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Seven questions with Ben Stevens

4 December 2015

This week we put seven questions to Ben Stevens, Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾'s Content Producer (Editor) based in the Communications and Marketing team.

Seven questions with Ben Stevens

What does your role involve and how long have you been at Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾?

I've been at Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ for four and a half years and my slightly convoluted job title reflects the fact that my time is split roughly 50:50 between print and digital projects.

So, on the one hand, I write for and edit publications such as the About Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ guide, Brain Food and the Annual Review, while I also write online features for Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ Antenna, produce content for the Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ Soundcloud channel, oversee Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾'s corporate Flickr channel and jointly manage the Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ Events blog.

I also maintain the Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ house style and proofread most of the publications that the Communications team produces. I get through a lot of red pens.

What was your previous role?

Before joining Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾, I was Internal Communications Officer at King's College London, which was my first taste of working for a university and saw me edit a weekly e-zine.

Prior to that, I was an editor at a contract publishing agency for five years, working on websites, e-newsletters and lots of magazines including Cardiff University's alumni magazine.

What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?

It would have to be . Published every two months, each article examines an area of Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ research in detail and is designed in a format that makes it perfect to read on a smartphone or tablet.

The first one explores how Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ neuroscientists worked with a youth theatre group to create a fascinating play about the teenage brain for the National Theatre.

Tell us about a project you are working on now which is top of your to-do list?

I'm currently pulling together material for the new edition of About Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾, a pocket-sized guide to the university that is given away at recruitment fairs, open days and other public events.

As you can imagine, with a university the size of Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾, it's pretty difficult to sum up everything that we do. Despite that, we hope that our new, more image-led design will allow us to give a flavour of the exciting work that happens here.

What was your first job straight out of university?

After finishing my English degree at the University of York, I became a radio journalist for the city's local commercial radio station.

In the 18 months that I worked there, I reported on an armed siege, the 2001 general election and even managed to get Tony Blair to answer my question about the government response to major flooding in North Yorkshire in 2000.

After that, I freelanced at BBC Radio York and my second day there was fairly memorable: it was 11 September 2001.

What is your favourite and least favourite thing about London?

I love the incredible culture that London has to offer - there are just so many wonderful theatres, cinemas and music venues right on your doorstep here.

My least favourite thing is the growing inequality and the way that this is hollowing out so many local communities.

Who would be your dream dinner guests?

It's a big list, so I'd undoubtedly need the help of my colleagues in the Corporate Events team and probably my sister too, as she's a chef.

So, in no particular order: Chris Morris, Michael Palin, Thom Yorke, Marion Cotillard, Christopher Nolan, Danny Boyle, Rachel Weisz, Guy Garvey, David Tennant and Jarvis Cocker.

I'd also add Francine Stock, presenter of Radio 4's The Film Programme, and Jennifer Egan, who wrote the brilliant Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Visit from the Goon Squad.

What would it surprise people to know about you?

In 2011, I was part of a team that managed to beat the Eggheads on the BBC2 quiz show of the same name. We won £2,000 and let's just say that CJ didn't take it very well.