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As a postgraduate student living and working in Sheffield, I’m incredibly lucky that the industry-led Children’s Media Conference takes place every year right here in my home city.

Last year, I was invited to present my research on the transitionary preschool audience alongside presentations from Ofcom and The Pineapple Lounge. I used my session, ‘Sm(all) Change’ to bust three big myths about very young children watching television: that their engagement with TV is sedentary; that their engagement is solitary; and that they can’t make reality judgements about TV and advertising. You can watch my full presentation, alongside others, on the CMC website or Vimeo or read more about it in the CMC blog.

I was also excited to be invited to join a panel entitled Storytelling: The Pre-school Parent Trap, alongside Dave Ingham, of Loud Productions, Lucy Murphy, Creative Director of Azoomee, Alison Peirse, Lecturer and Alison Stewart, Head of CBeebies Production, Animation and Acquisitions. Amongst other things, the panel discussed parent anxieties, adult perceptions of ‘age-appropriateness’ and the potential need for broadcasters to take more risks in terms of programming for younger children, rather than less. You can listen again to the whole panel discussion as a podcast on the CMC website or read more about it in the CMC blog.

I’m delighted to have heard that my abstract has been accepted to present once again this year. My 2016 session aims to provoke new discussion about the need to consider social class as an integral part of the process of ‘making it happen’ in the TV industry.

The full programme is soon to be announced, so watch this space!