The conference takes place on Monday 11 October 2010
BETR’s Executive Director previously managed a global department in IBM consulting, designing and delivering all bespoke learning programmes for the 80,000 staff of the consulting practice of IBM’s Global Business Services. Prior to his work at IBM, he held various senior positions at PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting including Principal Consultant in the Entertainment & Media Group. Peter began his career in broadcasting as a trainee at Thames TV. He worked as a studio engineer, then freelance sound engineer and production manager. He went on to be an owner/manager of three production companies specialising in location recording, computer graphics and post production. He is a Governor of the University of Hertfordshire and chairs the Student, Employment & Quality Committee.
Following a varied career in the Hong Kong Government, culminating in responsibility for broadcasting policy, Peter Bourton joined the Office of the Rail Regulator in 1997, where he led policy development on the regulation of Railtrack. In 2000, Peter went to the Independent Television Commission, where he helped prepare legislation establishing the UK’s converged communications regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom).
In mid-2003, Peter was seconded to the Ofcom transition team. In 2008, he became Head of Commercial Policy, with policy oversight over regulation of the scheduling and amount of advertising, the provision of subtitling, signing and audio description, the promotion of equal opportunities and training and development in broadcasting, the regulation of electronic programme guides and the broadcasting of designated events.
Debbie Carter is Director of Research at TJ (formerly Training Journal), the UK’s premier magazine devoted to workplace learning and development. As editor of the magazine for nine years until 2009 Debbie developed and strengthened the magazine’s brand through the introduction of workshops aimed at providing valuable CPD for the readership, a successful awards programme and a yearly conference celebrating best practice. In 2008 she initiated the L&D 2020 research project, an on-going project exploring the future of workplace learning with the aim of providing L&D specialists with insight into the question of "What next for the profession?”.
Fiona Chesterton was Director of Television at Skillset, the Sector Skills Council for the Creative Media, from 2006 – 08. She now works as a consultant and as a Trustee and Council member of a wide range of organisations including the Royal Television Society, the National Extension College and the Indie Training Fund. Fiona has over 30 years experience of the TV industry and was made a Fellow of the RTS for her outstanding contribution to the industry in 2008. At Channel 4 she was a Commissioning Editor for Daytime Programmes and News and Current Affairs, commissioning a wide range of programmes in factual and entertainment genres. Subsequently at the BBC she was Controller of Adult Learning, responsible for programmes with educational objectives on radio, TV and online. She started her career in BBC News and Current Affairs where she was a producer and programme editor.
Anne Fenton has worked in executive recruitment in the media sector for over 11 years and in the media as a whole for over 20 years. Formerly Joint MD of Searchlight Executive, she has worked with a wide range of clients from small start-ups to large multi-national corporations. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, she is also a qualified tester for Level B psychometric testing. Before Searchlight, Anne was Executive Director of BKSTS, a professional organisation for technology professionals within the media sector.
Lucy is Station Liaison Officer at RadioCentre, the UK’s trade body for Commercial Radio which works to build an ever stronger and more successful industry in terms of both revenue and audience. RadioCentre represents the industry in front of Government, regulators, copyright societies and also markets radio to advertisers and their agencies.
Lucy is responsible for RadioCentre’s sales and management training programme, network programming initiatives and events including RadioCentre’s annual members’ conference and awards ceremony – The Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards. Lucy is a member of the Skillset Radio Partnership Working Group and has been a volunteer at Radio Lollipop, the radio station based at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Craig Jones joined Barclays Wealth as Global Head of Diversity in May 2008. His move into financial services follows a 20 year career in the Royal Navy.
Between 2000 and 2008 he led groundbreaking work to help integrate gay men and women in the Armed Forces and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2006 for service to equality and human rights. He continues to work closely with the Michael D Palm Centre of the University of California Santa Barbara in the campaign for a more inclusive personnel policy for the US Armed Forces.
At Barclays he has led a strongly commercial diversity agenda which focuses upon developing diverse teams for a growing diversity of clients.
In addition to his role at Barclays he has worked as the principal advisor on equality in the Armed forces to the Equality and Human Rights Commission and is a Board Member and Trustee of Employers Forum on Disability. He was also a founding member of the Prison Service Race Equality Board and is a current member of the Department of Work and Pensions Ethnic Minority Advisory Group.
