March 2018 – launchgroup.com.au

27 Mar

Mitchell Duff announced as MCN Sydney Digital Sales Director

by launch-admin Mar 27, 2018 0 News

MEDIA RELEASE

Mitchell Duff announced as MCN Sydney Digital Sales Director

MCN boosts Digital Sales Team with new role

Wednesday, 28 March, 2018: Multi Channel Network (MCN) has announced the growth of its Digital Sales team with Mitchell Duff taking on the position of Sydney Digital Sales Director. Duff will lead the state-based sales activities for MCN’s rapidly growing online, mobile, IPTV and programmatic platforms, reporting to MCN National Digital Sales Director, Nev Hasan.

Duff has spent the last four years as Digital Group Sales Manager at MCN Sport, where he led the digital sales team and built brand strategies across MCN Sport’s broadcast and digital assets. Prior to that, he held roles as an OOH media professional and within the Price Indexes and Inflation department of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Hasan said Duff’s appointment to Sydney Digital Sales Director will bring a new energy and focus to the Sydney market, following the successful appointment of Richard Baxter to Melbourne Digital Sales Director last year.

“For MCN, building digital sales teams that have a specific market focus is part of our long-term growth strategy to deliver strong commercial outcomes for our clients,” said Hasan. “With over 10 years’ market experience, seven of those at MCN, I’m pleased to appoint Mitchell to the role as he can draw upon his expertise and knowledge of the MCN brand to help us deliver a multi-platform strategy with precision.”

Duff said: “I’m thrilled to take on the new role of Sydney Sales Director at MCN at a time when our digital products and capabilities are continuing to grow in strength. My first objective is to help our agency and client partners navigate the convergence of digital and TV. With the current media landscape so dynamic, I will be implementing solutions that bring together MCN’s range of innovative data sets to help brands’ discover and communicate with highly relevant audiences.”

Duff is effective in his new role from today.

-ENDS-

Further information:

MULTI CHANNEL NETWORK

Sarah Bond, Launch Group

sarahbond@launchgroup.com.au

Ph: (02) 9492 1000/ 0449 543 181

About MCN

MCN is Australia’s leading media sales company, representing the advertising interests of Foxtel, Network Ten, FOX SPORTS, Telstra Media, plus many other premium content brands.

Accounting for the biggest commercial audience share of television and the largest broadcast-quality digital video network in Australia, MCN represents 15 capital-city free-to-air channels from Australia’s fastest growing free-to-air network, Network Ten, 71 premium subscription television channel brands across Foxtel, 117 premium digital publishers, plus online catch-up and streaming TV services tenplay and Foxtel Go.

MCN also represents 73 Digital Out Of Home Super Screens and partners with Qantas to manage its domestic and international inflight entertainment network. MCN is a partner in MBX, a programmatic advertising exchange with NewsCorp.

A pioneer of innovative digital advertising solutions, MCN has led the development of local and world leading initiatives including Australia’s largest TV audience panel, Multiview, Australia’s most advanced trading platform, Landmark, and the world’s first integrated programmatic private marketplace for TV.

Established in 1997, MCN is a joint venture between Foxtel, FOX SPORTS and Ten Network.

14 Mar

Girl Geek Academy announces first all-women video game making hackathon

by launch-admin Mar 14, 2018 0 News

MEDIA RELEASE

Girl Geek Academy directly responds to market demand with launch of #SheHacksGames

Mission: to increase women’s participation in the game development industry from 18 per cent to 50:50

Australia, 15 March 2018: Australia’s Girl Geek Academy has responded to market demand and launched Australia’s first all-woman game making hackathon, #SheHacksGames, aimed to increase the number of women working in game development and building tangible products.

Providing a premium opportunity for women looking to hone their skills in game development, #SheHacksGames is a weekend game jam where women will be strategically matched into teams and have two days to create a game of any genre and any platform. Hosted at the home of the video game creation industry in Australia, The Arcade, participants will be guided by key mentors from the game development industry.

The initiative is designed for women who are new or early into their gaming careers and are seeking more hands-on experience, more exposure to the industry, and more opportunities to experience how their skills fit within the game development industry.

Currently, only 18 per cent of employees within Australia’s video game development industry identify as women, yet women are consuming games just as much as men.

Girl Geek Academy co-founder, Lisy Kane, is driving the program based on her dedication to increasing the number of women visible in key positions within the industry, which she believes is a huge barrier to other women seeing themselves as valuable contributors to the gaming community.

In 2017, Lisy was recognised by Forbes in its prestigious top 30 list: Forbes 30 Under 30: Games. Ranked alongside the world’s best game makers, Lisy was the only Australian to make the who’s who of the global gaming industry. Lisy also made this month’s CNET’s International Women’s Day list for her work in inspiring more women into the industry.

“Australia’s video game development industry is worth around $2.96 billion annually. That’s an incredibly lucrative market, so if only 18 per cent of current contributors are women, I would suggest that we’ve not nearly reached our potential. We know that almost half of video game consumers are women, and many want to play diverse games developed by diverse teams. The problem is that there is a lack of opportunities for women to develop their skills in the industry, and that’s exactly what we hope to address with our inaugural #SheHacksGames event”, said Ms Kane.

#SheHacksGames will bring together women with the different skill sets that form the basis of a game development project team. A programmer, who will be responsible for the game mechanics, technology and coding skills. A designer, who will take the creativity lead and be responsible for the look and feel of the game. Plus a producer, who is passionate about game creation and will keep the project on track, on time and oversee that all the elements have been thought through.

