2024 Press Releases
23 April 2024
Press Contact: Patricia Censoprano
patricia@liaawards.com
Mobile: +1 917 287 2824
For Immediate Release
LONDON INTERNATIONAL AWARDS
CREATIVE LIAISONS VIRTUAL COACHING PROGRAM
COMMENCES IN MAY
Meet the Coaches from Australia and New Zealand
(New York 23 April 2024) LIA created the exclusive and sought after Creative LIAisons educational program in 2012, as a way of giving back to the industry that supports us. The entire program is funded by LIA. Our mission is to develop, educate, inspire and nurture emerging talent from around the globe. That in a nutshell is the driving purpose behind the Creative LIAisons initiative.
LIA added this virtual mentoring/coaching program in 2021, to augment the onsite Creative LIAisons program held in Las Vegas later this year. This is part of LIA’s on-going efforts to give back to the industry by supporting and nurturing the younger generation of creatives.
Beginning in May and continuing through November, approximately 200 mentees will begin their Creative LIAisons Virtual Coaching journey. As part of the program, each mentee will have three one-to-one bespoke coaching sessions with three different well-known, well-awarded and well-established industry leaders from around the world.
“Challenger, cheerleader, coach, confidant. Our coaches are all of these and more to the mentees. To the 200 mentees joining this program, we urge you to make the most of your sessions. Grasp your personal sessions with both hands. It’s a rare opportunity to be mentored by not just one, but three industry greats. Push yourself (and your mentors) out of your comfort zone. Let it be your purpose to get the best out of yourself, and in time you’ll be able to pass on the lessons you’ve learnt to coming generations,” said Laurissa Levy, Creative LIAisons Director/Events Director.
This year, there are 11 mentors from Australia and 8 from New Zealand. Among the list of mentors are:
AUSTRALIA:
Jake Barrow, Group Executive Creative Director - Sydney & Melbourne at VML
Adrian Bosich, Managing Partner / Creative Founder at AIRBAG, Melbourne
Dave Bowman, Chief Creative Officer - Australia and New Zealand at Publicis Groupe
Gavin Chimes, Executive Creative Director at Howatson+Company, Sydney
Shane Geffen, Executive Creative Director at HERO, Melbourne
Avish Gordhan, Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney
Jim Ingram, Group Chief Creative and Co-Founder at Thinkerbell, Melbourne
Sarah McGregor, Executive Creative Director at Dentsu Creative, Sydney
Iggy Rodriguez, Executive Creative Director, Sydney
Abby Sie, Head of Sound at MassiveMusic, Sydney
Keir Vaughan, Head of Craft at Thinkerbell, Sydney
NEW ZEALAND:
Melanie Bridge, CEO at The Sweetshop, Auckland
Matty Burton, Group Chief Creative Officer at DDB New Zealand, Auckland
Leisa Wall, Chief Creative Officer at FCB Aotearoa, Auckland
Tom Johnson, Associate Creative Director at Special Group Auckland, Auckland
Cassie Roma, Founder & Director at CR&Co, Auckland
Damon Stapleton, Chief Creative Officer at The Monkeys New Zealand, Auckland
Gary Steele, Chief Creative Officer at DDB Group Aotearoa, Auckland
Lee Sunter, Executive Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi, Auckland
“I’ve been part of the LIAisons coaching academy for a number of years now and I have met some wonderful talent from all over the world. There is nothing else like it and it is important for the growth of our industry at large. Plus helping people to come to their own conclusions, realise things they already knew but didn’t quite ask the right question to get the answer they needed is something I get a great big kick out of. I’ll keep putting my hand up for this for as long as it continues, which I hope is for a very long time,” stated Matty Burton, Group Chief Creative Officer at DDB New Zealand.
This virtual mentoring/coaching program has become an integral part of the Creative LIAisons program. The importance of mentoring cannot be over stated. Some of the most famous people had mentors. The film director, J.J. Abrams, for instance, has always been inspired by Steven Spielberg. As a teenager, Abrams was hired by Spielberg to clean old reels and organize old Spielberg films. Over time, Spielberg came to appreciate Abrams’ passion for the craft and agreed to help him. Abrams credits this mentorship for helping him in production and opening up opportunities for him. J.J. Abrams has been called the next Spielberg.
