Rise, SMPTE and Women in Streaming: Mentorship and networking key to diversity and retention in broadcast

Mentorship can bring huge benefits both to young women new to the industry and to their mentors, according to a panel on mentorship at IBC.

Ben Davenport, Rise Mentor and Founder, and mentee Eloise Russell, along with Katy Oberdiek, a Women in Streaming Media (WSM) mentee joined to discuss mentorship in the Showcase Theatre.

Russell said that Rise strongly appealed to her when she was new to the media and entertainment business. Application for the programme was very straightforward and she had a great experience with mentorship. She said her mentor had a very similar experience to her and had advised her how best to navigate through a job change.

Russell said it was important to be honest about your experience to get full value out of the mentorship and that this aspect of the programme should not be undervalued. “All of the mentees have also been mentors to me,” she said.

Oberdiek said she had been new to the streaming industry and found WSM’s mentorship programme matched her very well with her mentor. She said she was still in touch with her mentor once the programme was over and her mentor continued to offer advice after the programme was complete.

She said that being new to streaming, her mentor had helped advise on public speaking and had helped boost her confidence with webinars and in front of the camera.

Oberkdek said mentorship was “not a quick fix” but worked through continuous learning. She said spending an hour with a mentor helped people gather thoughts in a different way and ultimately to work more efficiently.

Reverse mentoring

Davenport said the Rise pairing programme for mentors and mentees was “amazing” and that his first cohort paired him with a someone more junior in a very similar role.

He said “reverse mentoring” was a big part of the experience and that getting a better understanding of the challenges faced by women was important, as these challenges differed significantly from his own experience.

Davenport said networking was an important benefit of the programme, enabling both mentors and mentees to make many great connections.

Donna Smith, Managing Director of Rise, said her organisation had over 300 mentors and mentees globally.

Smith said Rise went through a robust selection process, taking six to eight weeks to process applications. Rise has a database of some 600 mentors and about 500 applications from mentees this year.

Deepali Narsiker, Head of Allyship, WSM, another mentorship group, said that the mission of WSM is to educate, empower and connect women in streaming media.

Women can join via the website for a six-month free programme pairing mentors and mentees with one-hour bi-weekly check in meetings. So far the group has paired over 100 mentors and mentees globally.

Narsiker said that mentorship had to be “a meaningful experience” for both parties. Mentor and mentee get the opportunity to work collaboratively. Pairings are not random but carefully designed to help mentees achieve their own goals.

The programme also provides networks opportunities with industry leaders and experts, enabling mentees to broaden their base of knowledge further.

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Upskilling and visibility

Following the mentorship discussion, attendees heard from Amy DeLouise, Founder, #Galsngear, a global organisation of women in the technical aspects of media and entertainment, with about 1,500 members.

DeLouise said that upskilling is a key element of the mission of the group.

Advancing visibility through conference programme organisation, access and building a community are also key. The group offers training in leadership, negotiation skills and empowering financial and physical wellness are also key.

Recently the group has been helping people mentor each other in beta-testing hardware and software and providing feedback more widely.

Armelle Canet, Head of Legacy and Broadcast Academy, Host Broadcast Services (HBS), also on the panel, said that HBS, which supports broadcast of sports events and other live events, has many professionals across engineering, broadcast and production and who are supportive of training, with an internship programme and a broadcast academy.

Canet said it was important to support new entrants in order to prevent burnout and encourage people to stay in the industry.

Sarah Mosely, filmmaker, editor and production technology consultant, who had been part of the #Galsngrear programme, said that a more personalised approach to mentoring young women, with awareness of resources and diversity groups within companies, could help bring more women into the industry, along with checking in after initial onboarding.

Education from SMPTE

In a final session, Richard Welsh, SVP of innovation Deluxe, talking about SMPTE’s education programme, said that it was important to give people awareness of engineering roles at an early age. He said that had often been intimidated at an early stage of his career when working on standards that required intense technical knowledge.

Welsh said that the SMPTE UK section had stepped up student engagement and created events for early-stage employees to meet more experienced professionals as peers.

SMPTE has sought to create a structure for students, reviewing its membership offering to enable financially challenged students to join.

SMPTE has also organised local informal networking events, bringing students together with its “Pint with a Pro” initiative.

Another event is the Young Innovators event, a programme focusing on students entering technical areas, with a visit to Sky’s broadcast facilities and an opportunity to network with professionals as well as enabling students and early career professionals to share the experiences they have had.

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