This week Fun Kids won Gold for Innovation at the 2015 Arqiva Radio Awards Ceremony. The Award was for the work we’ve done with Bin Weevils.
Bin Weevils is a very successful online game for kids. In the game your character can build a nest, buy items, play games and accumulate points and levels and chat to other kids in a very moderated and safe setting. It’s somewhat addictive; in the course of “research” I got up to level 56 and had a tricked out nest with the Deluxe Super Mega Garden and I was severely irritated with my children when they went online and messed with my nest Feng Shui.
So where was the Innovation? Well in the game you can buy a radio and when you click on it you’ll hear a sample episode from the Bin Weevils show on Fun Kids and then the radio station continues to play in the background. Simple idea really.
When we heard the award announced I have never screamed so loudly – and then I laughed my ass off for the rest of the evening, exhilarated with the win.
My contribution was and is scripting the shows, from gossip and tips about the gameplay to jokes and pranks and stories off the back of the existing magazine content. I get an immense amount of satisfaction from writing the educational features on Fun Kids… but I have to admit Bin Weevils was plain and simple fun. The Awards event was fun too but of a much more adult variety and the least said about that the better. Hic.
The show still goes out every week on Fun Kids. In fact it it is a year old this week. The Award was a brilliant birthday present!
Nicky Tate 