Youth Seek Out Mentors at Austin’s Biggest Ad Awards Show
Student poses for her head shot.
10 Austin area students participating in the E4 Youth Portfolio Contest will be chaperoned by professionals from local advertising agency McGarrah Jessee as they seek out mentors at the Austin ADDY Awards Thursday, February 9, 2012 6:30pm. These students along with more than 100 others throughout Austin are building professionally reviewed portfolios as they compete for summer jobs. “The contest is open to all Austin area students but we have specialized mentors at 2 area high schools (Reagan, Eastside Memorial)” says E4 Youth founder Carl Settles Jr.. “These professional mentors along with one on one volunteer mentors we hope to connect students with at the ADDYs, work to provide extra support for teachers and help students to develop quality portfolios”.
ADDY youth attendees will also be featured in ads placed around the space and in the program book.
About E4 Youth
E4 Youth is based on the guiding principles of Engagement, Education, Employment & Entrepreneurship for youth. An outgrowth of a partnership between the Media Communications Council (MCC) and the University of Texas Intellectual Entrepreneurship Consortium, E4 Youth fosters high achievement by building teams of business leaders, paid graduate and undergraduate mentors and youth that focus on capacity building enrichment projects that drive economic growth while solving real problems in the community.
Brief History
Over the past 3 years, the Media Communications Council (MCC) has taken a leadership role on the issues of diversity, education and empowerment in Central Texas. In addressing these issues, the MCC has developed a number of innovative approaches and programs including the social learning platform Media Xperiments, an annual E4 Youth Portfolio Contest, intensive college and career discovery camps called It Could Be Us and the annual E4 Youth Summit. Throughout the implementation of all of these activities, media and exposure to media related careers has played a key role in driving engagement and grass roots support from all parts of the community.
Now, having cemented relationships with the University of Texas at Austin and the Austin Independent School District among others to serve as partners, the MCC has a comprehensive media driven approach that addresses key educational pipeline issues not only for under-served students interested in media careers but virtually any career path. This approach, which we call E4 Youth, takes students through the sequence of Engagement, Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship as they explore careers, build portfolios and contribute to a culture of achievement. The MCC currently operates under the auspices of the Austin Community Foundation a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization.
SXSW Panel – Multi y Mono: A Cultural Advertising Battle
Carl Settles Jr., Founder/Executive Director – Media Communications Council
Multi y Mono: A Cultural Advertising Battle
Saturday, March 10th 9:30am
Austin Convention Center Rm 5ABC
Moderator:
Carl Settles Jr. – Media Communications Council
Panelists:
Kelli Coleman – GlobalHue
Sergio Alcocer – LatinWorks
Leslie Wingo – Sanders\Wingo
With ethnic minorities now representing the largest and fastest growing segments of the consumer economy, the very definition of the general market is being challenged. Multi-cultural agency heads such as Translation’s Steve Stoute are eschewing their parent agencies (Mr. Stoute bought back a majority stake in his agency from Interpublic) in order to compete for a larger share of the marketing pie. In his book, The Tanning of America, Mr. Stoute lays out a compelling case for why he and many other multi-cultural agencies may be better suited to influence general market consumers than their largely mono-cultural counterparts.
This panel explores the unprecedented opportunities for minority owned agencies and minority talent to move to the forefront of the advertising landscape. We’ll hear from key executives from GlobalHue, LatinWorks and Sanders\Wingo ad agencies as they lay out their visions for advertising in the 21st Century and the defining role minority media makers are playing in it.
Kelli Coleman, Executive Vice President – GlobalHue
Kelli Coleman, Global Hue
As GlobalHue’s executive VP, Kelli Coleman oversees corporate communications, and is an integral part of senior management. Additionally she is president and CEO of GHV, an independent venture company that seeks opportunities in media, marketing and advertising to create alternative business for GlobalHue clients. Coleman’s leadership within the advertising industry has led to a number of accolades and honors.
In 2010 she received the Women in Business Award from NV Magazine, Black Enterprise Magazine named her one of their “40 Next,” and most recently, Essence Magazine included her in their “Fierce and Fab Under 40” list. In 2008 Coleman was listed in Crain’s Detroit Business top 20 in their 20s; she served as president of the Junior Board for Boys Hope Girls Hope Detroit, a program dedicated to helping at-risk children; and she is a member of the Junior Achievement of Southeastern Michigan Young Professionals.
Sergio Alcocer, President/Chief Creative Officer – LatinWorks
Sergio Alcocer, President / Chief Creative Office – LatinWorks
“Our objective has never been to do general-market work. It’s to take Hispanic to the mainstream, which is different.”
Sergio Alcocer
Also joining this panel is Sergio Alcocer, President / Chief Creative Office - LatinWorks ad agency. LatinWorks has been Ad Age’s Multi-Cultural Agency of the Year or on it’s A-list for the last 3 consecutive years. They were also the only Hispanic Agency to be Cannes Lion winners in 2011 with two trophies.
