Great response Russell, I too found the language and tone pitying, true their intentions are good. I know that New Zealand's involvement in Creative Spirit started with one person at Fairfax wanting to create an opportunity for someone who might not normally get a look in. I suggested to Annamarie that she take it further and encourage other creative or media agencies to do the same and rather than re-invent the wheel they decided to take Droga 5's lead and launch Creative Spirit in NZ. What the NZ chapter has over the Aussies is that they insist on a permanent position, preferably with a clear career path rather than 'a trial for a year'. And Emma who has been with Fairfax since the beginning of the year (and taking on more and more responsibility) told me she loves her job as an administrative assistant and that she thought when she left school she would ‘end up pushing trolleys.’
However, if the intention is to raise expectations of what's possible then that video does more harm than good - showing Lloyd as a passive character, who contributes by bringing the ‘office stress levels down’ and making them feel good about themselves – hell he doesn’t get to speak until 9 minutes in!
As for the CFO saying, “well it was fully funded so there was no financial consideration”… begs the question doesn’t it...
Still we should celebrate that’s three more people employed and loving what they do – I for one know that you can’t put a price on that