Integral Ad Science
  • Solutions
    BY PRODUCT TYPE
    Ad fraud
    Brand Safety & Suitability
    Contextual Targeting
    Viewability
    Efficiency & Optimisation
    BY CHANNEL
    CTV & Video
    Programmatic
    Proprietary Platforms
    Mobile & In-App
    BY CUSTOMER TYPE
    Brands & Agencies
    Publishers
    Platforms & Partners
  • Insights
    IAS Insider
    Media Quality Report
    Research
  • Innovation
  • About IAS
    Quality Impressions
    Newsroom
    Leadership & Awards
    Careers
  • Careers
Log in
Investor Relations
Contact
UK UK
US US DE DE ES ES FR FR IT IT JP JP BR BR LATAM LATAM APAC APAC Korean Korean
Integral Ad Science
  • Solutions
    BY PRODUCT TYPE
    Ad fraud
    Brand Safety & Suitability
    Contextual Targeting
    Viewability
    Efficiency & Optimisation
    BY CHANNEL
    CTV & Video
    Programmatic
    Proprietary Platforms
    Mobile & In-App
    BY CUSTOMER TYPE
    Brands & Agencies
    Publishers
    Platforms & Partners
  • Insights
    IAS Insider
    Media Quality Report
    Research
  • Innovation
  • About IAS
    Quality Impressions
    Newsroom
    Leadership & Awards
    Careers
  • Careers
Log in
Contact Us
UK UK
US US DE DE ES ES FR FR IT IT JP JP BR BR LATAM LATAM APAC APAC Korean Korean
  1. Home
  2. | Resources
  3. | Insights
  4. | 3 takeaways from Bloomfest to help you #TurnItUp
October 28, 2019 by IAS Team

3 takeaways from Bloomfest to help you #TurnItUp

Insights
Share:
3 takeaways from Bloomfest to help you #TurnItUp

Earlier this month, we were really excited to be one of the sponsors for Bloomfest – the flagship event organised by Bloom UK, a professional network for women in communications. Led by the real voices of women in the industry- and now the real voices of men too – this year, BloomFest’s theme was ‘Turn It Up.’ 

Here’s a recap of some of the key learnings from the day from Katie Grosvenor, a member of the Bloom Mentoring team and Head of Strategic Alliances in Northern Europe at IAS.

————————————-

Aside from being a member of the Bloom network, I’ve attended Bloomfest for the past few years so I knew I’d be in for an excellent day of provocation, inspiration, and action.

Lady Phyll, the Co-founder and Executive Director of UK Black Pride (as well as many other notable roles and all-around legend), opened the day as keynote. She spoke candidly about the barriers she’s faced and continues to face, and how she’s overcoming them – “A ‘no’ is a challenge to find the ‘yes’” sticks in my mind and continued to echo throughout the day.

After her rallying talk, we went into a jam packed agenda. There were so many topics that came up during the conference, important challenges that we face individually and as an industry, but here are 3 key themes I took away:

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable

‘Saying something uncomfortable can open the door to more valuable conversations’.  This was a quote from one of the men who took part in Bloom’s Exchange Programme but it felt like the sentiment of embracing the feeling of being uncomfortable, awkward or vulnerable in order to progress came through in a number of sessions.

I took part in the Future of Leadership workshop, led by the excellent Michelle Keaney, CGO at Clockwise, based on courage building programme Dare to Lead by Brene Brown. In the interactive session, we assessed a personal example of leadership using the ‘Seven Elements of BRAVING’ – needless to say it helped identify the gaps I needed to work on in embracing vulnerability to become a true Daring Leader. 

Carly Linsell, another IAS’er attending, went to the ‘How to earn your worth’ workshop which focused on owning your worth and feeling comfortable when it comes to negotiating your salary but ‘owning your worth’ outside of money was also apparent throughout the sessions.

It’s difficult to describe but there was a real sense of ‘owning your worth’ and ‘belonging’ in the room – I’m here because I belong here; I’m here because I deserve to be; I’m here to bring another voice; but also just ‘I’m here’ – I’m fully present (barely any email checking went on!). 

A  key outtake for me was the continued need to keep pushing through the invisible ‘awkward’ barriers (sometimes imposed by ourselves on ourselves) to move forward. 

