In June 2017 we held the first BIMA Scotland Digital Leaders Dinner in Glasgow bringing together the heads of major creative agencies in Scotland. The chat was animated and mainly focused on addressing the digital talent gap that all companies were experiencing. There was a collective sense that it was time to stop talking and take action to address the need to attract talent from a broader landscape, and focus on identifying and nurturing home-grown talent.
After several further meetings the mantel was picked up by:
Jackie Arnott-Raymond, Managing Director, Front Page
Martin Jordan, Director of Marketing & Innovation, Equator
David Johnstone, Managing Director, After Digital
Gerry McCusker, CEO, Dog and Chair BIMA Scotland
Claire Scally, Joint Managing Director, TRC
Kenny Shaw, Managing Director, Screenmedia
The five agencies came together to create a five month programme covering: account and project management; content and brand strategy; digital marketing; front and backend design; UX and design. TRC brought their training and organisational expertise to the table to create the complete package (covering all programme coordination and additional training) and to promote the programme to young graduates. Inspiring Digital Leaders (IDL) was born.
After a far reaching marketing campaign across Scottish universities and a rigorous selection process the final “fab five” IDL cohort were recruited. Eddie, Evan, Julia, Patrick, Rosa are now on their fifth and final placement in this ground breaking graduate programme. I caught up with them to find out a bit more about them, how they have found IDL and what lies in store. We are immensely proud of this programme, providing unique training and insights to five talented young individuals, and we are immensely proud of them. Expectations have been exceeded all round.
Click on the links below to hear their stories…