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January 12, 2021 Women in Digital

Introducing the 2020 Women in Digital Awards Rising Star of the Year, sponsored by Amazon Web Services, Lucy Wang!

Lucy Wang is a third-year Information Systems student at the University of New South Wales with an impressive list of accomplishments and industry experience already under her belt. She has interned at PwC and Deloitte, taught at Code Camp, won 5 case competitions at University and is an executive member of multiple University clubs and societies. But perhaps her most significant contribution is co-founding the UNSW Digital Society. This society aims to empower students interested in digital innovation, strategy and user experience by providing on-going training and networking opportunities! We know this rising star has a bright future ahead of her. 

We were thrilled to chat to Lucy about University, career goals and advice for other early-in career students.

Watch the live announcement of the Women in Digital Awards Rising Star of the Year here.

Congratulations Lucy! You have achieved so much in your 3 years at university so far. Where do you think this drive comes from?

Thank you! 3 years have flown by so fast and I’m very grateful for all the people I’ve met along the way. I think my drive to make the most out of University initially stemmed from some regrets from High School – I had always stuck with what I was familiar with, and never really took the initiative to leave my comfort zone. I wasn’t involved in extracurricular activities and never put my hand up for any leadership positions. This left a feeling of emptiness, and a little “…what if?” voice in my head. When the first day of University came along, I promised myself to say yes to every opportunity and to take risks – so that I wouldn’t be faced with the same regrets looking back.

This fear of regret gradually shifted into a desire to make a tangible impact in communities. In the haze of Uni assignments and part-time jobs, I found myself competing in national competitions, organising large-scale student events, and creating a new student club.

We have obviously done a little introduction already but tell us, in your own words, who is Lucy?

I’m a third year student currently studying a Bachelor of Information Systems at UNSW. Throughout university, I have always been fascinated by the power of technology in enabling innovation and empowering people. Alongside my degree, I have the pleasure of leading a student community called “UNSW Digital Society” where I work with an amazing team of 35 to create events for over 400 students on campus.

What is something that not many people know about you?

I love the concept of minimalism and that less is more. I’m always trying to remove excess items from my living space and decluttering my mind to focus more on things that matter.

What’s your most recommended resource? Whether that be motivation, organisation, careers or professional development.

I recommend personal development books / videos! They really helped me view life through different lenses and perspectives, and are a great way to develop a strong growth mindset.

You are about to graduate from a degree in Information Systems – what made you choose this area of study?

I chose to study Information Systems because, growing up, I’ve always been fascinated by the power of technology and how it constantly changes the world around us. I heard that the degree was the intersection between Business and Technology, which sounded appealing because I wanted to learn about how technology is used to achieve business outcomes.

What has been your biggest lesson from uni to date?

Sometimes failure teaches you more than success – so don’t be afraid of constantly experimenting and looking for opportunities to improve.

Back to when you started the UNSW Digital Society, how did this opportunity/idea come about?

The idea of UNSW Digital Society came about when my friends and I realised that there was no society on campus focused specifically on the rapidly-growing Digital space. In my first year of university, I was involved in 5 different Business and Tech-related societies, and really wanted to use the skills I’ve developed to build a new society dedicated to empowering students interested in this space.

What advice do you have for students on securing their first internship?

Don’t (just) apply. Come up with creative ways to demonstrate the value you can bring to the company. This may involve:

  • Proactively reaching out to people in industries you’re interested in, to learn more about what they do.
  • Showcasing your projects, experiences and skillsets through an online portfolio / personal website.
  • Building a personal brand through Linkedin by writing and engaging with posts.

We are so keen to know, what is next for you?

As I complete my final University courses, I’m excited to be starting a full-time role next year in AWS as a Solutions Architect!

What is your ultimate career goal?

My career goals change all the time as I continue to navigate through different experiences – but my ultimate goal is to improve the lives of others. I want to look back at my career journey and be able to see that I made a positive, tangible impact.

What do you believe is the importance of industry awards such as the Women in Digital Awards?

Industry awards are a great way to recognise people and organisations making an impact. In particular, Women in Digital Awards do an incredible job of celebrating the achievements of women in the digital space, promoting diversity in the workplace.

Congratulations Lucy on all you have achieved so far. We can’t wait to see what you do next!

Want to get involved with the Women in Digital AwardsBe sure to subscribe here so you never miss an update

To read more Q&A blogs from our line-up of Women in Digital Award Winners, head over to our blog and keep an eye out for more success stories on our Facebook and Instagram. You can also see our list of other winners here.


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January 11, 2021 Women in Digital

Introducing the 2020 Women in Digital Awards Diversity of the Year Employer (SMB), sponsored by Urban Utilities, Blackbook.ai!

Blackbook.ai is one of Australia’s largest privately-owned service companies specialising in automation and artificial intelligence. Innovation is at the forefront of everything they do. But it is their commitment to diversity that really captured the judges. Over 1 in 2 employees are considered diverse with an overall female ratio of 30%. Blackbook.ai also promotes initiatives that support women in STEM from high school through to university and beyond. We look forward to seeing what they do next!

We were excited to chat to Blackbook.ai’s Head of Finance Automation, Natasha Lam, about the company, Covid-19 and of course, diversity in digital.

Watch the live announcement of the Women in Digital Awards Diversity Employer of the Year here.

How would you describe Blackbook.ai as a workplace in just one sentence?

Giving opportunities to all in the community to work on emerging technologies.

What is one thing not many people know about Blackbook.ai?

We are 30% owned by RACQ. RACQ with its community values were the first ones to believe in what we were doing.

What differentiates Blackbook.ai from other organisations you have worked for?

