For Fifth Anniversary, @BIC's “Future in Five” Looks Ahead

9/24/2018 Unknown 0 Comments



BIC, the forward-thinking, culture-shifting Branding + Integrated Communications graduate program, is celebrating its fifth anniversary at City College of New York. BIC is kicking things off with a bang by hosting "The Future in Five", our first @BIC Lecture of the school year on September 27th at City College.

The evening's speakers are a veritable who's who of Advertising and PR. Michael Roth (CCNY '67) the Chairman and CEO of IPG, one of the "Big Four" global holding companies, will lead the discussion on what's next. Roth is often quoted as saying the beauty of holding companies is they bring many different kinds of businesses to the table but the issue is how to get them to collaborate most effectively to serve their clients.

Joining Roth to discuss this and other relevant topics will be three IPG colleagues. Gail Heimann, President of Weber Shandwick, one of the world's leading global communications and engagement firms with offices in 78 offices across 34 countries, with a network extending to 81 countries around the world. Matt Neale, CEO of Golin, manages the company's New York and EMEA office and leads the company's innovative vision, reputation and marketing. He also heads up Golin's diversity and inclusion strategy. Suzanne Powers, Global CSO of McCann Worldgroup, is responsible for the strategic development of the company and its clients across all brands, regions and agencies. Adding a client perspective will be Nada Stirratt, VP of Global Marketing Solutions North America for Facebook, where she leads partnerships with the largest brands and agencies across both the US and Canada.

The event is already sold out. But there is a waitlist. Can't get a "Future in Five" ticket? Don't despair. @BIC offers multiple events throughout the year, including @BIC Lectures featuring design legend Paula Scher and PR Hall of Famer and Ketchum CEO Barri Rafferty.

Has it been five years already?
Launched in Fall 2013, BIC is the only master's degree program that teaches branding and integrated communications in an integrated way. It combines theory and practice in an interdisciplinary, multi-tracked curriculum that addresses the expanding opportunities and needs of marketing communications industries on behalf of both private and not-for-profit organizations. The silo smashing BIC program has been a raging success, with grads going on to work at companies like Y&R, Apple, BBDO, Droga5, Cohn&Wolfe, Ogilvy, VaynerMedia, TBWA, SS+K, 360i, Berlin Rosen, DDB, and NYTimes T-Brand Studio, among others.

Explore further and stay in touch at http://www.ccny.cuny.bic





New BICsters Are Ready to Lead the Future

9/06/2018 Unknown 0 Comments




At BIC, we're reinventing the industry. So we choose our students carefully. This year's crop of 37 brilliant BICsters is ready to take on the industry's many challenges by thinking independently together – across silos. 

Our program’s diversity – of background and thinking – is one of our strengths. 

Of the 196 countries in the world, City College has students from 85% of them. So it’s no wonder BIC’s Class of 2020 boasts international students from Brazil, China, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Russia, and Venezuela. Not to mention students whose families are from the Dominican Republic, Bangladesh, Iran, Morocco, and Jamaica... Plus native New Yorkers from every single borough.

Hiring and retaining talent that represents the people being marketed to is critical for ad agencies and advertisers. City College is one of the most ethnically diverse in colleges in the nation and the new BICsters are no exception. In addition to its rich ethnic diversity, this year’s class also has a great gender balance and range of ages – from the early 20s to the mid 40s.

Since integration is the future, this year's BICsters are a curious and collaborative lot. Some have undergrad degrees in advertising, PR, marketing and communications. But many have studied farther afield, with degrees in Psychology, Linguistics, Criminal Justice, Economics, Japanese, Politics, and Art History. 

BICsters have received their degrees from a wide range of illustrious universities, from City College to Hunter and John Jay, from Emory University to Syracuse, from The American University of Beirut to Copenhagen Business School – and beyond.

The Class of 2020’s first chance to meet each other – and the BIC faculty – came on August 22nd. During their day-long orientation at CCNY, the new grad students learned all about City College and about BIC. They also learned about each other through a creative, hands-on Design Thinking exercise.  

New BICsters also had a chance to pick the brains of former BICsters. BIC Alumni Ambassadors Javier Garcia, Andy Kwan and Tiffanie Burt gamely agreed to a real-time AMA (Ask Me Anything) session – which resulted in only a few embarrassing moments. 😏

Some members of the Class of 2019 also showed up to drop a bit of wisdom and share a few beers with the newest BICsters during an inter-class BIC mixer at Hogshead Tavern.
Welcome Class of 2020! Where you lead, the advertising, PR and communications industries will surely follow.