A talk by Will and Shannie from The Elephant Room (Creative Convos)

We were welcomed by a warm, friendly greeting by both Will and Shannie from The Elephant Room, a relatively new advertising agency that appear as well established as any other agency in the game. With clients such as Dyson, they're definitely doing something right.

Compared to past experiences of talks by other industry professionals, this one stood out differently with it being more discussion orientated; an insight into professional life, that for once didn't seem as daunting as they typically do. Will and Shannie were real with us, didn't beat around the bush or feed us typical one-liners that we want to hear but instead showed us another side of the advertising industry.

One key take away that really stuck with me was that they said how it's..

"...not about experience but about potential."

Creating a role that's right for you is essential and it's exactly what both Will and Shannie did within their agency. It's not always about being the master of one particular skill set as this isn't for everyone, but instead crafting your career around what you're confident with. Connecting with anyone and everyone is essential as we don't always know who's friends with who, it could come in handy in the future for potential collaboration or job opportunities. Another takeaway from the talk was to never disregard other personal interests, regardless of whether it's relevant to your career or not because ultimately everything makes you stand out as your own unique personality.

With all the recent controversy over H&M racist advert for a product, both Will and Shannie made a solid argument in response to this that people would typically dismiss. As opposed to fighting against brands that do things wrong, make mistakes etc. instead see how you could work with them to fix this otherwise brands will never learn. There is becoming more of a need for brands to have a social responsibility over what it is they produce, advertise and advocate and so with this comes the responsibility to ensure they're all aware of society in its current state.