With the owners coming from corporate backgrounds, the professionalism on the client-side is evident coupled with that start-up mentality gives us the ability to be agile.

Obviously, diversity is important to Blackbook.ai, but what is your definition of diversity and why it is important?

Along with inclusion, diversity for us is giving anyone a go that has the right skills and attitude. We have also tried to be agile in our recruitment, helping those affected by Covid-19.

What does it mean to Blackbook.ai to have a commitment to diversity?

Our commitment to diversity has been evident from inception, with our CEO as a refugee, diversity is very much built within and it doesn’t feel forced. We are very proud of our backgrounds and we celebrate it regularly.

As a SMB, has it been more challenging to increase diversity than a perhaps of a larger organisation?

Yes and No. Even though we are growing quickly we can’t afford a lot of overhead like larger organisations. Which just means we are more strategic in our hires and consequently this has more of a powerful impact.

And how does Blackbook.ai demonstrate that diversity in ways that your competitors perhaps don’t?

I think generally Blackbook.ai takes more risk with hiring, giving those opportunities that traditionally may not have been given in larger organisations. This approach overall has had a positive effect.

What do you think Blackbook.ai can improve on when it comes to diversity and inclusion?

Female applicants for software development has been a challenge and we are seeing a definite shift, however we will continue to try and draw females into our industry.

How has Blackbook.ai supported staff and clients during COVID-19?

We have had target job campaigns recruiting for only those affected by COVID. We have hired a handful of people from Flight Centre, Deloitte and other companies that business was severely affected by the virus. In terms of staff support, we were already working remotely and on/off-site, so it wasn’t a massive transition for us. However we have continued to allow staff to work flexibly, staff are usually in the office when their gym sessions next door are on.

To businesses or leaders out there that know they want to improve diversity within their team but don’t know where to start… What advice do you have for them?

Take a risk, try something new, give them a go, the benefits will lift your organisation to the next level. Don’t focus on the stats too much, it takes time, but make sure you move in the right direction.

What else do you think can be done to improve diversity in the digital industry, particularly in more technical positions?

Education to girls in school. Primary school and secondary. We are missing an opportunity to show them that they can do these things. Echoing Holly’s belief, ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’. It’s true. In my daughter’s primary school there are only 2 male teachers, Maths and Science…..and the groundsman. This is what they see.

What do you believe is the importance of industry awards such as the Women in Digital Awards?

To showcase women in tech positions and how they are rockstars not only at work, but in their communities and in their families. It helps build our profiles and recognition within the business arena.

What can we expect to see from Blackbook.ai in the future?

Probably a little boring but more of the same hahaha, we are continuing to win contracts, create innovations and build a creative team. Obviously, we will be dabbling in new tech and we are hoping to grow more rapidly on a national scale – look out Australia!

And finally Natasha, what technology development is most exciting to you at the moment?

Gosh – so many things to talk about. But Bio, is and will be a game changer, bio-medical, bio-security, bio, bio, bio. Understanding our health and medicines is obviously front of mind after COVID, and security concerns in tech are growing. Passwords will likely be a thing of the past and multi-factor authentication will be eye scans, thumb prints, voice recognition etc. Exciting times.

Congratulations Blackbook.ai on this incredible accomplishment and thank you Natasha for chatting with us!

Want to get involved with the Women in Digital AwardsBe sure to subscribe here so you never miss an update!

To read more Q&A blogs from our line-up of Women in Digital Award Winners, head over to our blog and keep an eye out for more success stories on our Facebook and Instagram. You can also see our list of other winners here.


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January 10, 2021 Women in Digital

Introducing the 2020 Women in Digital Awards Technical Leader of the Year, sponsored by COSOL, Sorcha Abel!

Sorcha is a Software Developer at Genie Solutions with over 15 years’ experience. As part of her winning entry, Sorcha was involved in all stages of a project designed to automate the process of importing private health fund fees through a sophisticated script. But where she really shines is her industry contributions. Sorcha is passionate about mentoring women in technology. She regularly organises, mentors and presents at events including Rails Girls Brisbane, Elixir Girls, Brisbane Installfest, Coder Academy, Muses and Coder Dojo, introducing women to tech and showing young people what a career in tech could look like. Sorcha is a true advocate for women in digital.

We were thrilled to talk to her about her career, contributions to women in tech and of course, diversity in digital.

Watch the live announcement of the Women in Digital Awards Technical Leader of the Year here.

Congratulations Sorcha! These are incredible professional accolades, but tell us, who is Sorcha the person?

Thanks so much, honestly I’m still floating. Who is Sorcha… gosh… I guess I’m a few things. First and foremost I’m a mum of three fantastic kids. Grace, Harry and James. I’m Irish, my Husband is Australian and we moved to Australia almost 9 years ago. But a lot of people know that about me already 🙂

If I were to pick one word that describes me but equally a trait that I look for in others, regardless of position, it’s respect. I think this is the key to a successful person and a productive team. They may sound like empty words but I’m really passionate about this.

I truly believe if people feel respected, they feel valued. This in turn leads to a greater contribution in terms of collaboration/code etc. However, if people don’t feel respected they tend to withdraw, contributions to group discussions stop, morale drops, team collaboration stagnates and it usually ends up in high turnover. This is never a win from any perspective.

I don’t believe that respect is something you earn, I feel everyone should demonstrate and receive it from the get-go. Respect in the workplace really brings out the best in people.

What is something that not many people know about you?

I once played the piano well and now I play it badly. It’s on that long list I keep and I genuinely hope to start playing it again in 2021, this is the first of my 2021 New Year’s resolutions

What are you currently watching/reading/listening to?

