With talents in communications to social innovation, from industry agencies and top businesses, our judges are experts in their fields and generously give their time to support the yMedia Challenge.
Friday is one of the founders of creative agency Running with Scissors. He began his working career as an Air Traffic Controller but found the role offered little freedom for creative expression. So, he moved into marketing at NZ Post, then joined a graphic design agency in London, waited tables in Italy, returned to New Zealand to work in advertising before establishing Running with Scissors with Andy Mitchell in 2008.
Running with Scissors is a creative agency designed to provide innovative answers to its clients. It’s a company that believes a good idea can come from anyone and that it can be anything. It operates a unique idea generation model, engaging disparate groups of people from widely varied walks of life. Artists, accountants, musicians, orchardists, chefs and students (to name but a few of the professions covered) come together in carefully orchestrated creative sessions to brainstorm business problems. This provides a multitude of diverse possibilities from which the best answer can be identified, developed and put into play.
Steve Martin has been Creative Director at Terabyte for eight years. He has a passion for design, having fined tuned his talent as an art director for Conde Nast in the UK prior to joining Terabyte.
Leading Terabyte’s award-winning team of designers is no simple task, and Steve excels by being both sensitive and diplomatic. He can spot a great idea from a mile away, as an experienced judge of the Best Awards and a member of the DINZ council.
Steve has been a yMedia supporter since day one, offering advice to Pamela and Adele and sharing their enthusiasm for transitioning students into the industry through relevant experience.
Nick Harris has recently completed a project management role in developing the EASY Project; an e-learning resource for youth workers. Prior to the EASY Project, Nick was a solicitor with YouthLaw, providing a free legal service for children and young people nationwide.
Nick has previous experience with the yMedia Challenge when YouthLaw was a contestant in the original 2007 challenge, and again as a judge in 2009. He is excited to be back this year, bringing a community sector perspective to the panel. Nick says "yMedia is an inspiring experience for all involved, and is especially powerful the not-for-profit organisations who take part. It was a great experience for us at YouthLaw. It really opened our eyes to the momentum of change in information/communication technologies, and the potential they offer to community organisations. More importantly, we also reached a better understanding of the evolving communication styles most suited to the needs of our community”.
One of the few mainstream media journalists to fully embrace online media, Ana Samways writes the daily Sideswipe column in the NZ Herald. The broad appeal of the blog-like column has made it one of the longest running (eight years and counting) and most–read columns in the country.
In 2006 Ana started up online escape site spareroom.co.nz with her partner Steven Shaw. The site does what print can’t, fully utilising video content to add to its quirk, humour and entertainment content.
Ana is a regular tweeter, with over 1500 followers and believes new media is a huge asset to a business and essential to modern media, but only if used wisely. “Users out there are savvy these days; they know when you are full of it and won’t appreciate being self-promoted at. New media works best by engaging with an audience, not spamming them”.
Sarah Marshall hails from the UK, and sees the online industry as one of the most exciting places to be, as it is constantly changing - in her mind, there are plenty of opportunities to play a role in the growth of the industry.
With her psychology and marketing qualifications in hand, she moved to NZ more than eight years ago. She's now had more than 16 years experience in marketing, in brand development & management, online, press, magazines, TV, radio, PR, events & sponsorship. For the last six years, she's worked for one of Australasia’s most successful media organisations, APN News & Media.
She began as Marketing Communications Manager for The New Zealand Herald and has been the Marketing Manager with APN Online for the last three and a half years. In her current role, she's responsible for managing the marketing team with a key focus on the award-winning and market leading news website, nzherald.co.nz
nzherald.co.nz is proud to support the yMedia Challenge: giving students the opportunity to work on live projects and gain real life experience can only be good for the growth of the new media industry in New Zealand.
Kenneth is currently working for Mediaworks Radio’s station Kiwi FM as the Afternoon Co-Host, Producer and Promoter. He says “I love my job – because music and people make my life! Radio is more than just having a chat in between songs. It’s about creating a mutual understanding between the station and you.”
While studying at AUT’s doing a Bachelor of Communication Studies, Kenneth participated in the 2008 yMedia Challenge – (in an awesome duo,“Team Hamburger” - story for another time).
Kenneth says of his experience with yMedia: “The word “Challenge” in yMedia is definitely right because I was confronted by tasks that really pushed me mentally, challenging me to think in new creative ways. So I know exactly how much effort is needed to help community groups and do this challenge. It's with this experience that I think makes me an ideal judge for the yMedia Challenge 2010. YEOW!”