It's time to give the industry's young talent the keys to the armoury
Did you send anyone to Cannes this year? I don’t mean, did you yourself stumble through parties armed with a glass of rosé, shooting #cannesyoupleaseshutup nonsense at the person inadvertently standing next to you. I mean, did you buy Young Lions delegate passes and choose the recipients wisely, leading them to engage with an arsenal of talks, workshops, showcases and keynotes?
'The One That Got Away' event
Let’s face it, it’s a programme curated to fortify every one of us working in the creative industry. Who among us doesn’t crave the firepower to be better bolder, braver?
You didn’t send any younger talent? Your loss.
Because the rising talent in our industry has never been hungrier to learn. To be inspired. To break through boundaries of gender, race, age, as well as geography. The goal is to move forward unhindered by barriers and ceilings inherited from an older generation.
This was made clear to me this week when a post-Cannes Lions event I hosted was sold out in just four hours – 400 tickets and a waiting list long enough to get really annoying for those left in the foyer hoping for last-minute drop-outs to propel them into a packed auditorium.
This was to see ‘THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY’, the event in Amsterdam organised on behalf of Orange Lions and the ADCN. Jurors from the Netherlands and special guests selected their favourite award-winning work from the festival. They also selected one campaign that ‘got away’, that didn’t win a Lion, perhaps because the work wasn’t entered in the first place.
Why was the audience – both new cadets and older vets, locally and internationally focused – there in the room? To hear straight from the Lion’s mouth what it’s like to judge 2,000 entries, to debate until 1am, to bring back an originally un-shortlisted wildcard and watch it soar to Gold. To feel that visceral ‘Wish I’d made that’ punch-in-the-chest when you see a genius idea on the big screen. To disagree on best of breed selects. To celebrate wins. To debate the impact of the Glass Lion on the next generation. To see an epiphany in the eyes of a Young Lion attendee who has returned to the office evangelical about her learnings.
Sounds romantic? You weren’t there.
Armed with access to experiences like Cannes Lions, there’s no stopping any of us. Getting the keys to the armory is the tricky bit, because time is precious and the “perks” cost hard cash, of course. I say: Let them advance. I am knocked sideways by the appetite out there for more. So, feed them. An army marches on its stomach, after all.
Kerrie Finch is founder & ceo of international reputation management company FinchFactor. She is a board member of the ADCN, a member of Creative Social, and country representative for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (The Netherlands)