1stFive Experience: The Wisdom of Youth and Senior Executive Advice

In an industry as exciting and as dynamic as ours, the question of the development of tomorrow's leaders becomes vitally important. What can we do to encourage and train the next generation of media executives? Helping to address that issue is Media Village.com's bold initiative called 1st Five, which recently held its fourth annual Summer Intern Experience at Horizon Media. The Experience collected all of the summer interns who worked in a range of media companies this summer to a meeting designed to offer advice, further encourage their interest, and elicit their feedback.

This year's event was the first to capture a majority of Generation Z participants who grew up with the internet. "You are in my opinion, the most singularly important generation in history because you are the generation that is on the cusp of one of the most important significant shifts in our culture, our society, our business, our civilization," noted Jack Myers, Founder of MediaVillage.com, "and we can learn a lot from you."

Executives from host companies Turner and Horizon, as well as Viacom, 4A's, and Meredith, participated on panels and spoke directly to the interns about their experiences. In one of the break-out sessions, Howard Shimmel, Chief Research Officer, Turner, spoke to a large group of interns on the value of data and a career in Research. "It's a great field and it's a growing field." He explained that as Gen-Z disrupts the media business with their new and different viewing patterns and technologies, it is Research that is trying to understand the disruption. Putting it all into context, he explained that "We are in a world where there is more data than ever. If you use Siri there is data. If you use Alexa there is data. Your phone knows where you are now. The people who win are the people who actually understand what that data is and what that data means, and what you do with that."

In turning to the interns, Shimmel found that they were excited about all the uses of data and how it could be applied to creative and advertising. Olivia, who interned at the Ad Council, found that it was "interesting to see how data and research were used to target PSAs and its evaluation on the backend with the data collected to ensure that the PSAs were hitting their specific target." Shimmel agreed and added that the increase in digitization in television is "enabling advertisers to do a better job of reaching people they care about and not reaching people they don't care about" with ability to capitalize ROI by better targeting. "The future of TV is addressable," stated Shimmel.

Not all internships are successful. One intern noted that while she was interning at a fashion firm, the company went out of business. Another felt uncomfortable in a company's culture which did not embrace his values and made him feel like an outsider. Shimmel advised students to choose their future employers as carefully as they themselves will be chosen: "You spend so much time at work that you want the company you work for to be a good match and a place where you can voice your opinion and be heard," he said.

When an intern finds the perfect company with a compatible culture and responsibilities that excite and interest them, it can become a launching pad to a long and successful career. Taylor, who interned at Nickelodeon, was excited about learning about SVOD and "how television tackles the digital competition," finding it "inspiring."

As much as the interns need a job, the media industry needs them. We need the fresh perspectives of Generation Z because TV is in a quandary according to Shimmel. Viewing patterns are changing and challenging the established business model. "How many of you watch on demand? Watch TV when you want to watch?" he asked. Most hands went up. "That is exactly the challenge we are dealing with," he concluded.

Privacy is not as big a concern to the interns as one might think, because the addressability of the ads appears to be welcome. "As for me," described on intern, "I hate to be watching a show and have ads come on that I/m not interested in and that don't relate to my life. I want to get ads that I actually use and can see what's out there."


The next step for these interns is to network, build on their contacts and hone their skills in the area of media that most excites them. Many gems of advice were offered. "Go into a job and evaluate what you like and dislike. If it doesn't work out you can figure out exactly what makes you unhappy," Shimmel noted. An intern suggested to "use your contacts. I always thought that my work speaks for itself but I realize that you need to reach out and ask for help." In a parting word of advice, Donna Speciale (pictured above with Howard), President, Turner Ad Sales, concluded, "Open yourself up to what is going on and don't have fear. Be strong in your convictions. Be confident. There are no rules so don't be afraid."

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com
 

David Sable of Y&R at MediaVillage.com's 3rd Annual 1stFive Summer Intern Experience, Powered by Turner

Disruption is a word we hear often when describing the media business today. Job functions are changing. Areas of expertise are shifting. What does a student intern need to do to craft a career in media? There was plenty of insight into these concerns and others last week at the 1stFive.org intern reception powered by Turner at the Time Warner Center. Jack Myers, founder of MediaVillage.com and creator of 1stFive, set the tone by warmly welcoming the group. “We are really happy to gather you together as a group to recognize you, to tell you how important you are to us and how excited we are to have you join our community,” he said.