#SheHacksGames is a spin off from Girl Geek Academy’s annual #SheMakesGames program, which runs alongside Melbourne International Games Week and provides an evening of networking and industry education for women who are interested in entering the industry. Last year’s #SheMakesGames delivered key notes and programs from award-winning game developer, Anna Tito, European game developer currently working in Melbourne in collaboration with NASA, Jennifer Scheurle, and the Lead Principal Engineer at Unity Labs in San Francisco, Dio (Dioselin Gonzalez).

Girl Geek Academy co-founder and CEO, Sarah Moran, said: “We are so excited to launch our inaugural #SheHacksGames event, which we curated in direct response to our community who wanted an opportunity to roll up their sleeves and get started in game creation. We’ve created the event using the structure of our successful annual #SheHacks event, however with a pure focus on games so we can attract the right mentors and help get ideas off the ground.

“We’re hoping to help produce the next Holly Liu, a Silicon Valley “unicorn” who recently sold her gaming company, Kabam, for $US1 billion. Holly provided the key note at last year’s #SheHacks event and is testament that this industry absolutely needs more women.“

#SheHacksGames is government backed, having received funding from Film Victoria’s 2017 Early Career Skills Development Program (ECSDP).

#SheHacksGames will run from 9:00 am on Saturday 28 April until 5:00 pm on Sunday 29 April. For more information visit: http://girlgeekacademy.com/shehacksgames/

ENDS

Media Contact:

Sarah Bond, Launch Group: sarahbond@launchgroup.com.au | 02 9492 1041 | 0449 543 181

About Girl Geek Academy:

Girl Geek Academy was founded by five skilled female digital professionals who want to increase the number of women with successful STEM careers. The team work to see an increase of women in tech, women in games, women who make, female designers and female founders. Initiatives include coding and hackathons, 3D printing and wearables, game development, design, entrepreneurship and startups.

Girl Geek Academy also works with teachers, schools, corporates and startups to increase the number of women with professional technical and entrepreneurial skills.

7 Mar

Julie Bishop tops national survey as most inspirational Australian woman

by launch-admin Mar 7, 2018 0 News

Media Release

Julie Bishop tops national survey as most inspirational Australian woman

Oprah Winfrey number one overall, with politicians and women in media claiming the most votes

Australia, 8 March 2018 – Julie Bishop is the most inspirational Australian woman, according to a nationally representative study by global media and technology company Pureprofile, where 1,000 adults were each asked to name who in the public eye was their biggest female inspiration.

Julie Bishop sits fourth position overall – behind America’s Oprah Winfrey in first place and Michelle Obama in second, and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in third.

It’s clear that women working in, or linked to politics are making a huge impact on the public’s perception of what constitutes an inspirational woman. Julia Gillard, Hillary Clinton, Pauline Hanson and the late Margaret Thatcher also received some of the most frequent nominations.

Women working in the media as presenters, talk show hosts and journalists also made up the bulk of the top nominations, with Ellen DeGeneres, Carrie Bickmore and Ita Buttrose joining Oprah Winfrey within the top 20 most voted for names.

Within the performer sector, the top names the public offered as their most inspirational women were actresses Emma Watson, Nicole Kidman and Angelina Jolie, and singers Pink and Beyoncé. Those best known for humanitarian roles – Saint Mother Theresa and Turia Pitt – also featured within the top 20 list.

After 65 years on the throne – the longest reign of any British monarch – Queen Elizabeth II received enough votes to make the number three position, with fellow royal, the late Diana, Princess of Wales also making the top 20.

While taking the title of the number one most inspiring woman overall, Oprah Winfrey was particularly popular by those in the mid-age ranges, remaining unrivalled as the top vote by those aged 25-54. The younger audience (18-24 years) found slightly more inspiration from actress and UN ambassador, Emma Watson, while those age 55 and above were the highest-voting group for Queen Elizabeth II.

Despite accusations of tall poppy syndrome, it was clear that Australians are being inspired by Australians, with more local names present in the list than any other nationality.

	Top 10 most inspiring Australian women		Top 10 most inspiring women, overall
1	Julie Bishop	1	Oprah Winfrey
2	Julia Gillard	2	Michelle Obama
3	Nicole Kidman	3	Queen Elizabeth II
4	Carrie Bickmore	4	Julie Bishop
5	Ita Buttrose	5	Emma Watson
6	Pauline Hanson	6	Julia Gillard
7	Turia Pitt	7	Saint Mother Theresa
8	Cathy Freeman	8	Pink
9	Olivia Newton-John	9	Margaret Thatcher
10	Rosie Batty	10	Ellen DeGeneres

All data from a sample of 1,000 Australian respondents. Study conducted by Pureprofile in February, 2018.

Pureprofile CEO, Nic Jones said: “The results around Australians most inspiring women have been eye opening and refreshing. There are no reality stars featuring high on the list, which is mainly headed up by strong, vocal women from politics and the media who are clearly making an impact and gaining respect for their work.

“You can see this reflected in the top inspiring performers who are well known for using their public platform to advocate for women’s rights. It’s also great to see Australia supporting its own, with so many Australian women featuring in the votes.”

– ENDS –

About Pureprofile (ASX: PPL)
Pureprofile Limited (ASX: PPL) connects brands with empowered consumers across the world by finding, understanding and engaging them through direct-to-consumer technology platforms. The Pureprofile group is now a global leader in data insights, programmatic media, big data, and quantitative research, as well as consumer lead generation through the recently acquired Cohort group. Pureprofile delivers next generation marketing solutions for more than 700 brands, publishers and research groups worldwide.

Media Contacts

Sarah Bond

Launch Group

02 9492 1041 | 0449 543 181

sarahbond@launchgroup.com.au