Actually, I’m currently reading the Harry Potter books, my daughter is crazy about them so there came a point when I needed to educate myself on the values of Dumbledore vs Voldemort. Actually, the books are great!

On the tech side of things I’ve just started to read Clean Code and I’m also studying for the AWS Developer Associate exam. That’s all keeping me pretty busy!

It is commonly recognised that there are fewer female leaders in digital and technology -specifically in technical roles like you. How did you end up working in this industry?

I love problem solving and I love talking to people. Software development requires both. I’d probably say communication skills are the most important. If you can’t understand a problem then it’s impossible to develop a solution for it.

I started in a support role which ticked the above ‘problem solving’ box but I soon realised my passion was for software development.

What’s your most recommended business or technology-based resource?

I use a range of resources, I regularly sign up for a course on Udemy or use Pluralsight. I switch between blog posts and Medium articles and physical books. Currently, I’m using the DigitalCloud Training for the AWS exam.

As a kid, were you always drawn to computers. What made you enter a career in software development?

I have always been a keen student and studying technology gave me the opportunity to hone in on my passion for solving problems. Once I got the opportunity to write code for a career, I knew I had made the right choice.

Genie Solutions is obviously an incredible organisation to work for (and were actually the winners of the Diversity Employer of the Year award at the 2019 Women in Digital Awards). But tell us, what is your favourite thing about working at Genie?

It really is an incredible place to work. It’s actually difficult to pick just one thing! I guess the culture is a huge part of what I love. There is a feeling that we are all in it together, everyone helps everyone without question. It’s such a supportive place. Coupled with that is a genuine encouragement for all staff to grow and be what they want to be. Genie gives you the tools, resources, support and mentoring you need. For me that is massive.

What I love most about my day to day role is coding with the most supportive, amazing developers who truly make work a joy. That might sound a little cliched but it’s true. As a developer it’s so important to learn and grow, technology is always changing so to work with people who mentor and guide me is of paramount importance.

The executive team leads by example which is refreshing. My manager constantly asks what I need and how he can help me get there. They are not empty words. The CTO guides and empowers everyone and is one of the most approachable people I know. And we have a CEO who knows everyone’s name, chats to all and has a positivity that radiates.The company is like one big team of people who help and support each other to get things done. I feel blessed to be part of that.

What has been the biggest career challenge you have faced so far and how did you overcome it?

The biggest challenge I had that impacted my career was moving to Australia, I had just had my second child, I had left the banking sector in Ireland and had lots of experience but with legacy code. My biggest challenge was while dealing with the stress that comes with relocating there was an added stress of learning a very different tech stack. That coupled with not having any IT connections in Australia made it quite the challenge.

But it all worked out, and I guess that’s important to remember, most challenges do work out and looking back really helped me grow personally and professionally.

What tips do you have for students, graduates and early-in-career professionals set on a career in software development?

Tech wise I would suggest in the career early days not to specialise too much. Stay abreast of the current technologies and try not to pigeon hole yourself into any one stack. Ask lots of questions and listen.

Focus early in your career on good structure, good logic and always keep in mind the outcome your code is trying to achieve.

Be patient with yourself and your progress. When you come across something unfamiliar, remind yourself you simply don’t know it “yet”. Nothing is magic, all answers are out there. And finally not to forget that no one was born knowing how to code, it’s a skill we learn and perfect over time.

On the soft skills side, believe in yourself and give everything a try. When something doesn’t work learn to move on fast. Listen to everyone’s opinions, especially the ones you don’t agree with. Keep an open mind and view everything as an opportunity to learn something new.

What do you wish more people knew about working as a software developer?

I wish people knew how rewarding it is. My average day incorporates some great discussions, some great code, great support and fun. I think that’s the key to any happy role. Maybe people don’t think of IT as a fun role but great people are scattered throughout every profession and IT is no different.

I worry there is still a misconception about software development as a profession. Sadly I have heard the following sentiment more than once: “As a women you have to prove yourself more”. Maybe that was once true, but it’s not an accurate statement these days. I really want people to know that. Tech is a welcoming industry and you will be assessed on your ability/dedication. Gender really doesn’t play a role.

What’s next for you? You have already achieved so much but do you have any professional aspirations you still hope to achieve?

This is by far the hardest question so far. I have so many things on that list. The more I learn the more I realise there is to learn. The AWS Developer Associate exam is the next concrete thing on my list. Recently, an app that I developed for Xero has gone into BETA testing mode by both users and Xero. I’ve got my fingers crossed that it could be added to the Xero Marketplace soon… So busy but exciting times ahead.

We are so impressed by your community involvement in encouraging women to follow STEM pathways, are you working on any projects now?

I have lots of plans for 2021, I hope to run the next Rails Girls event ASAP. This year we have AWS Educate onboard and we are all set and ready to go.
We have new guides, new presentations, new mentors and an AWS dev environment..so many exciting things. We are just waiting for these times to get safer before a date is announced. I also intend to mentor and panel talk at other Brisbane events once everything is safe to do so.

What do you think can be done to improve diversity in the digital industry, particularly in more technical positions?

We need people to study tech, that goes without saying but equally we need people to stay in tech. That’s the key. Diversity is more than encouraging women into tech. That is of course one piece of the puzzle and a key piece at that, but keeping women in tech is of paramount importance. Diversity, as we know, encompasses more than gender, it includes life experience, travel, children, family and everything that makes us who we are. We want all those experiences around a table when we are trying to solve a problem.

Flexibility is the other piece of the puzzle. As a mum it is so important to me. I’m lucky to work in a company that supports part-time hours and I also have the flexibility to work from home. These ‘perks’ are huge, a great benefit for all employees but for a mum it can be the difference between staying in the industry and leaving it.