John McVay is the Chief Executive of Pact. He has been involved in programme making as a producer, consultant and trainer since 1986. Prior to his appointment at Pact, he was the Director of the Research Centre for Television and Interactivity, where he developed the concept for Cross Creatives, now Content Lab, and was Director of Training and Education at Scottish Screen. John is a Board Member of Skillset, Chairman of the Skillset Investment Committee and a Governor of the National Film and TV School.
Following stints as a CEO, Head of Science Year and Head of People Development at the BBC, Nigel Paine is now working with companies on their development and talent strategies. Nigel Paine is a great communicator and profound thinker about what makes contemporary workspaces tick and what businesses need to do to survive in the C21st. He specialises in developing leaders; building learning organisations; getting the best out of staff and developing strategies for retention and development of key people within organisations. He is a coach, mentor, writer, broadcaster and keynote speaker of international acclaim. He is currently working in Europe, the US, Brazil and Australia on a variety of assignments that hinge around making work more creative, innovative and aspirational and making workplaces more conversational, team-based and knowledge sharing.
Victoria is Executive Director of the Satellite and Cable Broadcasters’ Group, the industry body for the multichannel television sector. Having started her career in publishing, Victoria has moved on to hold a range of roles in media policy and public affairs, as Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs at Bebo (the social networking site), at the Broadband Stakeholder Group (where she led the digital media work programme) and at the Publishers Association. In addition to her role at SCBG, Vicky is also a consultant at Perspective Associates, offering policy advice to clients on a range of media policy and regulatory issues.
Nick started out as a psychology lecturer, teaching a mix of mature and immature students and publishing psychology study guides. An interest in technology and its application to learning brought Nick into the corporate world, where he has led the development of online learning strategy, content and delivery and now manages Online & Informal Learning at the BBC. His teams have won several awards in areas including online content development, staff development strategy, innovation and more recently for their pioneering work in the areas of rapid development and social networks for learning. Nick also runs the 5,000-strong ‘e-learning professionals’ Facebook group, blogs at aconventional.com and tweets as shackletonjones.
Anthony Szynkaruk is Commercial Policy Executive at Ofcom, where his role includes managing Ofcom’s responsibilities in relation to equal opportunities and training. Before joining Ofcom he worked as a fundraiser for St Mungo’s and the NSPCC and in a range of managerial and policy positions at the Advertising Standards Authority.
Jo Taylor is 4Talent Manager at Channel 4. 4Talent’s aim is to develop and support creative talent at different stages of their careers, reflecting multicultural Britain and a multi-platform industry. She joined Channel 4 in 2007 from Optomen Television where she was responsible for recruiting and head hunting talent for the portfolio of productions.
Previously Jo’s experience was mainly in the genre of factual Television. She was a Managing Editor of the BBC’s Documentaries and Contemporary Factual department at the BBC, involving the management and career development of the 500 staff ranging from executive producers to researchers. She started her career as a Production Manager and Production Executive of the Consumers and Investigations Unit which produced programmes such as Watchdog, Rogue Traders and Rough Justice.
Gary is Executive Director of Corporate and Business Affairs at Skillset where he is responsible for Skillset’s communications strategy including corporate and public affairs, strategies, brand management, press, PR, marketing and events. He is also responsible for human resources and organisational development and leads on business planning and strategy. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, A Charter Marketer and a qualified Professional Executive Coach and Leadership Mentor.
Stephen Whittle is the chairman of BETR. Stephen was Controller Editorial Policy at the BBC from 2001 to 2006 and before that Director of the Broadcasting Standards Commission. His career spans programme production, journalism and training. He is a visiting fellow at the Reuters Institute of Journalism at Oxford University and is a member of the board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority and a member of the governing body of the General Medical Council. He is also expert adviser to the Council of Europe on media issues. He was awarded an OBE for services to broadcasting in 2006.
Comments from the 2009 conference
To get a flavour of the 2009 conference and hear more comments from delegates and speakers go to Youtube.
Helen Witt, People Manager, Virgin Media Television
Colin Ramsay, Learning & Development Advisor, Global Radio
Clare Hasler, HR Adviser, Chello Zone
Cliff Fluet, Partner, Media, Brands and Technology, lewissilkin
Barry Woolven, ex-eLearning Business Development Manager, CEGOS
Alan Samuel, Head of UK Operations, Tata Interactive Systems
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