The Mediaweek Academy officially launched on Wednesday, with attendees from various independent agencies, holding companies, and media sales teams.
The first session focussed on career growth and development, led by Greg ‘Sparrow’ Graham at LinkedIn’s Sydney office.
The session kicked off with industry legend John Steedman and superstar Rebecca Drummond, Wavemaker ANZ group strategy director.
Sparrow moderated a conversation between the legend and superstar as they shared stories about their respective lives before the industry, early career anecdotes, and their challenges and highlights on the job.
Steedman and Drummond also fielded questions from attendees eager to get their thoughts on the state of the industry amidst rapid change and the best ways of achieving career success.
Steedman said he hoped attendees took away the importance of planning their career path and “setting themselves goals as to what they want to achieve next in their lives and career.”
For her part, Drummond shared that she hoped attendees took away the importance of being open to learning new things and collaborating and listening, which she noted are the “keys to success.”
“That was a clear theme from both Steady and I; that strong collaboration, good relationships with people, your team, and the capability to really listen and learn from those around you are the ticket to success,” she added.
John Steedman and Rebecca Drummond
Among the attendees of the Mediaweek Academy was MW Academy scholarship winner Olivia Scott, senior client service manager from Kaimera, and Mediaweek Academy ambassador Jessica Bray from Audience Precision.
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Scott noted that while there were so many points to take away, the event opened her eyes to what her career path could look like in the long run and the importance of listening.
“There’s a lot of things I want to implement. Firstly, I need to reflect on the learnings and think about what my future looks like and what my goals are. It’s something I need to give proper attention to.
“Secondly, feedback is a gift. I think I can share a lot of feedback with my agency peers and the senior leadership team on how we can better structure those kinds of conversations,” Scott added.
For Bray, her takeaway was understanding listening. She shared: “Listening was a key element Sparrow talked about. He said if you are an extrovert, make sure you have enough time between when you’re speaking to listen to everyone else.”
Bray also noted that reflecting on her personal brand was another key takeaway she would be using in her role as head of media at Audience Precision. “There are a lot of people in our industry, so it’s important to know what we can do as individuals to be remembered,” she added.
Olivia Scott and Jessica Bray
Sparrow was pleased with the engagement and positive feedback from attendees of the first academy. He said: “They loved Steady and Bec, and they seemed engaged, and I think it was really successful.”
As the event facilitator, Sparrow shared that he was excited by the attendees’ enthusiasm to learn. “I think they’re really open and leaning forward and energise to learn, so that was a positive,” he shared.
For those who missed out on the day, Mediaweek will run nine more sessions later in the year. Sparrow urged those who missed out to come to the next ones.
“It’s going to help your career, get your promotion and really kickstart your journey in the industry. So, I’d say don’t miss out,” he said.
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