From coast to coast: A journey through Yahoo Academy and Adweek APAC by Tom Trefry

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From coast to coast: A journey through Yahoo Academy and Adweek APAC by Tom Trefry

The Brand Agency’s Senior Media Planner, Tom Trefry reports on his recent experiences at the Yahoo Academy in Sydney.

 

Last week, I was one of the lucky ones invited to join the Yahoo Academy in Sydney, part of a group of 40 delegates from across Australia and Singapore. The three-day whirlwind of learning and networking took place at Sydney’s iconic Luna Park, overlooking the picturesque Sydney Harbour. The Yahoo Academy experience lived up to the hype, with inspiring speakers, thought-provoking workshops, and valuable insights into the ever-evolving world of advertising and technology.

Day One: Yahoo Academy Immersive Workshop
The first day of the Yahoo Academy kicked off with an immersive workshop led by the dynamic duo, Faris and Rosie Yakob, founders of Genius Steals, an international strategy and innovation consultancy. Together, we delved into the concept of “scenius,” the concept of a collective genius, explored real-time workplace solutions, and discovered the multitude of ways an apple can be visually represented. The day culminated in a pitch-off for MOOD Tea, where each team had just one hour to prepare and deliver a compelling presentation.

Day Two and Three: Adweek APAC Exploration
Days two and three were dedicated to exploring Adweek APAC, the mornings marked by long lines of eager attendees, not for Luna Park’s famous rides, but for the opportunity to hear speakers share their knowledge on topics such as AI and “The Ad-Funded Web.” As the afternoon rolled on, the queues grew shorter, as it seemed most patrons had taken the obligatory picture of a panel and their lanyard for LinkedIn and were off to a long lunch! So I had the chance to attend talks on subjects, including “Reels” hosted by Meta with Jimmy Rees and Maria Thattil, a glimpse onto the other side in the world of podcasting with Matty Johns and Gary Jubelin, and an interview with Faris and Rosie Yakob on their nomadic lifestyle, hosted by Yahoo’s Elizabeth Herbst-Brady. I also learned about the future of TV with an insightful conversation with David Barker from Samba TV.

My key learnings from the trip were:
1. “If you want to be weird, surround yourself with weird people”.
As told to us by Rosie Yakob, new ideas and solutions aren’t going to appear out of thin air, we need to surround ourselves with people and experiences that make us think outside the box. Counter to this statement, “if you want to be boring, surround yourself with boring people”.

2. Three things in life are guaranteed; death, taxes, and platforms changing.
Google, Meta, “X”, etc, they are always going to be changing so keep your head in the game and embrace the change and the best way to properly know platforms is to use them. If that isn’t some form of relief for my weekly screentime report, then I don’t know what is.

3. No one is an expert in AI.
A reassuring takeaway, as I was starting to believe that everyone around me was, and I had some serious catching up to do. The truth is that computer learning systems are always going to be infinitely evolving at a speed that would be impossible for us to ever keep up, but that shouldn’t make them scary, in fact we should be looking at how we can leverage and embrace them to improve our work and processes.

The experience at the Yahoo Academy and Adweek APAC was a whirlwind, I gained so many valuable insights, got to put my skills to the test and made some amazing new connections, all in just a few days. A huge thanks to the Yahoo team for the invitation and to my team at The Brand Agency for the nomination. As I return to Perth, I bring with me a motivation to embrace the future of our exciting industry (Yahoo Yodel!!).

From coast to coast: A journey through Yahoo Academy and Adweek APAC by Tom Trefry From coast to coast: A journey through Yahoo Academy and Adweek APAC by Tom Trefry From coast to coast: A journey through Yahoo Academy and Adweek APAC by Tom Trefry