Youngbloods and The Communications Council held their annual Speed Mentoring night on 20 June, and with 40 industry mentors and 80 ‘mentees’ in attendance, the event was a great success.
Throughout the evening, mentees – who ranged from graduates wanting to crack into the industry in Melbourne to those who’ve already worked in it for a couple of years – spent five minutes chatting to a mentor before switching tables for five minutes with another mentor. With bells going off every five minutes telling people to switch, it was like speed dating – only with a different objective!
Mentees were supplied some suggested questions to ask their mentors which ranged from career advice to industry insights and treads. And no questions were off limits…
Mentors included Melbourne advertising heavyweights Paul McMillan (CEO, The Monkeys Melbourne), Georgie Pownall (MD, McCann Melbourne), Chris Jeffares (CEO, Cummins&Partners), David Brown (MD, Noisy Beast), and Jayne Brady (General Manager, AJF GrowthOps).
Georgie Pownall said: “What a dynamic evening. Not only did I get to meet and chat with some fantastic business management talent, but also to catch up with some of the best senior talent in the industry. I think the secret is that the mentors might get more out of the night than the mentees!”
Clemenger BBDO Graduate and mentee Shivangi Prabhavalkar said: “What a wonderful night, with some solid insights from the industry’s best.”
Mentee Jobe MacShane, Account Executive at Saatchi & Saatchi said:
”The Speed Mentoring night was an incredible opportunity to sit face to face with industry leaders. No barriers, only honest advice. It was really great to see how eager the leaders were to share their knowledge, showcasing the industries emphasis on developing the next generation. Thank you to the Youngbloods and all of the amazing leaders for a game changing night.”
Mentee, Sophie Tilley, Marketing and Communications Coordinator at Cinema Nova added: “The Speed Mentoring event was a great night. In no other situation would I have been able to speak with so many leaders and gain such an amazing insight into the industry! All the mentors were so open to sharing their experiences and thoughts which made the task of networking so much easier. Whatever your questions might be, or however far along in your career in advertising you are, I would highly recommend coming along to the next Speed Mentoring night!”
Youngbloods and The Comms Council wish to sincerely thank key sponsor of the event, Belinda Lodge at iPopulate, and Town Square for use of their fantastic agency space.
Belinda Lodge said: “I don’t know any other industry whose senior leaders would all turn up on a cold, wet Melbourne night just to support and guide the next generation of young rockstars. What an epic evening it was!”