What do you believe is the importance of industry awards such as the Women in Digital Awards?

So important, sometimes life is so busy we don’t see our achievements or we completely take them for granted and therefore discount them. For me the WID awards made me stop, think, forced me to reflect and document my achievements. This helped me to change my perspective, from one that is always focused on looking at my future goals to look at my past achievements. It actually helped me to believe in myself more.

What technology development is most exciting to you at the moment?

At the moment for me it’s all about cloud computing. I am actively studying AWS certifications, having recently passed the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification and currently studying for the AWS Developer Associate certification. The more I learn the more I am amazed by the capabilities of AWS.

Congratulations Sorcha on this accolade and thank you for your many contributions to women in digital!

Want to get involved with the Women in Digital AwardsBe sure to subscribe here so you never miss an update

To read more Q&A blogs from our line-up of Women in Digital Award Winners, head over to our blog and keep an eye out for more success stories on our Facebook and Instagram. You can also see our list of other winners here.


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January 9, 2021 Women in Digital

Introducing the 2020 Women in Digital Awards Innovator of the Year, sponsored by Clinic to Cloud, Carolyn Mee!

Carolyn is the Founder and CEO of the Sound Scouts app, an online hearing screening service designed to check for hearing issues in children. This innovation incorporates the science of a hearing test in a mobile game that is not only accessible, but fun and affordable for families! Thanks to the Australian Government Department of Health, this life-changing service is now free in Australia and has been implemented in over 1,200 Australian schools, completed 40,000 children’s checks plus 15,000 adult tests. What an incredible innovation!

We are delighted to chat to Carolyn about her winning entry, career in digital and insights on diversity in digital industries.

Watch the live announcement of the Women in Digital Awards Innovator of the Year here.

Congratulations! We are so impressed by your entry and obviously so were our judges, but tell us, who is Carolyn the person?

I’m a woman who believes that if you put your mind to something, anything is possible. I’m a mother and a Founder. I’m as persistent as I am passionate because one without the other will only get you half way there. I care about making a difference, learning and growing in the process.

What is something that not many people know about you?

I lived and worked in the Red Sea in Egypt for a number of years. At one point I felt as comfortable under the water as I did above it.

In a bite-sized summary, how did you come up with the idea for Sound Scouts?

Sound Scouts was my final assignment for a course I completed in Digital Media. I was introduced to the concept of Serious Games, games that can do more than just entertain, and I quickly recognised the potential to apply the theory to testing children’s hearing. As the mother of three children I knew it was difficult to access a face to face hearing check so I was confident that a digital solution would be a game changer.

Who is your professional inspiration?

I’m inspired by everyday people doing things that matter because I believe that one person can make a difference. Dr Catherine Hamlin was and continues to be an inspiration. Her efforts to assist marginalised women were extraordinary. Dr Fred Hollows is also an inspiration.

You have obviously found a fantastic niche in the market, what were some challenges you encountered while launching Sound Scouts?

Disruptive technology is often frowned upon as people are skeptical about new ways of doing things. In the early days I presented to hostile audiences more often than not, rarely receiving acknowledgement for our efforts to think innovatively about a problem that had not been addressed in decades. Fortunately, we were able to demonstrate the effectiveness of the solution and the rigour that we had applied in its development, and the sentiment slowly changed.

What’s your most recommended business resource?

I recommend listening and learning from your customers.

Most of your career was involved with production and content creation, how did this experience tie into what you do now at Sound Scouts?

As a content creator the need for digital knowledge was becoming more and more important hence why I returned to study. But there’s also a need to integrate creative thinking into digital solutions, so my background in content creation was and continues to be extremely relevant.

I had spent decades thinking about how to engage and entertain so when it came to applying that to the Sound Scouts solution it was second nature.

How do you believe Sound Scouts has made a difference for families and clinicians during this pandemic?

Sound Scouts is a digital, app-based hearing check that parents can do at home. It enables a non-clinician to triage a child (or an adult) to determine if they need to take the next step and see a clinician.

During the early months of the pandemic we doubled down on the development of our Clinical Portal which enabled hospital audiology departments to direct patients on their wait list to test at home. The clinicians could then remotely review the results and make a decision on whether the patient needed to be seen by a clinician.

What advice would you give to anyone with an idea for a business solution/ product/ app?

I would encourage anyone with an idea to take the first step. That first step may be conducting research, finding a business partner or documenting a plan. Once you take the first step, which is always the hardest, more steps will follow and before you know it you will be on the road to building a business.

What is next for you and for Sound Scouts?

We’re working on making Sound Scouts available in more countries so more children have access to an accessible, reliable hearing check that has been purpose built for children . We’re also expanding our product offering and will be releasing a number of new web apps in the hearing space in the coming months.

It is commonly recognised that there are fewer female leaders in digital and technology. What do you think could be done to improve diversity in tech?

I love the Women in Digital call to action that ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’ and I fully support the drive to elevate more women working in the digital space to act as role models for others to emulate.

My digital journey has been supported by firstly, a scholarship and then by several government grants. I think distributed properly this type of government support can make a big difference.

Do you have any initiatives at Sound Scouts to recruit or support female talent? We would love to hear your insights.

Sound Scouts is a small company but we encourage diversity in our team. We appreciate the value people can bring to the team if they have a different perspective on the world. This drives our culture and is top of mind when we are hiring and building new relationships.

What do you believe is the importance of industry awards such as the Women in Digital Awards?

Awards, like the Women in Digital Awards, allow people like myself to take a moment to stop, reflect and appreciate what we have achieved. It’s not uncommon for Founders and innovators to be constantly focused on the next challenge, but it is important to celebrate the milestones and Awards encourage us to do this.

What technology development is exciting you at the moment?

