HAATBP | Ayush Kumar
The One Club for Creativity’s HAATBP career fair and conference was a sprawling multi-stage event that promoted diversity in advertising and marketing spaces where there has historically been an imbalance of people of color. Students from all different backgrounds were able to participate in portfolio reviews with industry professionals and receive feedback on their creative online presence and resumes. All attending agencies, including R/GA, Mother, Mekanism and The Martin Agency had booths set up to talk to interested prospective job-seekers.
Speaking at a panel comprised of only VaynerMedia executives, CEO Gary Vaynerchuk spoke of his agency’s attempt to bring in new voices. He talked about accountability for this diversity movement, and how it is a system that only works if it is implemented from the top-down. His colleagues echoed these statements, and emphasized the importance of bringing in talent that includes men and women of color. If VaynerMedia fails to do so in a year from now, Vaynerchuk said that the blame is solely on him. I admire this level of corporate responsibility, and hopefully, more agencies will follow suit.
A panel hosted exclusively by R/GA employees, Challenging the Conventional Rules of Marketing went into depth about many practices that are slowly fading away in the world of marketing. All four speakers talked about their unusual career paths and how they ended up in this industry. It was refreshing to see many different ways to build a portfolio, and the importance of staying well-rounded when it comes to applicable skills. The ‘Integrated’ part of BIC makes a lot more sense to me now that I am a couple months into the program and have attended a few industry events like HAATBP. Although we are divided up in PR, Management and Creative tracks, it takes a certain amount of proficiency in all three disciples to really reach your full potential as a marketing and communications professional.
Personally, the panel that stood out the most at HAATBP was one titled I’m the Only [BLANK] at Work. It resonated with me because since graduating college, I have worked at several different places and been the only Indian person, and most of the time the only voice of color in the room. Chris Bergeron, Vice President of Content Experience at Cossette, spoke of the challenges of being a transgender woman at work, and the bigotry that she has often encountered. She said that she has dealt with this by letting her work speak for herself, and by making sure people are listening to her, and not just making assumptions based on appearance.
Kai Deveraux Lawson, co-host of Mixed Company podcast, responded to an audience member’s question about tokenism and how we all need to be careful when it comes to inclusivity movements. Anytime someone feels like they are being tokenized instead of being celebrated at work, that is not real diversity. James Kinney, Director of People at Giant Spoon, brought up the concept of bringing your “whole self” to work, which I will carry with me going forward. Employers who have a quid-pro-quo mentality are not doing justice to those who come in to work everyday for their organization. Lawson also delved into assimilation, and how minorities in a creative workplace often feel compelled to assimilate in order to receive equal treatment from coworkers and supervisors. She said that assimilation is a choice that should be left to minority workers, and that nobody should feel like they are walking on eggshells at work, as that is neither healthy nor productive.
At one of my first jobs, I asked the VP of the agency why I wasn’t going to client facing meetings even though my work was getting great feedback. I was told if you wear more slacks and button downs, that could change.-Rick Sentine (Senior Account Executive, VaynerMedia)
Black and urban culture became the culture-Gary Vaynerchuk (CEO, VaynerMedia)
That’s when you know you’ve reached the right workplace- when you feel comfortable being you. At Giant Spoon I feel like I can be a black male. It’s important to be able to bring your “whole self” to school or work.-James Kinney (Director of People, Giant Spoon)
Read weird shit and follow interesting people. We all read industry news and the basic information that everyone has. It’s good to dig below the surface level.-Brandon Lee Heard (Strategist, R/GA)
I’ve never worked on anything at R/GA myself. It’s a fast-speed culture and our space is extremely open. It’s all collaborative-Marcela Madera (Associate Consultant, R/GA)
