Once ensconced in the world of social media, some of the friends you meet may be similarly minded, other-worldly, or in the case of Bek, both.
Bek is a marketer by day, vampire animator by night. I can’t remember if we met on PlanBig or Twitter, but we help each other in our respective businesses and we’ll even co-host a PlanBig / Redfern Rocks Meetup this Thursday at the Alexandria Hotel from 6pm (anyone in Sydney around for a drink, that’s where you wanna be).
Meet the uber talented Bek!
Describe yourself in three words.
Creative, straight-up, quirky.
What do you do?
Technically, I do events, marketing, copywriting, project management and research. But the usual deal is helping people in any capacity I can, whether it is directly or introducing them to someone who can. In other lives I have been a film producer, actor, an account manager/business manager in the agency world, co-written films and operated as a universal translator in product design between marketing/customer service/tech teams. For me, it’s all about having fun, being useful and genuinely enjoying what I do that defines what I will turn my hand to.
What are you passionate about?
I’m passionate about putting truth and creativity back into marketing, helping out the start up and small business world, making recycled art, doing something positive for the Sydney live music scene and gathering up freelancers around Oz for the greater good… Oh, and stopping my Labrador from demolishing my sock collection!
What are your feelings about social media and communities online?
The world of social media has been the most amazing thing to happen in my time. As far as I am concerned, it has given me the ability to publish work that may not have seen the light of day, created connections with people I may never have found and defined how I do my work.
Having spent seven and a half years in the dating industry, it’s been amazing to see the search for connection and relationship to translate into the business world the way it has. I remember working with actor Morna Seres when I had just started my career and she talked of how important it was to have conversations and connections outside your “usual” life to stay alive, and social media for that is exactly that.
Being “good” at social media is not defined by the amount of content or the followers you have, it isn’t about using yet another way to market something or word of mouth juiced up, its about giving people another tool in order to remove the sense of isolation and understanding and create connections in a level playing field. Whether it’s activation or activism, social media gives people the ability to really reach out and find like minded people. I just hopes this magic wand continues to migrate towards the good as opposed to being a mouthpiece for the negative.
Who do you credit for getting you to your current place in the world?
Well, me really because I’m the one who constantly annoyed my employers until they allowed me to try out whatever crazy idea I had in the back of my mind but also those guys for giving me the opportunity, even when my ideas may not have been immediately evident.
I also owe a hell of a lot to my co-writer and best friend Jack Black (no, not the Kung Fu Panda actor!) who has collaborated with me on writing projects for almost a decade and a half and connected me to a lot of wonderful, interesting and curious clients since I have begun my solo operator journey.
What excites you?
The internet and absolutely grand ideas that it has spawned like crowdfunding, crowdsourcing and collaborative consumption. How wonderful to live in such a positive world where people not only share ideas but also help people to create them… without the benefits being immediately evident and just for the thrill of helping another person!
What disgusts you?
I don’t like the idea that truth and marketing are mutually exclusive. I think every product and service on the entire planet exists for some reason, it’s a matter of sharing that reason with your audience as opposed to trying to sell something that it isn’t. It’s unfortunate that in agency land, or even within big business, customer/client deception is OK. It never really works and is not a sustainable way to run a business.
Do you have a secret to getting things done?
Listening to myself and doing things when I am motivated the most, and when I am feeling flat, taking the down time. Even if that means working at 2am and sleeping for lunch.
If you could work with anyone, who would it be?
Anyone who is passionate about what they are doing, creative in their approach and really values me stretching my wings and helping them fly.
Finish this sentence. “If I could turn back time…”
I would tell 26 year old me that it’s OK to take a while to work out what you want to do and to not approach things as though 25 is some magic number of grown upedness that needs to be adhered to.
Favourite quote:
“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.” — Bernard Meltzer.
Here’s how to connect with Bek online:
On Twitter: @noshamecreative
On Facebook: Unashamedly Creative
Website: unashamedlycreative.
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