I’m excited by the promise of technology to deliver better outcomes in the health space. Serious games have untapped potential to engage, entertain and inform and I’m looking forward to seeing how they will be harnessed in the future.

Once again, congratulations Carolyn on this accolade and thank you for taking the time to chat with us!

Want to get involved with the Women in Digital AwardsBe sure to subscribe here so you never miss an update

To read more Q&A blogs from our line-up of Women in Digital Award Winners, head over to our blog and keep an eye out for more success stories on our Facebook and Instagram. You can also see our list of other winners here.


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December 4, 2020 Women in Digital

Introducing the 2020 Women in Digital Awards Founder of the Year, sponsored by Amazon Web Services, Silvia Pfeiffer!

Silvia Pfeiffer is a technologist, author and digital health enthusiast. She is also the CEO and Co-Founder of Coviu, a telehealth start-up specialising in digital service delivery platforms. Her incredible innovation enables clinicians to conduct consultations with patients on a secure, user-friendly platform. As you might expect, COVID-19 turned into somewhat of a catalyst for the uptake of Coviu as remote appointments became increasingly popular and undeniably necessary. Having scaled rapidly to support healthcare businesses during this time, Coviu is expected to achieve 250% financial growth this year. What an amazing achievement!

We were thrilled to talk to our 2020 Founder of the Year about her winning-entry, career journey and thoughts on diversity in digital.

Watch the live announcement of the Women in Digital Awards Founder of the Year here.

Congratulations Silvia! We are so impressed by Coviu and you as the successful Co-Founder of this company, but tell us, who is Silvia the person?

Thanks, I’m stoked about winning the award. I’m a simple immigrant to Australia from Germany. I have not just fallen in love with this country, but also with an Australian, ensuring I would remain in this country. I’ve been contributing to digital innovation in Australia ever since arriving as a post-doc student in 1999 to work within the CSIRO. My company Coviu is the result of a CSIRO spinout bringing innovation to digital healthcare since 2015.

In a bite-sized summary, how did you and your co-founder come up with the idea for Coviu?

While working at the CSIRO on use-cases for the new WebRTC technology that we helped to develop at the W3C, healthcare was deemed one of the key markets for its application. We created a demonstrator application for the speech therapists at Royal Far West in Manly and it was a great success. We received a lot of positive support for this product and won a couple of awards, which encouraged us to develop it into a scalable platform for telehealth for healthcare businesses across Australia.

What is something that not many people know about you?

Despite having lived in Australia for more than 21 years, I only adopted Australian Nationality this year. It was during a special ceremony held at NSW Parliament House in March, just before the COVID shut down. I am very proud to be Australian and to work with Australian healthcare businesses to support the digital transformation of healthcare.

Why do you think telehealth companies like Coviu are so important for the health sector (and the wider public for that matter)?

Coviu is a new software solution for healthcare businesses that enables them to pick up telehealth and run it as a new service offering with their patients/clients. We’ve built Coviu so it can be rolled out easily and also work in a hybrid model of offering consultations in person as well as via video. This is important because it’s the beginning of a transformation of how we receive healthcare. It’s the beginning of including digital technology and digital delivery mechanisms into models of care.

Who is your professional inspiration?

I’m inspired not just by a single person, but by the work of many people. I admire what Tim Berners-Lee has achieved with the invention of the World Wide Web, I admire both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have achieved as founders of Apple and Microsoft, I am inspired by the devotion of Marie Curie to science and by Mother Teresa to humanity.

Coviu was seemingly made for a world in a pandemic – where clinicians have had to switch to online services. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! What has been your biggest learning this year?

It was always our vision that we would support the digital transformation of your local healthcare providers – be that a GP, a psychology or physiotherapy, or a specialist practice. We expected it would take a long time for the behaviour of healthcare providers to change and for Medicare to support this transition, but we never lost sight of the need for transition to improve healthcare. My biggest learning is that it is important to be ready when the market that you predicted suddenly materialises. Never lose faith in the future that you predict – it might come around faster than you thought.

Speaking of Covid-19, what do you think was the biggest challenge Coviu encountered due to the pandemic and how did you overcome it?

By far the biggest challenge was to scale up our technology infrastructure and our customer support. Fortunately, we had built for scale – our technology was hosted in AWS and built in a way that we could take advantage of AWS’s scalability capabilities. We had some bugs in our code that led to some outages – just like all other video conferencing providers at the time. But the infrastructure scaled beautifully.

We also had to scale up our customer support and we did that by increasing the number of customer success managers that would reply to customer requests on our text chat application, on email and on the phone lines. We hired 15 people in a short time and trained them ourselves on the job. It was the only way and it worked well.

What’s your most recommended business resource?

I really like the book ‘The hard thing about hard things’ by Ben Horowitz – it appreciates how difficult it really is to build a new company and provides some great advice on how to be resilient.

If you could go back and change anything about how Coviu came to be, what would it be?

There are a number of mistakes that we made along the way, but that’s pretty normal. If I knew then what I knew now, I would have been able to avoid the mistakes and make our lives easier along the way. But I wouldn’t want to change anything about the general process of how Coviu came to be.

What tips do you have for other people with an idea for a business solution/ product/ app?

Make sure you understand your market. Who are the people that will buy it and how much will they pay? You can find out this information by talking to potential customers. It’s very important to understand this before you fully commit.

What is next for you and for Coviu?

Coviu is currently closing our Series A investment round. We will use this round to scale out the medical features of our platform, so we can better support our customers’ clinical services. We are further expanding Coviu internationally so we can offer our platform to healthcare businesses in other countries, particularly the US.

It is commonly recognised that there are fewer female leaders in digital and technology. How did you end up working in this industry?

