Industry leaders to help transform media education

Wednesday, 29 March 2006

Leaders from the media business community met this week with a view to transforming media education at the University of Adelaide.

They are all members of a new Media Advisory Board, which includes some of Adelaide's most significant media players. All have agreed to give their time to help the University become a benchmark provider of media education in the country.

"I am delighted with the calibre of people that we have on the Media Advisory Board," says Professor James McWha, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide.

"The Bachelor of Media is a relatively new program in the University's 130-year history, so we have put this advisory board together to help us improve and strengthen our offering in this area. We plan to be a leader in this field, preparing well-rounded graduates who can apply their skills to a diverse and changing industry."

The Media Advisory Board will provide ideas, advice and industry perspective to the University on how to improve its media program to better equip graduates for a career in the media, and on areas of interest for potential research projects.

The members of the Media Advisory Board will act as advocates for the University's media program within the business community and will assist in promoting the program to prospective students. It is expected that they will also help media students understand how educational and research activities tie into the needs of the media industry.

The Media Advisory Board membership is currently as follows:

• Mr Kim Boehm, CEO, Clemenger BBDO


• Mr John Chataway, CEO, Kojo Group


• Mr Mark Colson, General Manager, NWS 9 Adelaide


• Ms Carolyn Gadd (Board Secretary), University of Adelaide


• Professor Mike Innes, Executive Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Adelaide


• Mr Mat King, Freelance Film Director


• Mr Greg Mackie OAM, Executive Director, Arts SA


• Mr Marc Makrid, CEO, Marc Makrid & Associates


• Mr Melvin Mansell, Editor, The Advertiser


• Mr Michael Neale (Chair), Director of Marketing & Strategic Communications, University of Adelaide


• Assoc. Professor Gerard O'Brien, Head, School of Humanities, University of Adelaide


• Ms Anne Rodgers, General Manager SA, Starcom


• Mr Mark Stevens, Group Creative Director, DMG Radio

Media Advisory Board Member Biographies

Kim Boehm
Kim Boehm is Managing Director of Clemenger BBDO Adelaide and a board member of BBDO Australasia. Former roles have included Managing Director of Melbourne agencies Clemenger Harvie Edge and Young & Rubicam. He is also a Board member of CARE Australia and the Adelaide Festival Centre Foundation.

John Chataway
John Chataway is CEO of the Kojo Group, South Australia's largest visual communication specialist company. An accomplished director and award-winning cinematographer in his own right, John is also a Board Member of the SAFC, a founding member of the United Film Group, a member of the SA Screen Council and on the board of the Australian Dance Theatre. In 2002 John was a State Winner and National Finalist in the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awards, and continues to be a judge in the annual awards.

Mark Colson
Mark commenced his television career with Southern Cross Broadcasting as a Sales Executive with TNT9 Launceston in 1987, and in 1988 was promoted to Station Operations Manager, which involved the direct management of the Operations, Traffic and Commercial Production Departments.
In 1995 he was appointed General Manager Ten Victoria then in 1997 his role was expanded to incorporate the general management of Ten Capital based in Canberra, which required the combining of both business units.
Mark was appointed General Manager at Channel 9 Adelaide in December 1998, and General Manager of Spencer Gulf Television in July 2002, covering the major regional markets of Port Pirie, Port Augusta, Whyalla, Port Lincoln and Broken Hill.
During Mark's 19 years with Southern Cross he has had the unique opportunity to work with the program formats of the three commercial Networks and four of Southern Cross' current television stations.

Michael Innes
Professor Mike Innes is Executive Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Adelaide, as well as a social psychologist with experience in universities in the UK, USA and Australia. He is a co-Chief Investigator of projects on the role of interactive digital television affecting the social development of young children and of a project to evaluate the impact of the creative industries, including media, on economic development of South Australia.

Mat King
Mat King recently directed the $2.8 million children's television sensation "The Fairies" for the Seven Network and the ABC, and is currently in post-production on a short-feature film "Angela's Decision". In 2004, King directed the successful short drama, "Frames" with Kojo Pictures.
Originally from a background of directing TV commercials, Mat has spent time on "McLeod's Daughters" as second unit director and has trained with some of Australia's foremost TV directors on dramas such as "Farscape" and "Blue Heelers".

Greg Mackie
Executive Director of Arts SA since January 2004, Greg Mackie has a strong background in the arts and has served as a member of a number of boards and committees, such as the Adelaide Writers' Week Program Advisory Committee, the FEAST Festival, Adelaide Festival Centre Trust, the council of the University of SA, the Don Dunstan Foundation board of management and the Dame Roma Mitchell Trust Fund for Children and Young People.
In his role as executive Director of Arts SA, Greg is responsible for the government's policy and investments in the arts in South Australia, ranging from our excellent cultural heritage collections along North Terrace to our support for festivals and grants programs for artists.
In 2002 Greg was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his contribution to the arts.

Marc Makrid
Marc is the Managing Director of Marc Makrid & Associates, an independent consulting practice with a wide range of clients, specialising in strategic marketing planning and implementation. Marc's background encompasses a marketing/business degree, early career roles in buying and retail, human resource management and has included senior marketing and management roles at Cadbury Schweppes, SA Brewing and DairyVale Foods Ltd. He is actively involved with a number of organisations as a Board member.

Melvin Mansell
Melvin Mansell began his journalistic career in New Zealand before joining News Limited as a reporter in 1980.
From 1984 he worked on newspapers in Hong Kong and London before returning to The Daily Telegraph in 1989.
He held a range of key editorial positions in sport and news before being appointed news editor. He later became day editor and then assistant editor. In December 1998 he was appointed assistant editor of The Advertiser and in March 1999, became editor of The Advertiser.

Michael Neale (Chair)
Michael Neale is Director of Marketing & Strategic Communications at the University of Adelaide and is the person responsible for the highly successful "Life Impact" brand advertising campaign for the University. Prior to taking up his role at the University of Adelaide, Michael had a distinguished career in various commercial companies including consumer products, electronics, technology consulting, and an Internet start-up company. This time included 6 very successful years in the UK. Michael holds a business degree (Marketing) and a masters degree by research in high technology marketing. Michael is also Chair of the Adelaide Cathedral Art Show.

Gerard O'Brien
Associate Professor Gerard O'Brien completed an honours degree in Philosophy at the University of New South Wales and a doctorate at the University of Oxford before taking up a lectureship in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Adelaide in 1989. Since 2004 he has been Head of the School of Humanities at the University of Adelaide, which includes the Discipline of Media.

Anne Rodgers
Anne Rodgers is General Manager of media agency Starcom in Adelaide, part of the $800 million Starcom MediaVest Group in Australia. Starcom is now the leading media agency in South Australia employing over 50 staff and servicing the media requirements of the South Australian Government and many of South Australia's major commercial advertising accounts.
Anne began her media career 20 years ago with Young & Rubicam and worked as a planner, buyer and media strategist before being appointed as a Media Manager on major national clients including Mitsubishi Motors, Orlando Wyndham, Pizza Haven and Safcol.
Anne shares her knowledge and experience with the industry in her role as lecturer for the Advertising Federation of Australia Media Planning course. This course grooms and encourages those entering the advertising industry to use their skills and learn to build on their existing competency levels.

Mark Stevens
Mark is Group Creative Director, DMG Radio, an Adelaide-based national radio company encompassing the Nova network and FIVEaa. A former student of Film Studies at Uni SA and also in London, he has worked in radio for 12 years as a writer, and has won a number of awards for writing. His expertise extends into advertising, with a number of major brands benefiting from his skills.

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