought out the worst in everyone. Karim, whose early history suggested he was born a man on the make, became domineering and arrogant. The Royal Household, being already domineering and arrogant, was able to concentrate on becoming furiously resentful of Karim's unprecedented transgression of racial, social and – the thought was always in the air if rarely spoken – sexual boundaries, and uniting against him. Victoria became only more fiercely loyal. The only time she ever gave in was when her son, the Prince of Wales, said he and her doctor would have her declared insane if she went ahead as planned and knighted him. He remained untitled, but at her side until she died. Then they turfed Karim out of his house(s) and burned everything he owned that carried the royal crest, in a raging conflagration of snobbery and racism. He was banished to India and died there a few years later. The programme was neat, orderly and interesting but never sprang to life as the material could surely have allowed. Everything was covered, but nothing and nobody was pressed. It had that oddly muted air that you often find even now in documentaries about the royals and/or the rich folk around them. Descendants of the protagonists were allowed to tell the family versions of the story without much by way of challenge, alternative viewpoint or fleshed-out background. Everyone preferred to emphasise the class rather than racial aspect of events – the Victorian fetishisation of hierarchy being so much more absurd and palatable to modern tastes than the deep, ingrained prejudices that allow you to colonise all those you perceive as lesser beings. It was all, if you like, terribly British. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lifeofqueenvictoria/support

President Trump insists the U.S. already has "very, very strong background checks" for gun purchases.   After shooting massacres in Texas and Ohio, he'd said he was looking to implement "very meaningful background checks."   He now says he worries about the potential for a "slippery slope."     A spokeswoman for Denmark's royal palace says Trump's decision to postpone a visit to Denmark in early September was "a surprise."   Trump made the announcement after the Danish prime minister dismissed the notion of selling Greenland to the U.S. as "an absurd discussion."   The Danish Prime Minister says she's "disappointed and surprised' Trump's canceled his visit.     German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she plans to discuss with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson how Britain's exit from the European Union can be "as frictionless as possible."   She says her talks with Johnson on Wednesday will include how to achieve this goal.  

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala has announced a budget of R66,719 Million for the Royal Household for the 2019/2020 financial year. This is a R1 million increment from the previous allocation of R65 million. Zikalala announces his office budget of R714,004 in the KZN Legislature. Krivani Pillay spoke to KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Sihle Zikalala...

The largest grouping in Brussels, The UK Brexit Party, arrived at their first European Parliament session today and immediately kicked off a row by turning their backs as the EU anthem was played. This has been happening against a backdrop of the EU voting for key positions to be filled. The leaders of the EU 28 member states met last Tuesday to hammer out who should take over from Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, and Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, as well as a number of other roles. The Spanish economy has continued to surpass expectations for 2019, while outperforming the wider European economy. The Bank of Spain has responded to this strong performance by increasing its yearly growth forecast from 2.2% to 2.4%, a particularly impressive figure given that the overall European economy has a growth rate of 1.4%. The lack of a stable government in Madrid, more than two months after the April 28 general election, means that nobody is working on getting a national budget approved – the election was called early partly due to acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s inability to sell his blueprint to parliament. NEW guidelines have been submitted by the General Directorate of Traffic to increase the penalties imposed for distractions whilst driving. Actions such as sending or reading a Whatsapp message, talking on the phone, manipulating the touch screen in any way or car navigation, opening a soda bottle or even lighting a cigarette will all be punishable by a fine and 6 points deducted from your license. . MEMBERS of Madrid’s Greenpeace carried banners saying “Central Madrid works” and “no more cars” on the first day that fines are suspended in the low emission areas of Madrid. IN the UK Labour was plunged into a fresh anti-Semitism row today as a poll revealed heavy support for controversial MP Chris Williamson to be reinstated despite him saying the party was 'too apologetic' about anti-Jewish abuse. ....LOUISE ATKINSON writing about Glastonbury: It is utterly disgusting, but sadly typical. The sight of field after field,pictured left and right, covered in rubbish has become the inevitable fall-out of the summer festival culture as people (usually young people aged 17-24 let their hair down, party their socks off and then stagger back to their middle-class homes leaving environmental carnage behind. Whilst the Brazilian rainforests are being demolished at the rate of one football pitch per minute...The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have asked fans to consider their carbon footprint, just days after new figures show the Royal Household's emissions doubled last year. Parents should put their smartphones down and take every opportunity to talk to their children face to face, the Education Secretary ...........Damian Hinds believes keeping up with social media and work emails often prevents mums and dads from chatting to their offspring. Leapy Lee......I am completely aware that I am ‘also an immigrant.’ I am actually quite a proud immigrant. Many years ago, due to personal reasons, I left the UK and, after some years in the Middle East, moved to Spain where I have resided for the last 35 years. This country has been good to me. .......... Unfortunately the majority of aliens that are pouring into Europe at this time appear to have a different agenda altogether. I am fervently convinced that if our so called leaders don’t wake up soon it will all be too late. Sadly, I

