Page 7 - Adnews Magazine November-December 2021

Editor’s Letter
Formal pyjamas or casual shirt?
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, AdNews has been encouraging the industry to communicate via shared experiences.
This has mainly been through the WFH Diaries, sharing the experience of working remotely with words and a selfie.
Then this year, with a vac- cine being rolled out, COVID Commentary aimed to show- case industry players getting protection.
And now in the lead up to the summer break this year, AdNews is seeking the answer to two questions:
What did you learn this year?
What are you looking for- ward to in 2022?
We also want everyone to dress up in their finery, take a selfie, and march into 2022 with renewed confidence.
Jeremy Bolt at Hearts & Science: “I learned the true value of toilet paper, the dif- ference between Peter Alexander pyjamas and a for- mal shirt on a Zoom call, and that I can now roll my eyes so far back I can see my brain.
“While there is a bright light at the end of the tun- nel, the tunnel might be longer than we think and as I always say, nothing surprises me anymore. We haven’t seen the end of COVID-19 yet. My only hope is we can avoid further significant lockdowns in 2022.”
Mark Coad at IPG Mediabrands: “This last period has been as tough as it gets. The businesses that will do best coming out of this will be the ones that have adapted in that space and worked with their people. The good will get back to the office soon and thrive
in that reconnection. The not-so-good ones will get back and wonder where everyone is.”
And next year: “Most certainly putting the uncer- tainty and tension behind us and getting on with our new normal. A chance to take the best of the past cou-
ple of years and weave it into the ways of the future. The way we use our office space, defin- ing the reasons we come together, the balance we strike between working from office and home, redefining the rea- sons we travel — basically living the realisation that work is not a place we go, it’s what we do. These past couple of years have given us a truly rare opportu- nity to reset, a circuit-breaker to assess our ways of working. COVID-19 will probably never be ‘over’. It’s what we have learned from this period and how that makes us better per- sonally and professionally that matters significantly to the industry’s future.”
Kim Portrate of ThinkTV: “As a leader, I've learned to be more aware of what isn’t said, shared or felt. And I’ve
learned that without empathy, it’s impossible to be the authentic, truthful, kind person others want to work with. Perhaps most importantly, I learned the need to understand the different drumbeats people march to and how to get them and all the other members of the percussion section to come together in harmony.
“Yes, this year has been difficult, but now we look towards the future as better humans because of it. That's something to be grateful for.”
EDITOR
CHRIS PASH
www.adnews.com.au | November-December2021 7