Empathetic leadership is key to driving change

In the humbling ‘Fishbowl’ session on the importance of mental health, it was clear that it is critical for teams to feel empowered to discuss their mental health with their managers and colleagues. The importance for leaders to show their own vulnerability and experience when it comes to mental health will help remove ‘levels of shame’ around what is still considered a taboo topic. 

The workshop, ‘The empathetic leader: How to communicate with compassion’ explored why putting compassion at the heart of the way we listen and respond makes us more successful leaders. For me, that also came through in the ‘To Fork: To have (kids) or not to have’ session – it’s incumbent on managers to embrace their teams’ choices –  to have, or not have, children. The reality is there isn’t really a work/life balance – it’s a blend. So if you want to get the best from your team, let them flex.

UM’s bespoke Future Fit research, which explored how people in the industry really felt about the progress we’re making in diversity and inclusion, showed there’s clearly frustration with less than 50% thinking we are a progressive industry. We all have a part to play in change – regardless of role, but one of the actions discussed was to ensure teams brought their leaders to events like Bloomfest in order to drive change alongside them. 

Ultimately leaders talking about their differences, experiences, strengths, and weaknesses will help their teams embrace their own and create a safe and open environment that makes people want to stay. 

Everyone has the ability to be an ally

Zara Bryson, Director of Digital Strategy & Innovation at PG One, Publicis said, “Everyone has the ability to be an ally”, during the Future Fit panel session. It sums up perhaps one of the biggest takeaways from the day for me.

The onus of breaking down barriers does not belong to those who are underrepresented – the only way we will remove the industry inequalities is to do it collaboratively and continuously. We’re certainly making steps towards change in terms of broadening the conversation – it was great to see more men in attendance this year. But as action can really only be delivered if we’re all leaning in, there’s still some way to go until we see true parity in the workforce.

There are so many actions that came from the day. Big challenging ones that will take an army of us to put into effect and small easy ones that I could implement straight away to make a difference. 

Like, for instance, check-in on someone, a fully focused, actively engaged, totally genuine check-in – someone who might be having a tough time but someone who’s cracking on regardless, hiding the fact they’re struggling.

So instead of ‘How are you?’ sometimes what we really need to ask is ‘How are YOU?’

Access the content now.
Download
Access the case study now.
Download
Access the guide now.
Download
Access the research now.
Download
Sign up for insights right to your inbox.
Subscribe now ›

Related Posts

Introducing IAS pre-bid brand safety on TikTok
Introducing IAS pre-bid brand safety on…
Learn more ›

January 18, 2023 by IAS Teams

The 2023 Industry Pulse – Media experts predict more advertising opportunities
The 2023 Industry Pulse – Media…
Learn more ›

January 10, 2023 by IAS Teams

Avoid Scoring an Own Goal with your FIFA World Cup Campaigns
Avoid Scoring an Own Goal with…
Learn more ›

November 9, 2022 by IAS Teams

IAS white red logo
Sign up for fresh insights

Solutions

By Product Type

Ad Fraud

Brand Safety & Suitability

Contextual Targeting

Viewability

Efficiency & Optimization

By Channel

CTV & Video

Programmatic

Proprietary Platforms

Mobile & In-App

Audio

By Customer Type

Brands & Agencies

Publishers

Platforms & Partners

Insights

IAS Insider

Research

Media Quality Reports

About IAS

Quality Impressions™

Newsroom

Leadership & Awards

Careers

Helpful Links

Contact

Log in

© 2023 Integral Ad Science, Inc.

Accessibility_Icon Accessibility statement

Site indexing policy

Privacy policy

Subscription management

Transparent Background - Social Media
Transparent Background - Social Media
Transparent Background - Social Media
Transparent Background - Social Media
Transparent Background - Social Media

Site indexing policy

Privacy policy

Subscription management

Transparent Background - Social Media
Transparent Background - Social Media
Transparent Background - Social Media
Transparent Background - Social Media
Transparent Background - Social Media

© 2021 Integral Ad Science, Inc.

Search

Hit enter to search or ESC to close

Download Content

Fill out the form to have this content delivered directly to your email inbox.

Subscribe now

Fill out the form to sign up for the latest and greatest IAS updates— delivered right to your inbox.

Thank you for signing up for the IAS Newsletter.