Open Chair, with Nedbank, presents Friends in High Places at Loeries Creative Week

Open Chair, in partnership with Nedbank, will be hosting Friends in High Places – a speed dating event for young women in advertising and marketing during Loeries Creative Week (Image supplied)

Loeries Creative Week is the biggest event in the calendar for the advertising and marketing industry in Africa and the Middle East.

With most of the industry descending upon Cape Town from 7-11 October, it provides the perfect context for nurturing and inspiring the next generation of young women in the creative industry.

The event is speed dating with a difference – it takes place on The Cape Wheel where 65 mentees will have face time with 31 mentors from across the industry.

The pods on the wheel serve as an ideal safe space for women to share knowledge and receive guidance on navigating their careers while taking in a breathtaking view.

Aligning with the mission of Open Chair

Loeries is all about recognising, rewarding, inspiring and fostering creative excellence. This aligns very well with the mission of Open Chair, a non-profit organisation, dedicated to two key objectives:

• To uplift and inspire the women of industry.
  
• To help make the industry safer for all our people.

Industry stalwarts

Open Chair was founded by Suhana Gordhan, independent creative leader and former chairperson of the Loeries, as part of a vision to help create more consciousness and connection between women in the industry.

Gordhan’s partners at Open Chair are all industry stalwarts, including Nkgabiseng Motau, CCO & founder of Think Creative Africa, Roanna Williams, CCO of Boundless, Fran Luckin, CCO of VML and Melina McDonald & Lorraine Smit, co-founders of Darling Films.

Empty chairs

The women at Open Chair believe that one of the challenges we face as an industry is empty chairs. Far too few women occupy those chairs and far too many leave them. This community was formed to create access to industry leaders.

“Our events are about creating a safe space for women to meet face-to-face, to gather guidance, to navigate the tough parts of our industry, and ultimately to learn from and be supported by each other.

"We want to focus on our futures, and to encourage each other to fill those chairs, to be visible, present and unashamedly extraordinary,” says Gordhan.

#OnMyWatch code

Open Chair has also developed a Code under the hashtag, #OnMyWatch, to advocate for better behaviour across the industry.

“Our industry, unfortunately, has a history of destructive behaviour – physical and psychological - that we need to talk about.

“Our Code is not about naming and shaming, but rather about painting the picture of the industry we believe is possible.

“It’s about creating an intentionality around addressing the harmful behaviours - from bullying to harassment and microaggressions - that have persisted over time.

“We want women to stay in the industry, and rather than feeling threatened and disrespected, we want their only challenge to be about creating great work,” says Motau.

“We are truly grateful to our partners at Nedbank for supporting this event, and for recognising the importance of investing in mentorship, as a pathway to ensure that those empty chairs in leadership are filled by the brilliant, bright, young women coming up in this industry,” says McDonald.

The plan is to host more speed dating events throughout the year in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

You can adopt Open Chair’s Code here