PR on tour – filming on the high seas with The Gadget Show

Last week I flew to Italy to join Norwegian Epic, Norwegian Cruise Line’s biggest ship, just over a year after we launched her to UK media.

This time, my visit was to act as PR chaperone to a TV crew from Channel 5’s popular and long-running consumer technology programme, The Gadget Show.

The production team had selected Norwegian Epic and its range of eye-catching locations (including an Aqua Park which boasts a 200-foot long water slide) to act as the backdrop for a section of the forthcoming series where resident presenter, Jon Bentley, would be carrying out one of his regular gadget ‘tests’.

For this particular episode it was e-readers being tested. Exactly the kind of gadget you would pack for a holiday, the ship was an ideal setting for them to be reviewed. As you’d expect, the team are truly passionate and clued-up about tech, so an on-air recommendation from them is something a brand can shout about.

Having accompanied a few TV crews before, I knew a little of what to expect, but it was a real learning curve to see just how much filming time goes into a relatively short five to seven minute segment.

I hadn’t even thought about things like white balancing (for which a white tablecloth borrowed from the laundry proved perfect), or how much time we would need to invest in exploring various locations on the ship to find the perfect mix of quiet, background noise, people, not too many people, light, but not too bright.

The blazing sunshine out on Epic’s enormous deck was just the place for Jon to put the three brands of e-readers to the ultimate holiday test – just how well could the screens actually be read in the sun.  It was here that I made my cameo appearance in the Show (which may well get edited out!) – but I won’t say what he did in his test or which one wins. You’ll have to watch.