What do you get when you put 80 young-guns of the communications industry in the room with 40 desks, 80 chairs, 10 cases of beer and 40 industry leaders? You get the inaugural Youngbloods speed mentoring event.
Youngbloods is an industry body for anyone working in creative communications who is yet to go grey (officially, that’s people under 30).
Part of its mission is to provide connections and fresh perspectives to the young faces in Victoria’s creative industry, and thanks to the support of the Communications Council, iPopulate, Town Square and CUB, Youngbloods Speed Mentoring was able to do just that.
The idea of this event was born from combining two insights:
1. Finding your feet as a new entrant can be hard
2. It’s sometimes easy to fall into the pattern of accepting what we hear from our
close contacts as the truth
Held in Melbourne on the 27 June, Youngbloods Speed mentoring was an opportunity for young suits to get personal and frank advice from the stars of their field.
The night provided the catalyst to help steer the next generation in the right direction.
Youngbloods’ Co-Chairs Matt Gardener and Spencer Ratliff kicked the night off,
introducing the concept of Speed Mentoring and explaining how the event would run.
And with that, the bell was rung and the night had begun. With the pleasantries out of the way, attendees had only five minutes with five industry leaders, in fields ranging from head of social, to general manager, to an accountant turned agency founder.
Mentor and Managing Director of CHE Proximity, Michael Titshall, said the Youngbloods Mentoring event is a rare opportunity for attendees to explore different career opportunities from a variety of viewpoints.
“There is such an enthusiastic culture at these events, and I find agencies learn as much as the attendees on how the next generation is going to push creativity forward,” he said.
After 50 minutes of thoughtful advice and stimulating questions, the night came to a
close.
The mentees left, full of sound advice, thoughtful anecdotes and beer (when we could
actually get them to leave their conversations).
The mentors left with a revitalised appreciation for, and faith in, the next generation of young professionals who will change the face of the communications industry.
The Communications Council would like to thank all the mentors for participating in the event.
Fresh from their draw on the ‘Pitch’ on Gruen, Youngbloods is set to announce
its next event soon. For news and event updates, visit Youngbloods.org.au