Avish Gordhan, Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney stated “Being a Creative LIAisons Coach is not only a huge honour and responsibility but an opportunity. I find it invigorating to hear what the brightest young minds of our industry are thinking. I can’t wait to learn from them and I hope I can offer something of value to them in return.”
These mentoring/coaching sessions aim to cover all disciplines with emphasis on skill development, elevating ideas and boosting creative confidence to fast track careers. Creativity is fluid, so there are no set rules or a prescribed formula for the sessions. Each mentee and their mentors are at full liberty to design how they want to conduct each session. The end game? To hone the skills of young creatives, so they can reach their full potential and rise to greater heights.
Melanie Bridge, CEO of The Sweetshop commented, “I feel extremely excited to have the opportunity to mentor emerging creatives through the Creative LIAisons Coaching program. At The Sweetshop, we've always loved nurturing young talent and helping them carve out brilliant careers. It's not just about sharing our experience; it's about guiding the way and empowering them to unlock their potential. I can't wait to connect with the next generation of creatives!"
How are mentees matched with their respective mentors?
While mentees are able to submit their wish list from the list of 200 mentors, there are a few criteria we abide by. The rule of thumb is: no mentee will be mentored/coached by someone in their own company, either locally or globally.
The focus is on the mentees – to give them greater length, breadth, height and depth with these sessions. So careful consideration is given to the mentees’ requests.
Creative LIAisons endeavors to make matches based on interests, goals and their fields within the industry. We begin by making sure they have among their coaches at least one who is in their field of expertise. The other two can be from different backgrounds, regions and different disciplines to broaden mentees’ perspectives. Each coach has a different mentoring style based on their strengths and experience, so by being assigned three different coaches this leads to the mentees gaining valuable insight that ultimately benefits their career goals and growth.
Selection process
To be eligible for the program, mentees have to be currently working in the industry or a related business and be between the ages of 21 - 30 years old.
LIA does not directly select mentees. We leave it up to Companies and Agency Networks that support LIA to put forward candidates. Additionally, LIA collaborates with different Ad Clubs and Associations, and Trade Press by generously allocating spaces to winners of creative competitions organized by them. We want everyone to get a fair shot at a place in the virtual program. Winners from these regional competitions, selected by local creative leaders based on their creativity, will then become part of the Virtual program cohort.
To cast the net even wider, the Creative LIAisons Virtual Program does accept a certain quota of self-nominations.
Matty Burton Avish Gordhan Melanie Bridge
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Notes to the Editor:
London International Awards (LIA) is a Creative Awards Festival, established in 1986, by Barbara Levy, President. Barbara was the first woman to found and operate an International Awards Show honoring multiple media types. 39 years later, LIA continues to hold the unique distinction of being the only international award owned by a woman and having a full-time staff of only women.
LIA stands as a champion of the creative process, creatives themselves, and of course, great creative ideas and executions. We are proud to award the best creative work each year in all forms of media: Advertising, Design, Package Design, Data, Technology, Craft, Health, Pharma, Music, PR, Innovation, Strategy, B2B and much more.
That’s why every year, LIA invites industry leaders and trendsetters on both the creative and client side, assembling the most celebrated people for 10 days of judging in Las Vegas. To cut through the thousands of entries to get to the metal, you need the best jurors from diverse communities – not just meeting DEI standards but having true representation from across the regions, companies, networks, holding companies, independent companies to clients.
All members on our diverse global jury panels, including the Jury Presidents, judge all entries in their respective competitions with the exception to work that they personally collaborated on or was entered from their company. The LIA judging process requires that jurors are onsite for all judging from the first round through statue discussions. There is no pre-judging to narrow the entries.
Creative LIAisons Funded by LIA
LIA created the exclusive and sought after Creative LIAisons educational initiative in 2012, as a way of giving back to the industry that supports us. Our mission is to develop, educate, inspire and nurture emerging talent. That in a nutshell is the driving purpose behind the Creative LIAisons initiative. What began as a vision in 2012, became a zeal which crystallized into the Creative LIAisons Global Coaching Academy. This game-changing training academy is a powerful springboard for the current and next generation of talent. Consisting of both onsite and virtual programs, approximately 300 Creative LIAisons Mentees participate annually.