By Harry Fowler - Group Digital Recruiter for AMV Group

I was recently at the D&AD new blood creative talent show. Finding myself on the Great debate panel it was interesting that a couple of us there to talk were coming to the same conclusion. Education seems to be stifling creativity although not on purpose I hasten to add. There were lecturers in the discussion and they had their say - too much testing, ‘how do I get a first?’, lack of vocational time for students and so on. There were comments from the panel, why do we always see the same old book structure, why are things safe, where is the creativity going?

Later I had a look round and I saw some interesting work and I did speak to a few people who I’ve already followed up with so let’s see what comes out of it, with a bit of luck, some sweat and possibly some tears we’ll have some shit hot creative teams delivering great work across mutiple platforms. But the gap between university and comercially aware employees remains around 2 years.

What’s stopping us having our very own HyperIsland where we can develop our own talent and be the bridge between Uni and real life.

 And a big congratulations to the D&AD for putting the show on at Earls Court.

Chinwag is going on a road trip. Next Tuesday (15th April), we will have our bags packed, (complete with a selection of crisp based snacks and various mixtapes) and will be piling into a van to drive up to Manchester for Chinwag Live: User Centered Advertising - Chinwag’s first event in Manchester!

As online content diversifies, new forms of advertising are emerging to keep in step with this ever changing landscape. The first Manchester event for Chinwag in association with Manchester Digital; Chinwag Live: User Centred Advertising asks if these technical innovations are enough in themselves to warrant the attention of ever more savvy consumers?

 The evening kicks off at CUBE, 113-115 Portland Street, Manchester at 6:30pm sharp so please get there about 5:30pm to get settled and grab yourselves a drink. With a diverse range of speakers, great venue, drinks and snacks and informal netwroking after the event - User Centered Advertising promises to be a cracking event. For more details please check out the website, tickets are on sale now and we look forward to seeing you there!

By Harry Fowler - Group Digital Recruiter for AMV Group.

Thanks to all who made it to the discussion last Tuesday (29th Jan) - the above title may give those of you who didn’t make it a wee taster.

Ok, moving forward.

I was recently on a panel at the Deloitte Fast 500 which recognizes Telecoms, Media and Technology companies that have achieved the fastest rates of annual revenue growth in EMEA during the past five years.

More than half of the companies surveyed said they plan to expand their workforce by more than 25 percent, with the vast majority wanting to grow organically, but the biggest challenge to these companies is “finding, hiring and retaining qualified employees”.

So it’s not just digitally led agencies in London (oh sorry and other places like Bristol) – a small consolation no doubt.

So, is this then a grass routes issue?

Educational bodies cannot keep their teachings in line with the advance of technology and therefore one could assume that we will always have difficulty in delivering resources in the numbers that we require?

Doing some research at graduate level – via Prospects website - there was some interesting reading. We may need to face the reality of being priced out of the market for top class talent.

Average starting salaries are higher in the following areas: Banking, Legal, Consulting, IT, Science, Engineering, Accounting and Financial Management.

We need to start getting ahead of these, or at least start competing on a more even keel.

There are opportunities to work on world changing products and services here, and I’m not going to disparage any of the aforementioned sectors, they’re all interesting in their own right, but why are we still not getting the volume of talent we need if our industry is apparently so cool and trendy?

We also need to do a lot more to promote the industry overall, from career progression and training to competitive salaries and working environments. Does job security become a factor? Successful paths must be made available to prospective employees. Does the outside world actually know what we all do for a living? I doubt it.

Should we look at developing a recognised body to further promote our sector within educational bodies? Is this something that we should discuss with the IAB, BIMA, D&AD to champion on our behalf?

I for one, am off to speak to them and see whether they have any thoughts on the matter.

harry

Following on from our recent blog posts regarding the apparent skills shortage in the digital industry, Chinwag Live has organised an event to tackle the issue head on and get to the root of the problem.

The skills shortage in digital media is worsening. 2008 promises to be a crunch year for some and the pain is widely distributed. So what are we going to do about it?

Chinwag Live: Skills Emergency is being held at the Slug and Lettuce, Wardour Street, on Tuesday 29th January from 6:30pm sharp. With a cracking panel and free drink and snacks to fuel discussion, be prepared to hear alternative solutions and ideas on how to move past the current digital skills drought.

If you would like to come along, tickets are on sale now.

Chinwag Jobs welcomes Harry Fowler as a contributing blogger! Also a longstanding contributor to the Chinwag community’s email discussion lists, Harry is Group Digital Recruiter at AMV Group.

Cast your minds back to 98, 99, 2000 and 2001 (ok ok, 2001 to a lesser degree). The digital market sector had been sweeping all before it, dotcoms were starting up daily and there always seemed to be a launch party of some sort, with a free-ish bar.

There was a huge influx of people coming into the sector who had all the passion but few had commercial acumen. ‘Suck it and see what happens’ would have been a fair reflection on the hiring policy of many a company and that in certain cases would work, so long as you had enough people who know what they were doing and could teach/train/imbibe to those willing and eager to learn.

What we have in front of us now is a larger, grown up market, still on the cutting edge, still breaking boundaries and continually evolving. If we didn’t have a skills shortage don’t you think it would be bloody worrying as we’d all be behind the game.

