Jenni Means Business (Not Beanz)
Ah, you see, I had it all worked out. Jenni Minto is our business executive and should never, ever be described as a "bean-counter". So as part of my ongoing profiles of Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Radio Scotland's unsung heroes I suggested I could take a photograph of Jenni holding a can of beans.
"No, " said Jenni, "that would be product placement and would infringe Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú guidelines. How about I hold an abacus instead?"
I agreed that was a better idea, but when Jenni arrived in Inverness today she confessed that she'd left her abacus sitting on her desk in Glasgow. A likely story and one designed to stop me taking the photograph. So I had to take this snap while we walked up Castle Street. I felt like one of those paparazzi guys who follow Kate Middleton around town.
Seriously, though, Jenni is one of our priceless assets. It took me a long time to realise that budgets are liberating and not constraining. If you know exactly how much you have to spend on a programme you can make all sorts of choices about the content.
Indeed our Get It On programme only exists thanks to Jenni. The teatime music show was originally designed as a summer filler, but it proved so popular with listeners that we had to find ways of making it a permanent part of the schedule.
It was Jenni who rejigged our budgets to make that happen. That made everyone happy.
Even Jenni was full of beans.