The largest grouping in Brussels, The UK Brexit Party, arrived at their first European Parliament session today and immediately kicked off a row by turning their backs as the EU anthem was played. This has been happening against a backdrop of the EU voting for key positions to be filled. The leaders of the EU 28 member states met last Tuesday to hammer out who should take over from Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, and Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, as well as a number of other roles. The Spanish economy has continued to surpass expectations for 2019, while outperforming the wider European economy. The Bank of Spain has responded to this strong performance by increasing its yearly growth forecast from 2.2% to 2.4%, a particularly impressive figure given that the overall European economy has a growth rate of 1.4%. The lack of a stable government in Madrid, more than two months after the April 28 general election, means that nobody is working on getting a national budget approved – the election was called early partly due to acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s inability to sell his blueprint to parliament. NEW guidelines have been submitted by the General Directorate of Traffic to increase the penalties imposed for distractions whilst driving. Actions such as sending or reading a Whatsapp message, talking on the phone, manipulating the touch screen in any way or car navigation, opening a soda bottle or even lighting a cigarette will all be punishable by a fine and 6 points deducted from your license. . MEMBERS of Madrid’s Greenpeace carried banners saying “Central Madrid works” and “no more cars” on the first day that fines are suspended in the low emission areas of Madrid. IN the UK Labour was plunged into a fresh anti-Semitism row today as a poll revealed heavy support for controversial MP Chris Williamson to be reinstated despite him saying the party was 'too apologetic' about anti-Jewish abuse. ....LOUISE ATKINSON writing about Glastonbury: It is utterly disgusting, but sadly typical. The sight of field after field,pictured left and right, covered in rubbish has become the inevitable fall-out of the summer festival culture as people (usually young people aged 17-24 let their hair down, party their socks off and then stagger back to their middle-class homes leaving environmental carnage behind. Whilst the Brazilian rainforests are being demolished at the rate of one football pitch per minute...The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have asked fans to consider their carbon footprint, just days after new figures show the Royal Household's emissions doubled last year. Parents should put their smartphones down and take every opportunity to talk to their children face to face, the Education Secretary ...........Damian Hinds believes keeping up with social media and work emails often prevents mums and dads from chatting to their offspring. Leapy Lee......I am completely aware that I am ‘also an immigrant.’ I am actually quite a proud immigrant. Many years ago, due to personal reasons, I left the UK and, after some years in the Middle East, moved to Spain where I have resided for the last 35 years. This country has been good to me. .......... Unfortunately the majority of aliens that are pouring into Europe at this time appear to have a different agenda altogether. I am fervently convinced that if our so called leaders don’t wake up soon it will all be too late. Sadly, I

What are some unspoken rules in the U.K.? Graham Short, Micro-artist, Supplier to the Royal Household, When you park your car in the street close to the football ground and a local urchin asks for a fiver to look after your car… pay him! If you tell him, “There’s no need, I’ve got an Alsation in the boot,” don’t be surprised if you hear him say, as you walk away, “I bet he can’t put out fires.” When watching the Jeremy Kyle Show you must always say,”Why don’t these people get their teeth fixed.” When David Walliams comes on the TV, it is compulsory to say, “I can’t stand h...

What are some unspoken rules in the U.K.?Graham Short, Micro-artist, Supplier to the Royal Household,When you park your car in the street close to the football ground and a local urchin asks for a fiver to look after your car… pay him! If you tell him, “There's no need, I've got an Alsation in the boot,” don't be surprised if you hear him say, as you walk away, “I bet he can't put out fires.”When watching the Jeremy Kyle Show you must always say,”Why don't these people get their teeth fixed.”When David Walliams comes on the TV, it is compulsory to say, “I can't stand him, he's creepy.”When speaking to a Brummie, if you haven't got the sheet music you will never understand him.When the ad comes on TV and comedienne Jenny Eclair asks, “Have you got a bothersome vagina?” Don't look at your mother, mother-in-law or granny. Keep your eyes fixed on your newspaper and pretend you haven't heard it.If you are a young slim woman, you must regularly visit the food store, Iceland. You will feel soooo good when you look around at those who shop there.When you see a morbidly obese woman in the street wearing a tracksuit, never ask, “Are you on your way to the gym?”

Recently, the Royal Museum for Central Africa reopened its doors after tens of millions of euros were spent on renovations. With the goal of "modernizing" the museum for today's audience, certain statues and exhibitions were re-worked or removed entirely in order to convey the brutality of the Belgian occupation of Congo But what does the renovation mean for Belgium and its attitude/relationship to colonialism? For insight, we spoke to Frank De Coninck, former Belgian Ambassador and former Marshal of the Royal Household of the Royal Court of Belgium. We also spoke with Ange Nsanzineza, a member of the VUB African Society. 

