BA (Hons) Advertising students share insights at Global Symposium
- Written byChloe Murphy
- Published date 24 August 2022
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Creativity creates connections beyond borders, enabling us to find new sources of inspiration while sparking innovative ideas. At London College of Communication (LCC), we believe in the power of international collaboration, and offer a range of opportunities for students to explore their disciplines across the broader landscape of the world.
In May, our BA (Hons) Advertising course connected with The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University to host a Global Symposium designed to celebrate students’ final research projects while generating a space where further discussion could flourish.
Coordinated by Student Leads selected from both universities, the Symposium consisted of 2 key elements: a series of live panels designed to share key insights from esteemed industry professionals, and a comprehensive Lookbook which included summaries of dissertation projects and links to final presentation films. This year, students considered topics ranging from the motivations and social pressures impacting the sharing behaviours of Instagram influencers to the politicisation of cyberspace and the misrepresentation of autism in media.
The 2022 event marked the second year of the collaborative partnership between LCC and The Creative School, and built on the success of the previous Symposium by harnessing recent developments in the digital space in ways that encouraged greater engagement and interactivity.
For the first time, audiences were invited to attend live discussions through Gather, a web conferencing platform that aims to ‘make virtual interactions more human’. Alongside live video streaming, participants were invited to develop their own avatar and explore a customisable map, engaging with others in ways that mimicked real-world conversations while moving through an immersive online world.
We caught up with LCC Student Lead, Daniela (Ella) Plank, about her experience of coordinating an international digital event, the importance of developing a diverse skillset, and the ways in which the practice of advertising functions as a powerful communication tool.
Gather | Virtual Offices
Tell us about your creative practice.
As an art director, I particularly enjoy designing non-traditional and experiential campaigns that resonate with people and create a strong bond between brands and their audiences.
Along with finding new and exciting ways of creating innovative campaigns, I’m also interested in understanding consumer behaviours.
Why did you decide to apply to BA (Hons) Advertising at LCC?
Advertising is a powerful communication tool, and I wanted to explore the different elements of the field - such as strategy, creative, and production - in a cross-disciplinary, collaborative environment.
I liked that the BA (Hons) Advertising course at LCC is well-connected with industry, and offers many opportunities to collaborate with current professionals and leading advertising agencies.
How did you find out about the Global Symposium, and why did you decide to get involved?
Throughout my time at university, I’ve organised and hosted several events through my roles as Course Representative and Student Ambassador.
When my course leader, Dr Sevil Yesiloglu, notified me about the opportunity to help organise the Symposium, I was very eager and excited to get to work on developing a capstone event with one of our partners, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University).
What kinds of activities did you take part in through your role as Student Lead?
The Global Symposium offered vital experience for us to connect with industry professionals and present our work before entering the advertising industry.
Similar opportunities experienced by previous classes of students had been more limited due to the lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, this year, we wanted to offer a different experience to a typical Zoom or Teams event; instead, we chose to host the Symposium on a gamified metaverse meeting platform, Gather Town.
Through Gather Town’s interactivity, we aimed to increase motivation to participate in the online event while improving engagement across our 2 panel discussions, which were related to many of our peers’ dissertation topics.
My role in the project involved overseeing organisation of the team and the wider event. Together with Julia Marr, my fellow Student Lead in Toronto, I built the event space we used on Gather Town; led the outreach to industry professionals for our discussion panels; and also participated in moderating parts of the Symposium.
What were your highlights of taking part in the project?
Having everyone come together virtually to present their research and network with industry leaders was a welcoming and exciting new experience.
I particularly enjoyed moderating a discussion panel called The Importance of Ethics in Social Media Marketing – a conversation with industry and academic leads that I personally found incredibly insightful and invaluable as my own dissertation focused on the ethics and impacts of influencers’ sharing behaviours on Instagram.
Overall, we received a lot of positive feedback from both our fellow students and our industry guests around the interactivity of the platform and the insights provided by our panellists, which was a real highlight.
How do you think that taking part in the Symposium will support your future plans?
Participating in the organisation of a capstone event for our course helped me to hone various vital skills such as leadership, collaboration, and public speaking.
It also exposed me to the joy of executing a well-planned event with a fantastic team, and I’m certain that the confidence and connections from these experiences will be beneficial for my future career.
What have been the highlights of your time as an LCC student?
Completing my studies during a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic taught me to appreciate the intimacy and connectivity of in-person events and general human interaction, which was something I think I'd previously taken for granted.
BA (Hons) Advertising is home to a large community, and our dedicated tutors were key to providing us with the resources and support we needed to deal with such an unusual global challenge.
What tips would you give to other students who may be interested in exploring the field of advertising?
I believe that advertising is a good starting point for young creatives who are interested in exposure to different roles such as production, strategy, and art direction - even if they haven’t yet made up their minds on the specific direction they’d like to specialise in.
BA (Hons) Advertising at LCC provides a great balance between different disciplines, allowing students to truly explore the field by providing them with a transferable skillset which will benefit them in any career they choose in the end.
Related links:
- Find out more about the Global Symposium on the Toronto Metropolitan University website.
- Explore our BA (Hons) Advertising course.
- Learn more about our Media School.
- Experience life at LCC through our interactive Virtual Open Day.
