F.Y.I.

Yahoo7 reveals finalists for 2017 Digital Stars program

The Australian finalists have been announced for the Yahoo7’s Digital Stars program.

Media’s bright young things go head-to-head with sights set on NYC
Yahoo7 reveals finalists for 2017 Digital Stars program

Yahoo7 has announced the Australian finalists for its 2017 Digital Stars program, which recognises the best up and coming talent in the digital media industry. The nine young-guns represent the ones-to-watch from across the media agency landscape and will later this month battle it out to win a once in a lifetime trip to New York City to attend the Advertising Week conference as a guest of Yahoo7.

The finalists include emerging hot-shots from Carat, MEC, MediaCom, OMD, Spark Foundary, Starcom and Cadreon. Four Australian winners will be chosen from amongst the following shortlist:

· Sara Louise Hilgendorf, Ecosystem Planning Manager Carat – QLD
· Stefanie Crisafi, Content & Connections Planning Manager MediaCom – VIC
· Andrew Yong Xiang Lim, Account Manager at Spark Foundry – NSW
· Vartika Arora, Campaign Engineer at Cadreon – VIC
· Kate Patterson, Digital Manager at Starcom – VIC
· Angeline Hartono, Account Manager at OMD – NSW
· Melissa Lum Wan Yin, Digital Executive at MediaCom – VIC
· Simon Allan Conyard, Digital Associate Manager at MEC – NSW
· Lara Calder-Potts, Activation and Investment Manager at Carat – NSW

In the next stage in the search for three winners, the finalists will take part in the Digital Stars Throwdownfinals event on Thursday August 24 at Yahoo7 HQ, in Sydney. Each finalist will be asked to participate in a three-minute public debate based on topics from their original submission, focussing on one of the three pillars of ‘Data’, ‘Content’ or ‘Tech’, prepared with the help of senior mentors from the Yahoo7 team.

On the night, judges will select two Australian winners and a third will be chosen for the People’s Choice award. Supporters and colleagues of the finalists are invited to attend the throwdown event in person or via Livestream, and cast their vote in the People’s Choice award.

The ambitious young winners will join one top place getter from New Zealand, and be rewarded with full access to this year’s Advertising Week conference in the US in September, which is billed as the world’s premier event for marketing, brand, advertising, and technology professionals. The prize includes a return trip to New York, five night’s accommodation in the heart of the city, a photo shoot for professional headshots, a $500 Visa gift card and mentorship opportunities with senior leaders at Yahoo7.

One of the 2016 Digital Stars winners, Luke Maher, recently promoted to Client Digital Director at Initiative, said the experience had been inspiring and has a some words of wisdom to share with this year’s cohort.

“My advice for the 2017 winners is to take in the whole prize experience and invest time in seeing the speakers. Also don’t be afraid of having an opinion in our industry. Yahoo7 Digital Stars offers a really good platform to do so.”

To support your favourite finalist, simply register to attend Digital Stars Throwdown via yahoo7.com.au/digitalstars. Tickets are free, with canapes and drinks provided throughout the event. Those who are outside of Sydney can watch and vote via Livestream from the site on the night.

From Yahoo7 media release

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