3 minute read
Inspire, #educate and #inform
#INSPIRE, #EDUCATE, #INFORM
Carrie Wootten, managing director of Rise, is a leading advocate of diversity in the media technology industry. She explains why now is the time to go out and get the next generation of talent... because its there!
How did you get started in the media tech industry? I studied drama and theatre studies at university and went on to radio and television roles from there. But the real change was when I joined Ravensbourne University as their head of commercial development and partnerships in 2009, where I started to work more closely with broadcast engineers across the sector.
How has it changed since you started your career? The discussion around diversity has changed tenfold since then. There are open and transparent conversations around the lack of diversity in our sector; but as we know, there is still so much work to do to translate this into concrete action across the industry.
What makes you passionate about working in the industry? The potential of what could be! It’s such a dynamic, exciting, innovative industry, with incredible people in it. But we need to ensure it’s a diverse and inclusive sector too.
If you could change one thing about the media tech industry, what would it be? The speed at which we’re changing the gender diversity of our sector. We’re just not moving fast enough and as Tim Cook recently said, there are no more excuses now.
How inclusive do you think the industry is, and how can we make it more inclusive? I think some companies are trying really hard, some not so much and some struggle to understand how to be more inclusive. I had a conversation with a company recently that hadn’t thought about ensuring diversity was represented on their website or that their maternity policies were easily found. Small changes make a big difference. Ensuring there are open, transparent and honest conversations around diversity internally are vital; being open to the suggestions that staff make around inclusivity, and that these are supported from the executives. This is absolutely critical. Our Strive to Rise Mark also now provides a framework for companies to self-assess where they are with gender diversity, so hopefully this will help media businesses understand how to create and build more inclusive environments.
How do we get the message out to young people that media technology is the career for them? We know that our workshops and Summer Schools have a big impact on young people (and crucially their parents) on how they view and engage with the media technology industry. We must spend time and resources to #inspire #educate and #inform them about their potential pathways and opportunities in the sector. For too long we have waited for talent to come to us; we now need to go out and get it, because it’s definitely there!
Where do you think the industry will go next? I don’t think the explosion in innovation has anywhere near petered out, and the ongoing development around 5G utilisation, cloud technology and remote production is going to continue to thrive. I think the demand for content will still outstrip what we’ve seen before, and the development of new agile, start-ups will continue to find ways to produce new products to challenge and disrupt the supply chains. Exciting times!
What’s the biggest topic of discussion in your area of the industry? Is it enough? Rise has achieved an incredible amount in the short time it has been running, but this question keeps me up at night. Is it enough? How do we do more? When can we do more? And who/what do we need to have in place to achieve this. The job is not done, until we can walk into any trade show across the globe and see that gender representation on the show floor.
What should the industry be talking about that it isn’t at the moment? How we collectively move quickly enough. This isn’t a one company problem/solution. We all have to work collectively and collaboratively if we’re going to address diversity and other big areas such as sustainability. These are central elements to our survival as a sector and we’ll only do this through the ultimate teamwork. n
