The One Club, producers of Creative Week and the prestigious One Show Awards, announced this week the formalisation of “Creative Residency,” a program developed in collaboration with BBDO New York that provides multicultural students and young professionals with a 12 month residency at BBDO’s New York office.
The One Club announced this week the formalisation of “Creative Residency,” a program developed in collaboration with BBDO New York
The program was first fielded in BBDO New York during the end of 2014 and the start of 2015. It involved the hiring of five young “Creative talents” tapped by BBDO from The One Club’s diversity initiatives: the Creative Boot Camp, a series of intensive workshops that introduces multicultural students to advertising and design, and Here Are All the Black People, a career fair for emerging and aspiring creatives of diverse backgrounds, whose program includes inspiring talks, panel discussions, creative pitches and portfolio reviews. Following a three-week orientation period, five residents assumed junior creative positions and were assigned to account teams.
JD Michaels, EVP and Director of Diversity & Creative Engineering at BBDO NY, said: “We’ve been thinking about lack of diversity and its complexities for a long time. When we created this program, we asked ourselves, ‘What better way to get young people involved in our business then to actually come work for it. Could it be this easy?’ At least in our corner of the world, yes, it is.” David Lubars, Chief Creative Officer, BBDO Worldwide, added: “We’re committed to this for two reasons. One, it’s embarrassing how un-diverse the industry still is, enough already. Two, BBDO needs brilliant talent and these kids are fantastically talented.”
Creative Residency provides multicultural students and young professionals with a 12 month residency at BBDO’s New York office
“There’s a lot of talk about the need to address the lack of diversity in our industry, but it’s academic until you actually do something,” said Traecy Smith, Director of Diversity at The One Club. “BBDO is putting its money where its mouth is. We are grateful for their support, initiative and for the leadership at BBDO, especially David Lubars, who posed a call-to-action for the residency during a panel at last year’s Here Are All the Black People, essentially creating the program onstage.” Shayne Alexander, Art Director at BBDO New York and one of the program’s inaugural Creative Residents, added: “I believe that one of most pivotal assets in life is to never stop learning. By working among some of the most talented people in the advertising industry, I continually grow and learn as a young creative. That’s valuable.”
The inaugural Creative Residents selected are as follows:
- Sheue-Fang Lee: She is a native of Malaysia, a product of Queens College, a three-time Creative Boot Camp participant and a passionate designer and art director.
- Shayne Alexander: Raised on the island of St. Vincent, Shayne is a photography enthusiast. His eye is on art direction.
- Bennett D. Bennett: Bennett is a copywriter and helped develop AdByte, powered by Google, a one-day immersion for multicultural professionals in ad technologies.
- Kayla Robinson: Kayla recently graduated from The University of Texas in Austin with a major in advertising and art direction. She co-founded Minorities in Advertising.
- Chris Vega: Chris is a Stanford graduate and a copywriter. When not working, he produces music and writes stories.
The next class of Creative Residents will start in January 2016. BBDO New York is currently searching for next year’s Creative Residents and will be vetting candidates at “Here Are All the Black People,” taking place in New York on September 29th.
DDB Group Hong Kong is also looking to the future by kicking off its inaugural 2015 Future Bernbachs Hong Kong summer programme
DDB Group Hong Kong is also looking to the future by kicking off its inaugural 2015 Future Bernbachs Hong Kong summer programme. The agency officially opens its doors for selected students from 24 July to 21 August for the five-week program. Applications are open until 19 June 2015 and interviews will be carried out until 10 July. Throughout the programme, under the guidance of senior staff, students will work towards a mock client campaign in Hong Kong, including planning and executing each stage of the project for a holistic view of how advertising works behind the scenes. Through the project, students will gain valuable experience in research, strategy development, creative output and project management skills.
Clifford Ng, executive creative director of DDB Group Hong Kong. , said: “Bill Bernbach is one of DDB's three founders and a true legend in the advertising industry. We call our student ‘Future Bernbachs’ as an extension of our hopes and aspirations for them. DDB believes in creativity and humanity. We see people as the greatest asset for a creative enterprise. That’s why we are focused on nurturing young talent for the creative industry of tomorrow, because that is where the next big idea will come from.” Irene Tsui, general manager of DDB Group Hong Kong, added: “The Future Bernbachs Hong Kong summer program is an extension of DDB's pledge to bridge the gap between textbook theories and real-world applications, giving budding industry players the springboard they've been waiting for.”
The agency officially opens its doors for selected students from 24 July to 21 August for the five-week program
Applicants can send their CV and application form to [email protected] by 19 June 2015. Successful applicants will be contacted for interviews and confirmation of eligibility. Further information is available on the Future Bernbachs Hong Kong’s Facebook page.
