How do you build a career in an industry that changes every day? That was the topic of the final week of my brand new Marketing Technology course at RMIT College of Business and Law. We started by reviewing the new State of MarTech report from Scott Brinker and Frans Riemersma, then heard from Sally Woellner at Canva on the ever evolving impact of AI across marketing, human creativity, and even culture.
Then our final class was a showcase! I invited industry leaders to come and see everything the students had done. I gave a whirlwind summary of the 12 weeks of content then handed it over to the students to share their learning. Multiple of my students shared their experience of the course, from taking a risk on a new topic, to learning how MarTech is “everything, everywhere, all at once” to even sharing memes they made based on their learning!
12 industry guests then graciously shared their career reflections and advice to students.
From getting started, to building a personal brand, to the kinds of skills marketers will need now and into the future, students received amazing advice and insights from current industry experts.
Across the night, students heard from:
- Keanu Taylor from The Martech Weekly
- Jonathan Goh from Medibank
- Kate Cook from The Lumery, part of Accenture Song
- Pawan Verma from Bupa
- Rachael Angley from NAB
- Lachlan Sellar, independent consultant formally of The Beacon with me!
- Billy Loizou from Amperity, and his famed fedoras
- Yolanda Baker from RMIT University
- Nick Epstein from Composed Digital, who also pitched open job roles!
- Phil Koolen from Anchora, who got extra claps for his cookies
- Danny Phillips from Omneo
- Simon Hakim from Hunter, who claims not to be a tech person but is pretty comfortable in a MarTech crowd 😉
I got a bit emotional having some of my favourite MarTech people see the results of this course I’ve poured my heart and soul to over the past few months. But even better was seeing all the connections and networking that happened afterwards.
I took all the industry guests to The Oxford Scholar (our Uni bar) afterwards and purely by chance some of the students were there too (how coincidental!). It was amazing seeing how open all the industry guests were at meeting the students, given them advice, and making connections. This goes beyond assignments and grades, the advice and connections these students made last night could serve their careers for decades.
HUGE thanks and cheers to the industry guests who so graciously shared their time and advice!
Sessions Details
- Course: Marketing Technologies – RMIT College of Business and Law
- Date: 29 May 2025
- Format: In-person showcase and networking
- Audience: Postgraduate students
- Duration: 3 hour event including networking
- Participants: 56 students + 12 industry guests
- Location: RMIT University campus + The Oxford Scholar (university bar)
Learning Outcomes
As the final session of a jam-packed 12 week semester I wanted the students to:
- Reflect on their learning over the past 12 weeks and how far their MarTech knowledge had come
- Gain exposure to industry leaders and receive practical tips on careers and networking
- Experience presenting their knowledge to real professionals, not just me as their lecturer
- Build confidence in their MarTech expertise by seeing industry validation of their learning
Learning Design
Rather than my usual class structure of content interwoven with practical activities, this session focused on real-world application and professional connection. The design recognised that students learn best when they can demonstrate knowledge to authentic audiences and receive immediate feedback and career guidance.
The session combined reflective learning (students articulating their transformation), expert input (current industry trends), and social learning (peer presentations with professional feedback). By inviting 12 industry leaders, I aimed to create a bridge between the contents students had learned and professional realities, allowing students to see immediate applications of their knowledge.
At the same time, networking with industry leaders was a key goal. The decision to continue discussing at the university bar was intentional – creating an informal environment where hierarchical barriers dissolved and genuine mentor relationships began.
Key Takeaways
- Industry loved the content of the course; several guests commented on how relevant the curriculum was, even describing it as ‘global standard’
- Memes are a great way to demonstrate learning; two of my students presented their learning of the course through memes, and industry loved it! One guest even posted about it on their own LinkedIn.
- Networking is as valuable as content (maybe more); as much as students might have enjoyed me summarising their work, the connections made in that university bar could influence their careers for decades
- MarTech people are pretty great!
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