Hoppy hour: From pub to podcast
In our latest #PeopleBehindTheProjects series we spoke to James Curtis, business development coordinator in Cambridge. James studied economics at University before moving into the construction industry and has been working in the Cambridge office for the last three years.
In lockdown, James and two friends went one step further and rather than just have a catch up over a beer on Zoom (like so many of us) decided to turn their interest into a podcast.
The Three Wiesse Men series began, which follows James and his friends invite a small, independent brewery in to sample three of their beers, and discuss the history and science behind the product.
“There are some definite crossovers in the skills used in business development and the podcast”, says James.
“You’ve got to be a sociable person and use your communication and interpersonal skills to make people feel at ease, use open-ended questioning and not derail their flow when you want them to share more on a subject that they’re passionate about.
“You have to be quite reactive to a conversation. We’ve never had a bad beer on the podcasts, apart from one where actually it was a faulty batch that had oxidised in the can and it had a slight off-taste. The brewer actually recognised this when we were recording, and it became a talking point of the episode.
“Researching is also a part of both roles. We research lots of local or new brewery’s online and would approach them to be a part of the podcast. In some instances, we’ve found that some people have approached us first or when we’ve been attending beer festivals we’ve met people who have heard the podcast. This led us to one episode, which was a bit different to our usual format and we spoke to a company who had recently started a beer subscription box.
Presenting is also a key part of a business development role, so naturally James takes on the role of presenter and host for the podcast.
“I’m not really someone who listens to a lot of podcasts, so I didn’t take a lot of inspiration from other people. But I do find now that I listen to a few more, as I like to see how the presenters get the most from their guests and how they lead their guests to segue into topics, so that the conversation feels natural. We always wanted the podcast to feel like a relaxed conversation between mates at the pub, and I think we’ve achieved that!
“With any job through, there are usually people who are better at something else that bring different skills to the mix and you should just leave them too it. Matt is the organised one and he asks the more human questions, whilst Dom is the more technical one. He also sorts out all the editing for our podcasts.
And example of having someone do the wrong tasks for the job… “We have a terrible jingle! It’s something I put together and wanted at the beginning. But we’ve got to the point now where we still use it as it’s intentionally bad and we’ve turned it more into a discussion point, we like to warn people before we launch into the jingle!”
“I knew a decent amount of the science behind beer production but I’ve been learning new things that I find really interesting; how different fruits interact with the yeast, bacteria or each other in modern sour beers; or the intricacies of blending beers that have been aged in old whisky barrels!
“Brewing can be very technical and it’s an industry of people who really know their stuff. They could wax lyrical about the properties of yeast to the point when we’ve had to try and divert the conversation on the podcast to something else. Then again, working in the construction industry there are similar people who could tell you everything you need to know about the different types of concrete!
“The podcast has enabled me to meet some really interesting people and share some fascinating stories, people who were brewing at home and practically giving it away who are now in huge production breweries. One highlight was a brewery we had on one of the episodes, Vault City, who were fairly small when we spoke to them but are now sold in most major supermarkets.”
“I won’t lie, free tickets to beer festivals and samples are one of the benefits for me, but once restrictions were lifted, we met some of these people in person and I’d consider them to be friends. We had a great day recently where we were invited to a brew day where we designed and collaborated on our own recipe.
The podcast has been a great talking point at networking events and with work colleagues. I don’t play golf, so it often plays into other interests and I can share with people the science behind their favourite drinks (but only if they want me to!)”
The Three Wiesse Men are currently on hiatus as one of the team has been travelling, but they have two upcoming episodes and hope to pick up more in the Autumn. If you’d like to listen to any of the episodes, visit - https://spoti.fi/3pBsoL8
Read more about #ThePeopleBehindTheProjects at Morgan Sindall Construction
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