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It hasn't been the best of times for Plains FM's portable POD. Usually by now we would have been out and about all over the show gathering audio at various events. However a number of factors (not the least of which was the February earthquake) has meant that any POD activity has been seriously stymied. Firstly it was within the cordon. Secondly it was also captive in a damaged building.

All that, and the huge refurbishment going on at the station has meant staff are stretched to the limit at the moment. So no-one can person The POD presently.

However once we have finished our refurbishment, the staff have had a breather and we can commit to some future events which match the resources we have then we'll be away again gathering audio around our city.  We'll also bring it out when we celebrate the end of the refurb.

So watch this space... And if you want to hire it in the meantime for a particular event then just give Nicki a call on 365-7997. 

Plains FM and Christchurch City Libraries are teaming up to get your stories and experiences of the Canterbury earthquake.

Richard and Anna from the Library were talking with Cantabrians at the A&P Show on Friday about their experiences with the 7.1 earthquake, to collect a comprehensive archive of this significant event in our city's history.

But don't worry if you missed out - The POD will soon be coming to a library near you so you can share your stories too, and you can also share photos, and more online at http://ketechristchurch.peoplesnetworknz.info/canterbury_earthquake_2010

As hundreds of people strolled through the entrance of Christchurch Convention Centre for Eco Expo 2010 to explore how they could make their lives more eco-friendly, they would have seen Plains FM's POD. We recorded  interviews with visitors, exhibitors and expo speakers and also did a two hour live broadcast on Saturday afternoon.

Ed Swift hosted the two hour special and talked to exhibitors like Neil de Jong from Ebode and Rhys Taylor from Sustainable Living, as well as Sea Shepherd anti-whaling activist Pete Bethune - the keynote speaker.

More photos can be found on our Facebook page ( Facebook.com/PlainsFM ) and recordings from The Pod are available here

Plains FM has been out and about at KidsFest 2010 with The Pod, and our new live broadcast unit!

On Sunday at the A & P Showgrounds the Plains FM team and the Doggy Nanny interviewed kids in The Pod about their pets at Dogs' Day Out. We also had our first ever live broadcast from outside the studio, hosted by The Doggy Nanny. Go to the podcasts tab and look for your name!

The following day The Pod was out again, this time in Cathedral Square for the annual Kids Market. Hundreds of children were buying and selling items, and we were there talking to the kids about what they were up to. We also had another live broadcast there, hosted by Ed and Naoko

More photos can be found on our Facebook page ( Facebook.com/PlainsFM ) and recordings from The Pod can be found by clicking on our podcast tab.

The leaves were red and brown and it was chilly and rainy but that didn't stop us getting The POD out and about in May for a massive two-day ICT conference called Kids Congress on the 27th and 28th May held at Addington Raceway Events Centre. Kids Congress was celebrating its tenth birthday. Waimairi and Windsor Schools, along with CORE Education, teamed up again for this exciting event and Plains FM staffies Nicki and Edward provided a breakout session for budding broadcasters called RADIO RAVES.

We worked with 9 super students from a mix of schools - Longbeach, Ashley, Oaklands, Ashgrove, Banks Avenue and even Alexandra Primary.

The kids learnt about presentation and voice work, scripting, interviewing, doing vox pops, and even some digital editing. They broke into 3 groups of 3 and each created a programme for broadcast. They were based on music, sport and Kids Congress itself. They then did some editing on their work and we polished and tweaked the rest back at Plains FM. Check out the podcasts here!

Sport - http://thepod.geek.nz/on-demand/radioraves-sport/
Music - http:// thepod.geek.nz /on-demand/radioraves-music/
Kids Congress - http:// thepod.geek.nz /on-demand/radioraves-kidscongress/

The children also got a chance to tour and record some stuff at Plains FM in our fully equipped studios. Plus they went on air live (just briefly!).

Kids Congress is for South Island kids and organised by teachers and students from Waimairi and Windsor Schools. The theme was based around fun and celebration and called ‘Take A Break ‘N’ Celebrate’ which reflected the event's 10th birthday.

You can visit the Kids Congress website http://www.core-ed.net/kidscongress/ for more information and see if you'd like to be involved in next year's event.

We'll see you around. Just look out for the big red headphones and our staffies friendly smiling faces!!