Ashley Regan from AdNews joined the latest Sydney NGEN Media Bootcamp, designed for new entrants to the industry.
Attendees were encouraged to be confident in the workplace and speak up to mangers above them.
About 100 media juniors with less than two years experience congregated at Sydney’s annual NGEN Media Bootcamp, the Media Federation Australia’s initiative dedicated to the industry’s youth.
In a show of hands, a quarter of attendees held sales positions and half room was from agencies. Some of the agencies and media included Mediacom, oOh!media, Southern Cross Austereo, Mindshare, Havas, Spark Foundry and Val Morgan.
In another show of hands, the majority of attendees didn’t work during COVID. I met some juniors with only one week experience in the industry and one NGENer who came from the UK six months ago.
According to NGEN, the bootcamp is “designed to bring you [juniors] up to speed with everything you need to know about the media agency industry: what we do, where your career can take you, the in-demand skills you need right now, the ins and outs of the media channel landscape, and more".
Linda Wong, MFA director of people, opened the conference with a dedication to Kathleen Beddoes, former head of NGEN and senior marketing executive at Adshel, who died after a long battle with cancer just two weeks ago.
“I want to dedicate today to my friend Kathleen Beddoes, she was a beautiful person and I just wanted you guys to think about how important life is.
“She spent her whole life saying, yeah man, just live your life to the full. So I think today is about living your life and making sure that you learn as much as possible about your career.”
When introducing the MFA’s new industry purpose We Are The Changers, Wong said that the industry told the MFA the “work hard play hard culture is not as fun anymore.
“Today is your day to become a part of We Are The Changes because that's what our industry is about enacting change and in the long-term we want to instil pride in the industry.”
But throughout the training day, a noticeable amount of juniors were on their phones checking emails and replying to Slack messages.
Casually, multiple attendees told me they had a huge work day the day in preparation of the event because they “had to organise work before they came”.
Although these juniors are feeling pressure, the bootcamp’s speakers urged attendees to take care of themselves.
Speakers gave advice on how the juniors can speak up for themselves in this industry and encouraged them to “push back” when they can’t handle all the work.
At the end of the event, attendees were asked to submit feedback. The MFA shared some anonymous answers with AdNews, with overall responses positive.
For example: “Even though there were a lot of Media learnings within the presentation, my key thing learnt is to be aware that we all have a degree of bias and it's up to us to be aware of it while also learning to be more empathetic and inclusive of others, forwarding the lesson of equality, equity and justice."
Another “It was really great to attend the event! I learned more about how I will approach moving up in my career, moving abroad and the importance of taking upskilling into my own hands."
Chloe Hooper, change agent at Bare Feat, inspired the youth to have the courage to speak up in the workplace about mental health, encouraging them to take mental health days when needed as “the quicker we identify the issues, the quicker we can do meaningful work”.
As 20% of the media industry shows severe symptoms of depression, compared to the 12% national average, the Mentally Healthy Change Group launched a minimum standards for the industry.
Hooper showed a list of media organisations taking part minimum standards for Mentally Healthy.
She encouraged attendees who didn’t see their logo on screen to approach their managers and ask why.
On the DE&I panel with Joshua Green strategy director at Spark Foundry, Tania David marketing & business development at Finecast and Luisa Dalli senior strategist at Havas Media, attendees were urged to use their voices and speak up if they experience injustices in the workplace.
Tania David said: “One conception that I've learned is that people who are just joining the industry or who are quite new believe they don't really have a say and can't make an impact on DE&I.
“But that's absolutely statistically incorrect.
“I would definitely agree that yes, there is a role to play top down from your CEO levels in terms of advocating. But every person at every level within an organisation has a role to play, even from their day to day.
“So if you have the confidence and the language to address issues, definitely address them were possible.
“But if you feel like it's out of your hands, definitely addressed it with your manager and your HR department, if it's necessary and know you're supported.”
During lunch topics of conversation included “I only just realised how my super works” and “I’ve never claimed anything on tax how does it work?” and “I know I’m never going to be able to afford a house”.
Other feedback highlighted how attendees enjoyed the in-person networking aspect.
“Only thing that surprised me was how lucky we were to gather so much knowledge and experience into this 1 day presentation which was definitely an amazing experience.”
“What I enjoyed most about the session was the opportunity of meeting different individuals from different parts of the industry and build a connection with them. I feel NGEN organized a fantastic session for us newbies, and I would love to attend another session soon.”
“As I've only recently joined the industry this was a really useful event for me to understand how each department works. Overall, it was great having the opportunity to network with others starting out, and I think it'll be a day to remember for all of us!”
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