When I started on my path in technology, it wasn’t yet a man’s business. You must know that women were the first programmers. That was because it was regarded as a secretary’s job. That changed as soon as men realised how close it was to engineering and renamed the job to software engineering. Suddenly it was a man’s domain and increasingly women were pushed out of it. I was part of the first student lot at Mannheim University to study a combined degree of business management and computer science. We had 40% women. Just a couple of years later it was down to 15% and less.

What would you tell someone interested or unsure about a career in tech?

The future is about technology. Humanity had to learn to read when the book press was invented. We now have to learn about technology because everything in the future will have technology in it. You should not be unsure about a career in technology, you should embrace it.

What do you think can be done to improve diversity in the digital industry, particularly in more technical positions?

We have to start at school. If we make programming a requirement at school just like maths, we’ll get girls as educated about technology as boys. We usually lose girls in their teens because it’s not cool. So let’s make it cool for girls. Finally, we have to change the way we hire. It’s well known that women don’t apply for jobs unless they fit it 100%, while men are more confident and apply even if they only fit 60%. It’s important to rewrite job descriptions in a more inclusive way.

What do you believe is the importance of industry awards such as the Women in Digital Awards?

Recognition of work is very important for anyone. Women are often overlooked and have to work twice as hard to get recognised. This is an outstanding award that shines a light on women in digital.

What technology development is most exciting for you at the moment?

I’ve been in technology for a long time. I did video analytics and machine learning for my PhD. It’s finally coming into its prime and there are many opportunities for its use, but also many ethically questionable misuse. We’ll have to learn to distinguish between the two and regulate the misuse, e.g. deep fake video could be used to impersonate people. But I am excited to see it come to its prime.

Once again, congratulations Silvia on this accomplishment and thank you for taking the time to chat with us!

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To read more Q&A blogs from our line-up of Women in Digital Award Winners, head over to our blog and keep an eye out for more success stories on our Facebook and Instagram. You can see the full list of 2020 Women in Digital Award winners here.


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November 23, 2020 Women in Digital

At the 2020 Women in Digital (Virtual) Awards, we were thrilled to host the Director of International Emerging Tech Innovation at Walmart (yes, Walmart!) as our international keynote speaker. Her name is Fareena Contractor.

A former molecular geneticist, Fareena has experienced her fair share of surprising career pivots to get where she is today. After helping develop the H1N1 vaccine in India and researching brain cancer suppressors at the University of Alberta, she left the lab in 2011 to explore Design Thinking and Strategy. This is where she found her calling in business innovation. Over the past 3 years at Walmart, Fareena has built a grassroots innovation organisation which has disrupted the status quo and effected significant changes across functions, levels and countries. We were so inspired by her personal journey and story of resilience, we HAD to have her speak at the 2020 Women in Digital Awards.

2020 has been a tough year (to put it mildly). Whether you’ve been separated from family, lost your job or struggled throughout isolation, everyone has a unique story to tell. In the face of this global crisis, we believe the role of resilience has never been more relevant (or important) to our Women in Digital community. Fortunately, Fareena was eager to lend her insights on building resilience and now we are thrilled to share them with you!

You can watch her full speech from the Women in Digital Awards here:

 

Here’s a summary of Fareena’s top 8 tangible tips (backed by science of course) on building resilience:

1. Eat well, exercise, rest

It makes sense that boosting your overall health will give you the strength to take on stressful situations as they come along. This starts with eating right and exercising, releasing those ‘feel-good’ chemicals we call endorphins. For the average adult, 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week is recommended (Australian Government Department of Health, 2019). But believe it or not, sleep is just as important. Without sleep, your ability to learn, make decisions and cope with stress drastically decreases. For most adults, medical professionals recommend seven to eight hours of sleep per night (Harvard Health, 2017).

2. Connect with yourself & connect with others

Strong ties to family, friends, co-workers or any person or group of individuals are key to building resilience. They are your stress buffers, particularly your close family and friends. Together, these parties form your social network that you can lean on from time to time to help you bounce back from setbacks or offer support in return. But it’s important to also have regular check-ins with yourself as well to help assess your emotional, psychological or physical needs and deal with any issues you identify.

3. Meditate and reflect on the uncomfortable

Of course, nobody enjoys being comfortable. But it is something you should try and embrace. Next time you experience a situation that makes you feel any discomfort or stress, rather than avoiding it, sit in your discomfort, and clear your mind. Meditation can help counter the stress you’re experiencing by eliciting a relaxation response and help build resilience (Headspace, 2020).

4. Be creative

When we are creative, we automatically become resourceful and look to solve problems in new and interesting ways. It is so often overlooked as a great source to cultivate resilience. Think about what is your creative outlet? We all have elements of creativity – it doesn’t have to be a Michelangelo piece). Whatever it is, find time to be creative and create something!

5. Be generous and give back

You know the saying – the more you give, the more you get. Generosity fuels the soul, giving you a sense of purpose and wellbeing as well as that warm and fuzzy feeling. Who doesn’t love that?! Being generous doesn’t require anything drastic either. Simply buying a coworker a coffee, volunteering at a local event or putting a few dollars towards your favourite cause is enough to get those feel-good vibes flowing!

6. List things you are grateful for

We may not celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia but anyone can see the benefits of taking the time to be thankful for what we have in our lives. It not only increases positivity and self-esteem as you reflect on your achievements but also helps reduce stress and make you happier overall (Happify Daily, 2020). Fareena recommends that every day to sit down and write out three things you are grateful for. This can be anything – if your family is safe and healthy then that’s enough to be grateful for as not everyone has that.

