Macleay ‘AdSpeaks’ announces first speakers; For The People’s Andy Wright kicks off series

Macleay College has announced its first round of talks by high-flying advertising professionals for this year’s AdSpeaks series.

Scheduled to run throughout March, the first volume of AdSpeaks 2015 will be led by three industry heavyweights including Andy Wright (left), co-founder of For The People, Brad Bennett (top, right), head of technology, The Hallway and Neil Duncan (bottom, right), business director, Leo Burnett Sydney.

The speakers will discuss the changing world of advertising; including the entrepreneurial mindsets, integration of technology, and evolving roles. 

The full speaker programme will run as follows:

Monday, March 2, 10:30 am: Andy Wright, co-founder of For The People, will present ‘Starting from scratch – what the agency model would look like if you could start again’. Wright will present his experience in setting up For The People – a new agency model offering branding, design and strategy to new start-ups without a lot of the existing agency infrastructure.

Monday, March 16, 10:30 am: Brad Bennett, head of technology at The Hallway, will be discussing ‘Technology Trends’. Bennett will look at seven trends in technology that will shape the future, what it means to innovate and what trends marketers need to be aware of as we create the communications, products and services of tomorrow.

Monday, March 30, 10.30 am: Neil Duncan, business director at Leo Burnett Sydney, will present ‘The changing role of the Account Manager in the constantly evolving world of Advertising’. Duncan will discuss how the management of agency resources and process, client relationships and the use of technology is changing, and his views on how the Account Manager must adapt to not only continue to be relevant, but also provide greater value to their clients and agency.

Ian Thomson, head of advertising at Macleay says AdSpeaks brings a range of topics to the table that will be thought-provoking, not only for advertising students, but also for industry professionals.

Says Thomson: “At Macleay, we like to position ourselves at the forefront of industry development and provide an innovative approach to education. Through industry focused programs, like AdSpeaks, our students are exposed to what’s happening on the leading edge of advertising early on, and can hit the ground running when they enter the workplace.”

Previous AdSpeaks speakers have included M&C Saatchi group innovation director Ben Cooper, Profero creative director Matthew Delprado, The White Agency strategist Grant Flannery, SBS group marketing director Katherine Raskob, ZenithOptimedia CIO Aaron Michie and Leo Burnett Sydney planning director Caroline Ghatt.

AdSpeaks talks are open to industry, students and public. If you would like to attend one of the above industry talks, email Ian Thomson at ithomson@macleay.edu.au.