Spencer Kelly

Spencer Kelly was born on 5th July 1973. Twenty one years later he graduated with a double first in Computer Science from Cambridge University, and then proceeded to put it to excellent use by becoming a radio presenter.  He spent two years patrolling the south in a small plane for the Ocean Radio Group, performing aerobatic stunts in between (and sometimes during) travel reports. He even nearly died in a mid-air collision, and owes his life to the pilot and his quick reactions. He also owes him the cost of dry-cleaning the seat cover.  In 1997 he was asked to fill in on the Ocean FM breakfast show (TSA 1 million) “until further notice”. 6 years later he was still there.  While heading the station line-up he had the chance to do some amazing things. He’s abseiled, sky-dived from 12,000 feet, driven lorries and tanks, and stunt-ridden a motorbike on top of a ladder. He made international news when he caused toy Furbies across the south of England to commit mass suicide (and thus doing his bit for the community). All the while Spencer continued to develop and hone his engaging, witty style building confidence as he gained this valuable experience.  Spencer first appeared on local TV hosting ‘A Matter of Fact’ – a comedy panel game show based on unusual trivia.  He went on to front a film review programme for 3 years between 1999 and 2002, giving his expert opinion on the week’s new releases. The show was meticulously researched, planned and scripted. Sometimes he’d actually even seen the films.

“Widescreen was a lot of work, and taught me a lot of stuff – I wrote and presented it myself, and I was convinced it was my path to the big time. As it happened, the only time I was ever recognised was in a pizza restaurant in Oxford, and then it was only because of my loud shirt.”

In 2003 Spencer joined the BBC as an interactive presenter, and soon moved to the TV technology programme ‘Click Online’. It was here that his passion for science and technology could really flourish, presenting items on wide-ranging and challenging topics, from quantum computers to child abduction.  Filming features and fronting programmes from such exotic locations as Thailand, Finland and Essex, he has attempted to make technology look simple.  Along with ‘Click’, Spencer presented on Channel 5’s ‘The Gadget Show’. Here he explained how things work, using simple props and layman’s terms. Topics under the spotlight included mobile phones (explained using a car park and Batman and Barbie dolls), GPS (using clocks and a lot of white paint) and credit card security (using flying boxes and a man in a stripey jumper).

Spencer is a seasoned and celebrated corporate and non-profit events speaker. Spencer has MC’d the We Media global media and technology event held at the BBC. Hosted by Reuters and the BBC, the forum brought together opinion formers from the media, business and technology worlds to examine the key issues facing us today.  The event was attended by Tom Glocer, CEO, Reuters; Mark Thompson, Director-General, BBC; Jeffry Sachs, Director, The Earth Institute; Nitin Desai, Special Assistant to the Secretary-General of the United Nations; Richard Dreyfuss, Actor and Activist; Wadah Khanfar, Director-General, Al Jazeera Network Channel; Carolyn McCall, CEO, Guardian Newspapers; Richard Sambrook, Director of Global News, BBC; Nikesh Arora, Vice President of European Operations, Google; and Chris Ahearn, President, Reuters Media.