7. Experience new things

Take opportunities to experience new things! Leaving your comfort zone to try new things can be undoubtedly daunting but what better way to build confidence and resilience? Now, we’re not pushing you to jump out of a plane or anything but you could travel somewhere new, give pilates a go or experience anything that energises you and will help you create new memories.

8. Smile 🙂

This is the most simple step to building resilience that you can apply immediately! According to recent research published in Experimental Psychology, when you smile, the emotional centre of your brain (called the amygdala) is stimulated and releases neurotransmitters that moves you into a more positive space (Marmolejo-Ramos et al., 2020). Also, you’ve probably heard this before but smiling really is contagious (Wood et al., 2016). So we recommend you start now! 🙂

Thank you to Fareena – we are so excited to see what this powerhouse is going to do next! If you are interested in learning more about Fareena, connect with her on LinkedIn.

Want more? To read our Q&A interviews with our line-up of Women in Digital Award Winners, head over to our blog and keep an eye out on our Facebook and Instagram. You can see the full list of 2020 Women in Digital Award winners here.


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November 18, 2020 Women in Digital

2020 has been a year of pandemics, pain and pivots for the events industry. Festivals, corporate events, and gloriously spectacular Awards Galas like the 2020 Women in Digital Awards had to go into COVID-induced hibernation or switch online. But with Zoom fatigue at an all-time high and people craving the social enjoyment that in-person events bring, how do you bottle that energy up and create an engaging, atmospheric and memorable high-end virtual event?

Honestly, as we began planning the 2020 Women in Digital Awards we did not have the answer. Every year we set ourselves the auspicious task of going bigger and better than the year before but there is nothing that will knock the wind out of your large-scale-event-planning-sails quite like a global pandemic.

Back to the drawing board, we knew that we wanted to capture the Women in Digital Awards in all of its glory and not lose a teaspoon of the special sauce that makes the night (click here to watch the 2019 Women in Digital Awards video, you’ll see what we mean).

So we called in our favourite AV-partner, the team that helped us execute the awards last year, and asked them “how are we going to do this?” They have held our hand every step of the way and we are excited to sit down with Gareth Percey, Director of Scene Change, today to ask him all your virtual event planning questions.

Get your notepads ready.

What a year! Before we deep dive into creating a high-end virtual event we want to first ask – how are you doing?

As with all businesses within the live events industry it has been really tough especially during the early stages of COVID. It was hard to see literally hundreds of events that we had been working on for a long period of time disappear almost overnight. But with every situation, you need to focus on the positives and look for opportunities for us to pivot the business so we could survive. We have certainly experienced every emotion possible over the past 8 months but we are still here and still producing events, just a little differently now.

When 2020 first kicked off – what did you picture your year would look like?

At the start of the year we finally had the opportunity to reflect on how big a year 2019 was for Scene Change not only here in Brisbane but right throughout the group. Plans were being put in place to further expand the business and restructure our staffing to accommodate, we had identified some key staff acquisitions that we were lining up. Everything was looking rosy. I said to my business partner “I’ve got a great feeling about 2020, we are going to take this thing to another level, things are starting to come together”…… well it’s fair to say it went to another level just not in the right direction, how wrong I was hey.

And then March hit – and overnight all events were shut down and you saw your calendar going from being entirely booked out to empty. What were those initial few days and weeks like?

Those early days were horrific, it got to the point where I didn’t want to open up my emails or answer my phone, each call or email was another event cancellation. My initial thoughts were that this was a short term shut down and we will be back to “normal” in a matter of months, sadly I was wrong. Our first instinct was to formulate a plan to keep our team together. Over the years when you put together such a strong group of AV professionals you need to hang on to them so that was our focus.

Okay – so onto your comeback story. Tell us, how did you go from being an AV company to an all-in-one production studio for high-end virtual events overnight?

For us, once we got over the initial shock of what was going on, the focus turned to our staff and keeping them active, using this opportunity to catch up on the training we always wanted to do on that new piece of gear that we never quite had a chance to organise.

Similar to Stage Kings we had a team that had their own skill sets that were used to deliver the traditional corporate events day in day out. We had audio specialists, video specialists, lighting specialists and IT specialists, and we were unable to utilise those skills in the normal way due to Government restrictions. So we needed to cross-train our staff and create more-rounded technicians. Our video technicians now know how to operate lighting systems and our audio team can now run complex video systems. It’s been something they have really embraced and are better technicians for it.

It became obvious pretty early on that in-person events were a long way from coming back and that there was still the need for people to communicate, share ideas and stay connected, it’s what we humans do.

So the question was how do we help people do this with a warehouse full of near-new equipment that is not being used and a group of talented technicians with a lot of spare time on their hands? What started off as a training exercise ended up turning into a fully equipped class-leading online event studio. One day the studio included a simple LED Wall backdrop and stage, the next it included a concert-quality PA System, fully programmable LED backdrop and an intelligent lighting rig to make any production manager happy. It’s fair to say we got a little carried away and the spec could be seen as a little excessive, but hey if you’ve got the technology you might as well use it.

It has been such an exciting time to see this all come together and for it to be so successful in such a short amount of time. Our technical team are the real stars here, they have been the driving force on this whole journey pushing every boundary possible.

What has been the most surprising thing for you during the pivot process?

How long it has taken people to embrace this new method of communication. It’s something that has been a part of traditional events for a long time however now it’s at the forefront rather than being a small piece of the puzzle. That and the fact people accept low-quality video call platforms as being the standard way to communicate at a corporate level.

You run tens to hundreds of events each and every year. What have been some of your favourite events this year? And what did they do particularly well to adapt to the virtual format?

Well the Women in Digital Awards of course!