Having invested in proprietary research, LatinWorks has developed a tool they call BrandSteer along with an ideas lab that has enabled them to create approaches that go beyond the typical scope of work.
Leslie Wingo, Senior Vice President – Sanders\Wingo
Leslie Wingo, Senior Vice Pesident – SandersWingo
“Now, I think being urban is about maintaining personal truths. It’s not ethnicity that separates the urban market from the general market.”
Leslie Wingo
Sanders\Wingo is an award-winning, independent advertising agency that has represented some of the most recognizable regional and national brands, including Peter Piper Pizza, Petro, Fuddruckers, U.S. Postal Service, State Farm, General Motors and AT&T. Sanders\Wingo has offices in Austin and El Paso, Texas, with satellite locations in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and San Francisco.
Innovate: Strategies for Building A Creative Media | Business
Entrepreneurs Hajj Flemings, Hassan Johnson and Ashley.
The Capital City African American Chamber, in conjunction with the Media Communications Council, hosted a panel discussion called Innovate: Strategies for Building A Creative Media | Business November 16, 2011 at Austin Details Art & Photo. The event featured entrepreneurs Hajj Flemings (featured on CNN’s Black In America 4), Hassan Johnson – Tha Trunk Inc and Gina McCauley – Blogging While Brown Conference offering their perspectives on what it takes to make viable creative media businesses.
The panel was moderated by Natalie Madeira Cofield – President, Capital City African American Chamber. Hajj and Hassan joined the panel via Skype. The following are some highlights from the event. Click the links below to listen!
Building Your Media Biz -_Hajj Flemings
Building Your Media Biz – Gina McCauley
Building Your Media Biz – ThaTrunk
Building Your Media Biz – Black to the Future
Steve Stoute: The Tanning of America
Over the last several years I’ve been very impressed with Steve Stoute and his forays into advertising. He’s been able to take his vast network of connections in the hip hop world and combine it with a great acumen for trendsetting to build an advertising agency. I love what he is doing in that he is flying the face of what “traditional” ad agencies have done for years. His agency having been bought by a larger general market firm, he has decided to buy back majority ownership and not settle for being marginalized as only an “African-American” or “multi-cultural” shop. He believes that he can have a great impact on the general market and I believe that is more true than ever.
Based on demographic changes in America, the general market, by definition, is multi-cultural. It’s only going to get more diverse in the coming years and Mr. Stoute understands that hip hop culture has a disproportionate mindshare in America and indeed across the world. So, while general market agencies continue to become less diverse, they do so at their own peril. It’s going to get more and more difficult for them to say to their clients that they can be effective at communicating with their customers when so few of them actually look like the audiences they need to reach.
I hope that Mr. Stoute’s move into the general market waters is followed by many more. After all, this a huge opportunity for those willing to make that leap.
Facebook Investor Says Social Is Over
VC guy and musician Roger McNamee lays out 10 very intriguing hypotheses about the future of social media, advertising, and content creation. Some interesting points from the original article at :
http://www.businessinsider.com/roger-mcnamee-video-2011-7#ixzz1T5rACmsH
Microsoft’s share of internet-connected devices has gone from 95% to under 50% in 3 years;
“Apple will sell a hundred million internet-connected devices this year. That’s two thirds of the PC market.” If you add the other non-PC internet devices, that’s more valuable than the PC market.
Podcast: Leveraging Video & Social Media for Your Small Business
Got Video? Live Webcast
Broadcasting Live with Ustream
So, I’m broadcasting my talk on Leveraging Video for Your Small Business or Non-Profit live Wednesday, July 13th 12pm Central for about 1 hour. I hope you’ll enjoy!
In the mean time, here’s an excerpt from a previous talk about Branding Your Creativity Through Social Media.
the US – Marcus Graham Project
So, I met Lincoln Stevens, founder of the Marcus Graham Project, about 3 years ago when I was starting the Media Communications Council. He works with young African American men aspiring to enter the advertising industry and every summer hosts a boot camp in which young come from all over the country to work together for real clients being guided by advertising leaders. I’m very pleased to see that the project is maturing and making an impact on diversity in the ad industry. It was heartening to meet Lincoln and understand what his dream was as I was pursuing a similar dream with the MCC. We too have a come a long way and I look forward to working with Lincoln and his amazing program some time in the near future!
26 Shockingly Offensive Vintage Ads That Would Never Fly Today
Would You Take Business Advice From a College Student?
This is an interesting article I found in Inc. Magazine. The advertising and marketing landscape is quickly being reshaped and it serves businesses to be in touch with youth. In fact, it’s a worthwhile investment in the future of your business. Enjoy!
Would You Take Business Advice From a College Student?
