Melbourne AWARD School announces top 10 graduates – James Croxford named top student
The top 10 graduates from the 2013 AWARD School in Melbourne were announced last night at a ceremony at Smart Artz, attended by more than 120 industry professionals, media, sponsors, and graduates who joined to celebrate some of Australia’s freshest new creative talent.
James Croxford was awarded Top student from the class of 50+, followed by Matthew Penza who took the second spot and Adam Slater in third. The remaining top ten students, in no particular order, include:
Suzanne L Walker
Kamol Chalermsan
Lauren Massimo
Michael Farr
Kylie Martin
Miguel Ferreira
Liam Travers
Top students will receive a one hour private consultation with event sponsors, Big Fish Creative Recruitment. Nikki Braybrook and Rita Hughes were on hand on the night, helping graduates to understand the local jobs market and get their foot on the career ladder.
Already third in his class, Slater was also awarded the TAC/Grey Advertising prize, offering him a two week paid internship at Grey.
The Sugar Productions ‘Best in Show’ award went to Andrew Fiscalini, who wins a professional photo shoot with Alex Aslangul.
Communications Council Board members and AWARD deputy chairs Wilf Sweetland (managing director of The Sweet Shop) and Tom Martin (CD at Clemenger Melbourne) welcomed the crowd before presenting students with their certificates. Thanks were given to the Victorian AWARD School heads David Ponce de Leon and Ben Keenan for their commitment and enthusiasm, while the 2013 students were congratulated on their fantastic work and achievements over the 16 week intensive course.
Says Ponce de Leon, CD at BD Network: “We were continually impressed throughout the year by the outstanding calibre of work produced, and it is fantastic to see that effort and skill rewarded. It was no easy feat for the students – our judges included some of the best in the business including Tom Martin and Julian Schreiber from Clemenger, Pat Baron from McCann and Rob Beamish from DDB.”
Says Keenan, senior copywriter at Clemenger BBDO: “Our top ten included an IT specialist and an engineer, and one for who English was not their native language. It shows that AWARD school is a truly unique course that offers anyone with talent the opportunity to be mentored by the best and brightest in our industry, and to take the first steps towards a career as a creative.”
Over the next few months, graduation ceremonies will take place across Australia in Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Tasmania. Dates for the upcoming ceremonies are as follows:
Brisbane – Thursday 1st August
Sydney – Tuesday 6th August
Hobart – Thursday 15th August
Perth – Wednesday 28th August
Adelaide – Contact Tesha
The graduations welcome attendees from across the industry. To buy tickets for any of the upcoming ceremonies, please contact Tesha Jones: tesha@communicationscouncil.org.au.
(Pictured: 1. Top Ten and AWARD School; 2. Ben Keenan (AWARD School Head), Rita Hughes (Big Fish), Nikki Braybrook (Big Fish) James Croxford (top student), David Ponce de Leon (AWARD School Head); 3. Top three students – Matthew Penza, James Croxford, Adam Slater)
11 Comments
Congrats to everyone, especially Michael Farr, the man you’ve never heard of.
Well done everybody. Now remember, probably only about 6 of you will get a job this week and the rest of you will need to work your arses off for another 2 years to get your first full time job in advertising. Those 6 who got jobs, you’ll have to work your arses off to keep them. Enjoy it. The constant every day rejection of you ideas will make you cry at least once but it’s sure worth it. At least I think so.
Lets not forget that being in the AWARD School Top 10 will add that extra pressure to perform!!
Enjoy
Congrats everyone – Especially to the guy on the right. Never too old to do AWARD.
Farr_fan1987 might have joined the Farr fan club one before me, but I honestly doubt any of the 1987 earlier members are even remotely as dedicated to the Farr as I am. Congratulations to everyone else for getting to be so close to Farr while on a staircase. And, of course, for earning a place in the top 10.
go kylie!
Well done guys, bloody good effort. Now, revel in the rare, precious and elusive ‘all positive Campaign Brief comment thread’.
Congratulations to all 50 students inparticular to the top ten as we all know that this kind of achievement does not come easy! I am sure that it was an intense 16 weeks for all of you but worth it in the end. Good Luck to all…….
You should never judge someone on visuals, but for some reason I really like the guy on the right. He looks cheeky, like he’d have good stories. Well done all of you!
Lots of people slag off advertising, but it’s a pretty fun way to earn a dime.
Slater Slater Slater!! Amazing. Well done. You’re officially on your way to becoming a fat cat. Godspeed my friend.
Super stoked that all your grafting over the past few months paid off Slater. Awesome work. Now go get some sleep.