It’s always fun to stage an event that has a real strong element of human connection to it. My favourite part of the event is when the doors open and guests enter the room for the first time. It makes the whole thing worthwhile to see people’s amazement and hear their comments about how the room looks. I have really enjoyed producing the online awards nights we have been involved in for a similar reason, in this case winning an award or being recognised for something and being able to capture that initial reaction in real-time. It is priceless and this was something that we were able to capture this year for the WID Awards. A lot of people are suffering from online fatigue so to do something special and something that evokes a raw emotional response is amazing and to provide that experience is a privilege.

To someone planning a virtual event, what would be your three key pieces of advice?

  1. Keep your mind open to new ideas and concepts and be willing to drop the traditional format of events.
  2. If you don’t already have one, find a production team that you trust and listen to them. They know how to get your message across and will be able to guide you through the design and delivery process. Please please please engage with your technical team as soon as you can, as soon as the idea pops into your head.
  3. Embrace the technology. Have fun with it, get creative, push boundaries and be prepared to invest a larger portion of the event budget into the technical. Traditionally only a few hundred delegates can be involved in an event. Now you have the ability to reach just about anyone around the globe, it’s an exciting time so why not run with it.

This is a pretty broad question but in a couple of sentences, where do you start? can you explain how an organisation might move their in-person event online, and what they need to consider before doing so?

First step is to consider what you want to achieve with the event, is it to recognise staff? Is it to communicate with a broader audience? Is it educational? Are you selling a product? Or is it just to stay relevant with your industry peers? Think about what features you need to incorporate. Do you need to interact with your audience and at what level? Do you require additional features such as Q&A or polling to do this? Do you need to interact with your audience in real-time?

The next step is to consider what you want the end users experience to be like how will the features be accessible to them and what will the website or platform look like, can you include branding that sort of thing, but most importantly get your technical team involved early, I really can’t stress that enough.

What are the benefits of an organisation pushing ahead with an online event instead of postponing it?

Staying relevant and engaged with your audience, this new platform allows you to reach a bigger audience than ever before. Your reach is only limited by the effort you invest. There are a lot of organisations that have battened down the hatches and stopped communicating. Here is your opportunity to take advantage of their negative approach and get a few steps ahead of them ready for better days.

How far in advance should you start planning for a large scale event like an Awards Gala?

An awards gala has many moving parts so it’s best to start planning as soon as possible, maybe three to six months out. With WID we started the process just over 6 months from the event date and that was plenty. For a simpler event format, we can turn them around in a matter of days if required.

Would the organisation planning the event need to provide the venue or do you organise that for them?

It all depends. The beauty of this technology and the way we package it up is that we can deliver an online event almost anywhere, well anywhere we have access to the internet. Having said that, we do also have a purpose-built studio full of all the gear you need to right on the edge of Brisbane’s CBD so we can assist with providing a venue for you if required.

What equipment does Scene Change provide/have?

Large screen video, audio, lighting, staging, cameras and all the back-end systems for streaming events online and bringing in remote presenters.

What sort of team does the company need to have (ie. event coordinator, admin coordinator etc.) to pull off this type of event?

We can obviously supply all the technical crew required, audio, video and lighting specialists, webcast technicians, camera operators, technical directors, producers, autocue operators and stage managers, basically the full event-tech team. From the other side of things, it’s best to supply a single point of contact like an event coordinator as a minimum, if you have an inhouse or preferred graphic designer or creative team that knows your brand they can be brought on board to design the visual assets required. The bigger the project the bigger the team is required to share the load as there are a lot of moving parts and elements that need to be coordinated.

The ol’ Live Stream vs. Pre-Recorded debate. In your professional experience, which one is better? Or is it a blend?

This is a good question with a simple answer, it’s about creating a balance and understanding what style of event you are wanting to produce. In the case of the WID Awards, it was a blend of both but heavily weighted to the pre-recorded content. Pre Recording key speeches and other elements allow you to rerecord it until you get it right. Prerecording content also reduces the risk of technical issues and relieves some of the pressure on your technical team. But you still need to have that live content in there as well so that it doesn’t feel too sterile. This live element will enhance the human connection and provide personality and that’s the key, getting that balance.

Something a lot of virtual events feel like they are missing is the atmosphere. Do you have any tips for creating an engaging and enjoyable virtual event?

Incorporate some of the elements found in traditional events such as lighting and visual effects, stage sets also add an extra element. Think about how you can provide that atmosphere by including audio grabs of audience noise, applause that sort of thing but above all have fun it, enjoy the experience and don’t get bogged down in being too serious, by the way I do love a good bloopers reel so consider packaging up the outtakes to add some humour.

In the initial meeting, what kind of information do you need from an organisation to help them plan their event?

Where? When? And why? If you can answer those questions then we can guide you from there. The most important is why, you need to know why you are staging this online event. The rest is simple.

Is there anything we have missed that you think we (and other event-planning people) need to know?

Embrace this new platform and be prepared to push the boundaries of what you believe online events to be. Most importantly have some fun.

You have now set up your Brisbane Virtual Event Studio in the Hotel Grand Chancellor – how can people get in touch with you if they need assistance producing their own high-end virtual event?

My phone is always on so give me a call, whether you are thinking about staging an event with our team here at Scene Change or just want to learn more I am more than happy to have a chat and answer any questions you may have.

This new vehicle of communication is here to stay so the more you know the more you embrace it as a legitimate platform and the more you understand how this can be incorporated into your corporate events the more successful your event will be.

Thank you so much to Gareth and the team from Scene Change for chatting to us and of course, their support in helping us navigate a virtual stage during a pandemic!

For more on Scenechange, read our blog with Gareth on diversity in AV and don’t forget to check out everything they do on their website, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.