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Focus on VeggieVision TV with director Karin Ridgers

In today’s Focus we catch up with Karin Ridgers, the director of the recently revampled VeggieVision TV. VeggieVision TV is an internet TV station aimed at vegetarians and vegans offering news, celebrity and expert interviews, short programmes from around the world, music and cookery shows, and viewer generated content.

About VeggieVision TV:

Who watches it and how many of them are there?
Our viewers are mainly UK based although we do have viewers all over the world. We have presenters in Paris, Hollywood, Australia – even Essex and Kent!

The numbers are growing we have around 1000 unique visitors on a daily basis.

What subjects do you cover?
We are interested in anything veggie and vegan related. Also green/ organic / celeb news.

What stories are you most interested in covering?
As above – anything veggie and vegan related!

What makes you different from the other outlets in your sector?
We are the only internet TV station for this growing ‘niche’ of approximately 5,000,000 veggies and vegans UK wide!

How do you decide the content?
We are open to all sorts of positive, fun, and educational video content, and growing our database of written recipes too.

Do you use freelance contributions, and if so, are they for any particular type of work?
Yes – mainly for video clips.

About you and freelance journalists:

Do you like freelance journalists to get in touch with you directly to pitch ideas? And if so, how?
Feel free to send ideas. We love for people to be able to film themselves, as a small company we don’t always have the resources to come out and film, then edit etc. Email is best.

Name the three most important attributes that make a freelance journalist stand out for you and would make you use them again?
Understanding the subject, being themselves, saying they will do something – and then doing it!

Tell us about the worst approach you’ve seen from a freelance…
Worst approaches – not understanding our area of focus – vegetarian and vegan living – and suggesting something then letting us down. Although we have only had this with a couple of cameramen/editors not with presenters/writers!

About PRs:

Do you work closely with PRs (e.g. for features, round tables, events) or do you keep them at arm’s length?

We’re happy to hear ideas and work closely with them – I am a PR too!

If you could make one change to the way PRs deal with you, what would it be?
By making them understand that we can only promote items that are suitable for veggies and vegans.

How should a PR approach you about their client?
Drop us an email. Although if it’s breaking news, celebrity related, exciting, or something big then call. Feel free to drop us a reminder too – we get so busy and if it takes time for us to respond it is only because we are swamped as we have only just launched our new look.

What information/input from PRs is most useful to you?
The veggie connection – information that is relevant to our audience.

Also as an internet TV station we love video clips. Of course if something is too much of an advert then we look at it differently to something that is only editorial.

When is the best time for PRs to contact you & what is your deadline for contributions?
Anytime by email. Calls during office hours. We are different to print media so don’t really have a deadline.

About you:

Describe a typical day at work: What are you editorial duties/responsibilities at the outlet (e.g. commissioning, subbing, features, interviewing)?
A typical day – I am a juggler!! Could be filming, promoting VeggieVision, organising shoots, liaising with celebs, doing interviews, writing for publications, or reviewing a break or restaurant. I also write the newsletters for VeggieVision and VeggieVision Dating.com, and chase up our film editors and web people!!

I start at 7am, juggle my family life and log off around 10pm (although I’ve been known to log off at 3am!) when working from my home office.

What interests you most about your job?
As a frustrated presenter and passionate vegan I love making VeggieVision work. It is bl@@dy hard too!

Where have you worked previously, and how did you end up in your current position?
Private banking!! And I ran MAD-Promotions for 6 years. Now I’m the director of VeggieVision TV Ltd.

Do you Twitter? Why, why not?
Yes! As often as I can! @veggievisiontv

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?
Don’t give up.

Think how we CAN make something work.

Think of the positives rather than the negatives.

If you could time travel what time would you go to?
I love now!

[lnk|http://www.featuresexec.com/publications/info_outlet.php?pubid=13313|_self|VeggieVision TV]
[lnk|http://www.featuresexec.com/publications/info_contact.php?id=36426&hilite=|_self|Karin Ridgers]
[img|jpg|Karin Ridgers]