In his acclaimed book Hooked Up: A New Generation's Surprising Take on Sex, Politics and Saving the World (Shelly Palmer Digital Living), Myers explains that Millennials are actually three separate groups – pre-Internet, post-Internet and those in the middle who experienced first-hand the transition from traditional to digital. "As a generation you are gender neutral," he told the crowd. "You are not hierarchical, you love experiences and are not aspiring for financial success. You are more interested in doing social good." His overview set the stage for C-Suite industry speakers, all of whom offered the interns some sage and actionable career advice.

“When I talk to you I will give you things to think about,” promised David Sable (pictured at top, below left and at bottom with Jack Myers), Global CEO of Y&R. His presentation, titled Food For Thought to Get You Through the Winter, offered a list of things to consider as part of one’s career progress.  (I would like to note that this list is useful no matter where you are in your career.)



Consider This a Journey
Acknowledging that media is an industry of connections and relationships, Sable advised, “Look who is sitting next to you and around you.  The people you see now, I guarantee, you will see twenty, thirty and even forty years from now.” His advice?  Get to know people and don’t think of your career as a linear progression. “Life is not linear, my career was not linear,” he explained.  “It never occurred to me how my career would end up. I never changed jobs for money. I never had a plan. But I knew that I wanted to advance my thinking. Everything I did was a way to learn something else.”

Disrupt or Be Disrupted!
Sable made the point that any industry, product or service can be disrupted -- and you do not need technology to disrupt it. “We digibabble [ascribing magical marketing powers to digital] ourselves to death,” he said, offering as an example Dabbawala, which is a food delivery service in India that collects, delivers and returns lunch boxes from homes to workplaces daily via bicycles or trains. This very simple and basic service, functioning on color strips of paper, has disrupted the food delivery service in that country, he explained.

Dissidence
Sable exhorted the group to join a movement, break convention and change the world. In effect, replace disruption with dissidence. “Dissidence is about getting people to join a movement,” he said. “Think of life a different way. Dissidence is people first, and dissidence does not depend on best in class technology.” He also noted the difference between “mobile” and “mobility.” “A laptop is mobile but you are not mobile sitting here,” he said. “Mobile is about the device -- an iPad, a phone. Mobility is about your life.”

Axioms
“Digital is everything but not everything is digital,” Sable advised. “We still go out to restaurants and concerts. But everything may have a digital piece to it such as going out and buying coffee using an app.  Technology is not the be-all and end-all.
“Avoid digibabble,” he continued.  “Digital is not magic. It is just a tool.  Amazon is opening up brick and mortar stores.  At Cannes, Snapchat and Pinterest weren’t using their platforms. They were using 3D displays to get people’s attention. It was called a digital effort but it was a billboard, and it was up all the time.”

Sable also asserted that creativity is the story, innovation drives it and technology enables it. So ultimately it is about our creativity, inspiration and motivation, not the technology that advances who we are professionally and personally. “Radio was once an innovation,” he said. “So was television. So was cinema. So was print. The beauty of today is that we have this technology that allows us to enable. So we can enable that story in the innovation, in the distribution. And, we can add a buy button.”



Thoughts on Leadership
There is a difference between traditional and creative leadership, according to Sable. Whereas traditional uses the stick as punishment, creative uses the carrot as reward. Traditional is linear, hierarchical, relying on planning and executing and sustaining order.  Creative is more networked, non-linear, more iterative and risk-taking. It is the creative framework that is more successful in today’s marketplace. “Learn to live in a non-linear way,” Sable suggested. “Take a risk. You can’t wait for inspiration.  Those who learn to listen, to collaborate and to improvise are the most successful.”

Final Ideas
“Read everything, read interesting things but have a point of view,” Sable recommended. “Read things and try to connect everything you read.  And take care of ‘Brand ME.’ You are the CEO of your own company. It was first said in 1997 but it has never been more true.”

I would like to note that Sable's ideas are useful no matter where you are in your career.


This article first appeared in www.MediaBizBloggers.com