“Knowledge is like money: to be of value it must circulate, and in circulating it can increase in quantity and, hopefully, in value.” - Louis L’Amour
One of the things we always strive for at The Pop Up Agency is to learn and develop — as a company and as individuals. The key is sharing of knowledge! Sharing what we know, listening to others and implementing what we believe in.
We use a few methods for maintaining a constant flow of input and knowledge:
- Having mentors and mentoring others.
- Speaking at and attending events and festivals.
- Work with creative schools around the world through lecturing, facilitating and consulting.
The ladder has proved to be an incredible source of knowledge and inspiration. We truly appreciate our ability to support and empower young minds and what we get in return is something you cannot put a price on. Through this work, we sit in the front row with the future, the next generations brands, business and company leaders. We learn how they think, how they work and what they want. And trust us, they know what they want!
Two weeks ago, Pop Up was in Cannes for the third year in a row. We were invited back to Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to speak and run workshops. This year also asked to run one of their Academy classes.
The Roger Hatchuel Academy is a one-wheel creative program for 31 students in the age between 19–23 years old, representing 26 different nationalities. Having such a diverse group of young creatives in one room wasn’t something you would get any other day.
On Sunday, June 18th, we met the students for the first. It was that first day of school vibe, a mixture of excitement and nervosity. We kicked off by letting everyone present themselves, where are they from and what do they aspire to?
We didn't realize this, but many of our students were extremely proud to represent their countries. In fact, throughout the week, sharing knowledge of culture was as high on the agenda as sharing knowledge about the creative industry. They said:
- Who we are, is as important as what we do.
There seems to be a fantastic need to embrace individualism. It is a generation where mixed raced children are the fastest growing demographic and perhaps the importance of owning and embracing culture has something to do with that. Regardless, it is so vividly clear that openness and strong values are two key things they expect from their future colleagues and employers.
Although we are a few years older, we still share similar thoughts, feelings, values as those 31 students. And therefore, we had to create a program giving them a wide perspective of the creative industry.
We tried to create something as close to the perfect world as possible: 50/50 gender ratio, senior vs junior level speakers, varying topics, different ethnicities, disabilities etc.
This wasn't an easy job — for the Cannes Lions organization, for us or for anyone else involved. It took hard work, coordination, and cooperation between central and local stakeholders to gather such a global group. We think that’s a pretty solid reflection of reality. There is no doubt that striving for a company and culture with more diversity is harder work than status quo.
But it has to be done!!!
We all have a responsibility in making it happen. Our industry claims to value diversity and diverse thinking — now it is time to actually reflect that!
