Rick Thompson experience in moderating European conferences is based on the principals of high-quality broadcast journalism – well-researched subjects, well-planned sessions with advance contact with speakers, techniques to ensure the audience remains interested and involved throughout, clear communication , perfect time-discipline, and independent chairing of discussions. He worked for BBC News for 27 years, first as a reporter, presenter and producer, then as an editor and manager at the Regional, National, and International levels. He was in charge of news coverage for BBC World Service Radio and Television, and helped to launch the 24-hour channel “BBC World”. For four years he produced the main BBC TV evening news programme, and before that was the Foreign News Editor for BBC Television. His involvement in organising coverage of international affairs inspired a special interest in the development of the EU – the ‘European Project’. He was able to set up BBC TV’s first Brussels bureau back in 1978, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union led a series of journalism training courses in Eastern Europe.
