Thirty students from the UAE went on possibly the most important "date" of their lives at Dubai's Ritz Carlton Hotel recently. With nerves frayed and butterflies in their stomachs, students geared up for the seventh annual Portfolio Night (PN), a global movement that pairs the advertising industry's top creative directors with budding creative talent. The event, set up in a speed dating format, was simultaneously held around the globe in Amsterdam, Bangkok, Barcelona, Boston, Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo, to name a few.
The event was the first of its kind to hit Middle Eastern shores and was hosted in Dubai, Beirut and Tunisia. The aim of this event was to give aspiring advertising creatives a chance to receive feedback from regional industry professionals. Visual communications students including advertising and graphic design - met with 50 top advertising creative directors.
A company called Ihaveanidea started PN in Canada seven years ago and it went global in 2002, Till Hohmann, Executive Creative Director GCC of Memac Ogilvy & Mather told Notes. Memac Ogilvy & Mather organised the Dubai event, which was run according to the same formula worldwide.
Fresh blood
Perched on white chairs sitting behind long rectangular tables, creative directors patiently waited for nervous students to take their seats opposite them. The event was more laid back than traditional interviews but when the DJ sounded his whistle, students had 15 minutes to impress the industry professionals with their portfolios. Amidst a buzz of chatter and nervous hand gesturing, the second whistle pierced the air and students rotated to their left to meet another industry leader.
Hohmann said PN targeted young talent because "[they] want to get into the industry and the industry needs young talent. You'd think it to be an easy fix, but it doesn't always work like that." Due to the nature of their work, creative directors are very busy people, he said. This makes it difficult for aspiring young creatives to get a fair chance at getting a foot in the door, he said. "Both sides need each other, but tend to have a problem meeting up," he said. The PN was designed to alleviate this problem entirely.
First date jitters
The ratio of women to men was skewed in favour of the former as students waited for the PN to kick off. When asked why this was so, Hind Eskandar, a recent graduate in graphic design and photography from the American University in Dubai (AUD), surmised that males were more into business and information technology in the Middle East. Having heard about PN from her professors, Eskandar said she came along because it sounded like "a fresh idea," given the speed dating approach. "I'm just here to have fun," she said. When asked if she was nervous, Eskandar said: "A bit yes. I mean I'm talking to professional people. I'm showing them my portfolio." Admitting that she lacked confidence in her work she said: "I'm working on it though."
Mohammad Al Shaibani came to PN seeking an opportunity to find work. The recent visual communications graduate from the American University of Sharjah (AUS) has been job hunting for a while, with no luck so far "due to some economic events happening," he said with a grim chuckle. With a portfolio consisting of only comic book art Al Shaibani said: "Comic book art is not very popular here. In fact it's almost dead." This added to his nerves. "I am nervous because we are speaking to directors, not our professors and it's a hit and miss at this point," he said. Asked what he was looking for he said: "Honestly anything. At this point I'm looking for criticism of the portfolio, ways to make it better."
Talayeh Jenab, a recent graphic design graduate from AUD, was one of the lucky ones. During her interview with Malek Ghorayeb, Executive Regional Director of Leo Burnett, she was unofficially offered a job as a junior designer. When asked why Jenab was successful, Ghorayeb said: "Because her work is neat, clean and classy. She should not be lost outside." Referring to her impressive portfolio he said, "She can do different styles and adapt to different subjects," which was key. A stunned Jenab was left speechless and rather faint. However, she did manage to say, "I've heard so much about him [Ghorayeb]. To hear him talking about me like this is such an honour, really."
