As part of getting to know a new creative, I have to explore not only what they're good at and what they specialise in but also what things they consider might need further improvement or development.
The response to that question 99% of the time is a single word: "digital".
This will often result in asking them to clarify 'what does "digital" mean to you?'
I'm certainly not blaming anyone for giving that one word response. As human beings, we have the tendency to think big picture and part of my job as a consultant is to chunk down into that detail to gain a better insight. Within that chunking down process though, I can determine if their definition of digital comes from a lack of skill or from a lack of understanding.
They're not alone there either. I know of businesses who have seemingly thrown anything online related within one job description although any one who works within the industry would know that having the person who does your digital design also be responsible for your social media strategy is probably not the wisest idea.
Maybe it is the pace in which the technology changes, or maybe it is the perceived complexity of the digital world, but the digital landscape seems to cause frequent confusion for those who are viewing it from outside the realm.
Recently, Vanessa and I ran a Virtual Meetup to discuss exactly what digital is. While this topic could be a series of virtual meetups in itself, we wanted to provide an opportunity to discuss some of the different avenues that people can explore within the digital world and hopefully help inspire a future direction for them to explore.
You can watch the video below.
While this is the last Virtual Meet Up for a while, you can find all of our previous virtual meet ups at our Creative Recruiters Virtual Meet Up Facebook group. We'll also be responding to any questions within the group via Facebook live, so why not come and join the community.