Why Jen O’Neal, founder of Tripping, created an advisory board of young people
By Jennifer Alsever | From the May 2011 issue of Inc. magazine
Courtesy Company
Student Teachers Tripping co-founders Jen O’Neal and Nate Weisiger (front) lean on young people for marketing advice.
Before launching a new marketing campaign, Jen O’Neal first ran the idea by her board. O’Neal is CEO of Tripping, a San Francisco–based Internet start-up that connects world travelers with local hosts, who offer sightseeing tips, conversation, and sometimes a free place to crash. To promote the site in Barcelona, O’Neal was considering hosting evening events on college campuses. Board member Jacopo Bordin shot down the idea. After class, he said, young Europeans aren’t hanging out on campus—they are relaxing at wine bars and outdoor cafés.
Bordin should know. A 23-year-old student at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, he grew up in Italy. Bordin sits on Tripping’s social media board, a 10-person team of twentysomethings who advise O’Neal on marketing to students, the site’s primary users.
O’Neal and her co-founder, Nate Weisiger, came up with the idea for the advisory board last year after hiring an intern to manage the company’s blog, Twitter feed, and other social media efforts. Some 200 young people applied for the position. After making her choice, O’Neal sat down to toss out the rest of the applications, many of which included enthusiastic stories about travel and studying abroad. “I didn’t want to delete the e-mails,” she says. “I hated the idea of releasing all these people and not coming into contact with them again.”
At the time, Tripping had just three employees and didn’t have the resources to hire any more. But O’Neal and Weisiger thought the young people would make great advisers. To determine which candidates had the most creativity and enthusiasm—and ability to get the word out about Tripping—the co-founders decided to hold a contest. They went through the intern applications and challenged the 40 most promising candidates to vie for spots on the board. The contenders had three weeks to generate as much online buzz as possible about Tripping. About half of the people O’Neal contacted took her up on the challenge.
The contenders used various tactics to get the word out about the company. Because Tripping markets itself as a place to get insider travel tips from locals, Katy Birnbaum, then a San Francisco State University senior, made an online video of the 1 a.m. swarm of people lining up for fresh doughnuts at Bob’s Donut & Pastry, a popular hangout for college students. Lauren Nicholl, a graduate of the University of California, Davis, contacted popular travel bloggers and raved about Tripping. She also took to Twitter, posting information about Tripping as well as links to travel articles and famous quotes about travel.
Whenever O’Neal updated the company’s blog, the young people would flood it with comments. The CEO was impressed by the group’s eagerness. “You could see this rivalry,” she says. “They were trying to edge each other out. We didn’t think people would work that hard to get a seat on this new board we just invented.” In the end, O’Neal chose 10 of the applicants for the board—Birnbaum and Nicholl made the cut.
The board members don’t have daily responsibilities. They primarily act as brand ambassadors and offer the co-founders opinions, advice, and ideas. “It feels completely different than an internship,” says Bordin. “You feel more involved, more rewarded.”
Already, the board members have contributed many new ideas. “They have grown up with technology in ways I didn’t,” says O’Neal, who is 31. “Some of the best ideas came from people who barely had any work experience.” Birnbaum, for instance, came up with a feature called video validation, which helps travelers vet potential hosts in other cities. Since its founding, Tripping has encouraged users to rate and review hosts, but O’Neal wanted to add another level of verification for young travelers who would be meeting up with strangers or staying in their homes. Birnbaum suggested that Tripping interview hosts remotely using Skype; Tripping would ask them to show their passports and proof of address during the video calls and would keep a record of the information.
O’Neal loved the idea and had Birnbaum head up the project. Not only has the video validation feature been popular with Tripping users, says O’Neal, but conducting Skype chats with hosts also provides valuable customer feedback that the company has used to improve the site.
Board members aren’t paid, but they receive training from Tripping’s co-founders. Weisiger teaches board members how to write Web code and create Facebook ads. O’Neal helps them with job hunting, polishing their resumés, and conducting mock interviews and introduces them to other entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.
Each board member determines his or her level of involvement. Bianca Cloutier, a recent Dartmouth graduate, already had a full-time job at a nonprofit in New York City, but she joined Tripping’s board because she wanted to get experience at a tech company and learn more about business development. Jeff Manheimer, Tripping’s vice president of business development, invited her to tag along when he went to meetings on the East Coast. She watched him create promotional partnerships with groups like university study-abroad programs. Working nights and weekends, Cloutier eventually signed up six new partners, including the alumni network of AmeriCorps, a student volunteer organization with more than 600,000 alums. “This was perfect for me,” says Cloutier. “The flexibility was great.”
The social media board has also become a useful recruiting tool for Tripping. Since creating it, O’Neal has hired four board members as full-time employees. And she plans to keep adding members to the social media board as the company grows. “It’s so easy to see who is passionate,” says O’Neal. “Some of them really shined.”
For tips on assembling an advisory board, including how to choose the right members, compensate participants, and structure board meetings, go to www.inc.com/building-a-board-of-advisors.