Good people are hard to find in any market, that’s what makes them good. When you find them, look after them, nurture them and make them even better. They’ll work harder and you might just find that loyalty is not dead after all.

If as a graduate you had the option of say.. a) coming to a major city and working in a sector where the starting salary was £25k or b) coming to major city and working in a sector where the average starting salary was £20k, where would you go. And before anyone jumps down my throat and with the ‘money isn’t everything’ line, it still has to be taken into consideration.

If you want the best grads, the brightest minds, the most ambitious bastards out there, then start competing again. Take some risks, look at different sectors, look abroad. Invite people in, don’t wait for them to knock your door down or if you do, don’t complain about a skills shortage.

——–

Harry Fowler is on the panel at the forthcoming event Chinwag Live: Skills Emergency on Tuesday 29th January. Book now to get the early-bird rate of £25+VAT (expires 25th Jan, £40+VAT thereafter). Price includes drinks and snacks.

Chinwag Jobs has been named as a finalist in the Onrec.com Awards 2008 for the Best Technical Innovation Award. You can see the full list of finalists here. (Is it just me, or are there a *lot* of finalists..?)

We’re very happy to have made it to the finalists stage, and fingers crossed we’ll win!

We’re looking forward to the Chinwag Live: Skills Emergency on 29th Jan, in particular to ruminate with the good and great of the industry on how we overcome the dearth of experienced talent. One thing’s for sure, the digital industry as a whole will need to be more creative.

Amongst the many discussions we’ve had with companies in 2007, a trend has emerged of UK companies working with agencies, or even opening their own offices in Estonia.

I’ve been intrigued by this ever since I was invited to Tallinn by Robin Gurney from Altex to talk to a gathering of 200 new media folk. Aside from being a lovely city, I was surprised to see so many people- Estonia is a teeny country - interested in new media and the average level of knowledge was at least as good as I’ve experienced at most UK events, if not better.

Robin’s coming along to Skills Emergency as a guest contributor to share his perspective on how UK firms have used Estonian talent.

He’s also organised another event at the Estonian Embassy in London on Friday 11th at 3.30pm. The event is to launch www.angloestonian.com which is the website for a project which matches some of the best Estonian new agencies with the best companies and agencies in the UK. Already senior people from companies like Virgin Games, Lateral, Ogilvy Interactive have confirmed they will attend and I’ll be popping along.

It’s free and invite only so you will have to contact him direct (via email or give him a buzz on 07894 997925) for a ticket (about 15 left as I write this so be quick) or for more information.

Sit in an interview and you just know, at some point, you’ll be asked, “So, where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time?”. It hangs in the air, waiting for a response. A careful pitch is required to make clear you’re neither an ambition-less worker-drone nor Attila-the-ambitious happy to use the careers of colleagues to climb the career ladder.

How would you answer that question, if it’s posed for the new media world? It’s 2012 and whilst the recriminations about ill-prepared venues are flying, what’s the state of the Internet biz?

Is Facebook still around, or has it been swallowed into MSN? Does online advertising still exist, or have we all become Fan-sumers, ready to hawk our favourite products, brands and artists to our friends and family? Has everything finally gone mobile? Will I be able to actually synchronise my phone and my email without fits of swearing? What does the future hold?

Good question. Which is why we’ve put together our latest Chinwag Live Q&A session: “Xmas Futures, Crystal Balls?” on 5th Dec in central London. We’ve asked our panel of experts to don their time machines and peer into the future. Why not come along and see if you agree with their predictions, better still, what are yours?

The panel features:

• Guy Phillipson - CEO, Internet Advertising Bureau, UK
• Andy Hobsbawm - European Chairman, Agency.com
• Jon Bains - Co-Founder, Lateral
• Nikki Barton- Creative Director, CIMEX
• Pete Robins - Co-Founder, Agenda21

This Chinwag Live event is kindly sponsored by bigmouthmedia and mediaCentrix.

Tickets are still available at the special early-bird rate of £25+VAT (until 30th Nov), but they’re going quickly, so it’s probably a good idea to book early.

If you can’t make it along, but would like to share your predictions, we’d still like to hear them. We’ll share the best ones at the event, so if you’d like to email or comment on the post, please feel free.

Yup, a brand new XBOX 360 could be winging it’s way to you…
includes wireless controls & Medal of Honor: Airborne. Just register for the Chinwag Jobs newsletter (you can unsubscribe at any time) using the form below. You’ll be automatically entered into the prize draw.

Sorry, the competition has now closed.

Obligatory Terms & Conditions: One entry per person. The winner will be randomly selected, and will be notified via email. Prize includes Xbox 360, wireless controls and a game. No cash equivalent for prize. Entrants must be UK residents.Entries will be drawn on Monday, 08 October 2007. Judges decision is final. By entering the raffle, entrants are opting-in to receive Chinwag Jobs newsletter.

 We’ve hooked up with the folks at Carson Systems to sort out a special discount rate on tickets for Future of Web Apps EXPO 2007. Listen to the developers, designers and founders from sites such as digg, Facebook, Flickr, Pownce, Twitter, as well as heavyweights from Adobe, AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo! and more.

 The EXPO usually costs £5, but register now and use the promo code CHINWAG and you’ll get in for free. Save those pennies for coffee, chocolate, booze, etc. Marvellous!

 You’ll 10% off conference tickets, if you sign up with the promo code CHINWAG.