In a world which – then as now – frequently divides women into Madonnas or whores, Tamar is the ‘perfect’ rape victim; virginal, beautiful, obedient. Her rape takes place within the Royal Household of King David. Tamar, David’s daughter, is raped by her half-brother Amnon. For the writer the rape is set in the larger context of the falling apart of the Royal family. Dr Johanna Stiebert wants to attend to the voice of Tamar as she resists her abuse and expresses its devastating consequences for her.

When live gives you lemons...Guest host Joe Flanagan is out sick today so at noon on 89.5 WHRV-FM, we're bringing you a special rebroadcast of Cathy's award-winning program 'The Royal Household.'

Angelos and Barry recount holidays in the British Virgin Islands and events at Buckingham Palace some years ago. For tickets to their Autumn UK tour go to live.angelosandbarry.com AngelosandBarry.com Produced by Paul Myers and Mike Leigh A Playback Media Production playbackmedia.co.uk

2017 Virginia Association of Broadcasters Award for Outstanding Feature Reporting Cathy dropped in this past summer on an old friend with a new job. Royal Navy VADM Tony Johnstone-Burt was to have spent three years in Norfolk as Chief of Staff to NATO’s Supreme Allied Command Transformation, but two years into the job, he got a call that would change his life: please come home for a meeting with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Weeks later, he became the “Master of the Household to the Sovereign,” the operational head of the Royal Household. In a wide ranging conversation in London at St. James Palace (built 1531-1536 by Henry VIII), Cathy asked VADM Johnstone-Burt about life as a trusted member of the Royal family and his family’s fondest memories of Norfolk. (Spoiler alert: the shared joy of Doumars may have been discussed!) 

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: "Dr. Gavin Ashenden has tendered his resignation from the honorary position of Chaplain to The Queen. The Royal Household has accepted the resignation with immediate effect." During a service at St Mary's Episcopal in Glasgow this past month to mark the feast of the Epiphany, there was a reading of... a passage from the Koran which said that Jesus was not the son of God. Well all of this got the dander up the Rev Gavin Ashenden - so much that he tendered his resignation as chaplain to the queen. He said the reading was “a fairly serious error” and one which he had a duty to speak out about. “To have a reading from the Koran at that point was a fairly serious error for the Christian worshipping community, but to choose the reading they chose doubled the error. Of all passages you might have read likely to cause offense, that was one of the most problematic.” The Rev Gavin Ashenden resides in the UK and partly in Normandy. He was until 2016 a part time parish priest, looking after a small parish on the Island of Jersey, part of the Channel Islands, just off the coast of Normandy, France, where he combined being a parish priest with writing. On the island of Jersey, he helped run weekly bible studies in the prison, and had a weekly column in the Island’s only newspaper, the Jersey Evening Post. He continues to write for the JEP once a fortnight. He grew up in Kent, and was educated at the King’s School in Canterbury. After training originally at Bristol University as a lawyer, he attended Oak Hill Theological College to study theology and prepare for the priesthood in London, he was ordained in 1980. He has close links with the bishops of the Christian Episcopal Church in the USA and Canada. For Further Insight: The Rev Ashenden Blog https://ashenden.org Gatestone Institute, Nomination for Nobel Peace Prize: Reverend Gavin Ashenden

Cathy dropped in this past summer on an old friend with a new job. Royal Navy VADM Tony Johnstone-Burt was to have spent three years in Norfolk as Chief of Staff to NATO’s Supreme Allied Command Transformation, but two years into the job, he got a call that would change his life: please come home for a meeting with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Weeks later, he became the “Master of the Household to the Sovereign,” the operational head of the Royal Household. In a wide ranging conversation in London at St. James Palace (built 1531-1536 by Henry VIII), Cathy asked VADM Johnstone-Burt about life as a trusted member of the Royal family and his family’s fondest memories of Norfolk. (Spoiler alert: the shared joy of Doumars may have been discussed!)

Lucie Skeaping explores the history of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, founded in 1500. Lucie talks to two Past Masters, Paul Campion and Richard Crewdson. Richard has written a book, "Apollo's Swan and Lyre", which charts the history of the Musicians' Company. The programme looks back to the roots of the organisation, which provided protection for professional musicians in the City of London, and the Act of Incorporation of the Company in the 17th Century. The programme explores the world of London's medieval minstrels, and the guild's relationship between the Royal Household and the City Waits.

An introduction to the administration of the Royal Household from the restoration of Charles II to the death of Victoria. The talk is based on the records of the Lord Chamberlain's Department and the Lord Steward's Department, which were responsible for above stairs and below stairs management respectively. All the minutiae of royal life is here, from the granting of warrants to tradesmen, to the daily menus prepared for the kitchens.