Training central

Yesterday I sat in on a new course designed by the BBC College of Journalism for editorial leaders. It's the first time that BBCCoJo has run this course - originally designed for senior BBC staff - for people outside the organisation.

Held at the perhaps a little anodyne BBC Academy on the third floor of BBC White City, this first course attracted delegates from Australia, Belgium, Holland, Ireland, Israel, Qatar and the US, plus a couple of observers (including me).

I was there to get a feel for how well a BBC-originated course can translate to other organisations that have nowhere near the resource levels of the BBC. There was heated debate during some of the discussions on editorial principles - something I suspect will intensify as the week progresses.

I may pop back to see how the delegates are getting on later in the week...in the meantime, I'm evaluating my impression of the course that I'll be passing on to AIB members shortly. And we're going to be sampling BBCCoJo's Social Media course later this month.

Interestingly (for me, at least) while sampling the White City canteen yesterday, I bumped into a couple of people I worked with in the past at the BBC - despite having left the Corporation 15 years ago!