AI & Personalisation: A summary of our latest Breakfast Networking Event

On Friday 11 October, we held our first King's Association Breakfast Networking event focused on media, marketing and creative careers! 

The event took place in the event space at HubHub, located just around the corner from St Paul's Cathedral in London. Over 40 OKS and current parents joined us bright and early, starting the morning with pastries, hot drinks and networking. 

The panel discussion followed and was expertly chaired by Yorick Moes (SH 1995-2000) The panellists were: Tessa Clarke (KSC Parent), Bill Scott (GR 1986-90 and KSC Parent), Elle Hill (JR 2003-07), Alicia Van Coillie (BR 2001-06) and Freddie Clough (MO 1997-2002). The discussion started with an open conversation about the big themes in the industry this year. Bill reported that there had been huge changes in the industry, including macro economic change and detailing how the media landscape had become fragmented. The panel agreed that AI was the biggest change in the last year, and could be seen both as an advantage and disadvantage. Tessa, who works as an investigative journalist and TV reporter, commented that AI is fantastic and can help speed up the research process in journalism. However, she also noted that AI cannot replace human emotion that can often be seen in TV news presenting. She gave the example of war reporting and explained that viewers would not want to watch a report by robot - viewers want to trust and feel connected to the reporter.

The conversation continued and Yorick asked the panel about the importance of personalisation. Elle agreed that personalisation was a good thing, but too much personalisation can break the trust of target audiences. Hyper personalisation, including cookies and personalised adverts, can leave consumers feeling like their every move online is tracked and then targeted with an advert.

Before moving on to the audience Q&A, Yorick asked each panellist to share their best piece of advice. Alicia led with "Always be your authentic self." Being yourself adds extra spark in your personality and helps your ideas thrive. She explained that she tells this to her clients too. 

We had some excellent audience questions including question about gaining experience and how to succeed from a grassroots level. Freddie stressed the importance of helping freelancers who are often overlooked. He explained that being polite, having good communication skills and flexibility will help anyone in the industry. The panel unanimously agreed that young people are the future of the industry and often have the best ideas. 

After a few more audience questions, the panel discussion ended with a round of applause and guests returned to the business lounge to continue networking. Lots of emails and LinkedIn details were exchanged, and one OKS told us: "This was the most productive morning of my gap year so far!" We look forward to holding another breakfast networking event soon.

A big thank you to Yorick, Elle, Alicia, Tessa, Bill and Freddie!