“It was exciting afterwards,” said one of the DJs featured in Lights Out, a short radio feature produced by Delaney Hall, “but while it was going on, it was scary.” He was referring to the 1977 massive blackout in New York that brought his set – along with everything else in the city – to a halt.
But he could just have easily been referring to the process of judging a radio competition on ideas rather than finished programmes, as I did for the first Sound Bank awards organised by In the Dark. Open to all, and seeking to fund bold and adventurous radio, the competition attracted entries from experienced producers to those new to radio.