• by April 19, 2005

Where are all the talented, enthusiastic, earnest, curious, creative, and analytical young people? Chances are, a lot of them will show up at 212's first annual Interactive Advertising Career Day and Recruitment Fair. At least we hope they do. 212, the Interactive Advertising Club of New York City, is holding the event, sponsored by MSN and NYTimes.com, on Friday, April 22.

The goal of the one-day event is to attract students from more than 400 colleges and universities in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and probably a few from New England and the middle Atlantic states, to digital media and marketing jobs - ad sales, media planning, account management, database and technical jobs, and others. While the interactive advertising sector has entered a renaissance period, agencies, publishers, portals, and technology vendors are experiencing a talent shortage. They can't recruit people fast enough, and that's pretty much at all levels on the food chain but particularly at the entry level.

Jill Griffin, senior vice president and group account director at Havas' MPG, and the main organizer of the event, tells the Minute there's not a single meeting she leaves with ad agencies where the digital media and marketing creative drought isn't addressed. At MPG, she says, there are periods where the agency has several assistant planner and planner positions open, "there aren't enough of them," she says, adding that the dot-bomb hangover has a lot to do with it.

Griffin says that while the online media and marketing sector has regained its footing and interactive, overall, is more integral to a marketer's plan than ever, there is still a mindset that the field is unstable. Through the event, 212 hopes to "get people excited about online media. Many young college students are using the digital space, but they're not necessarily looking at it as a career," Griffin says.

The Career Day and Recruitment Fair will offer tips on resume writing, interviewing, a preview of up-and-coming technologies, a glimpse into a day in the life of a media professional, and of course, plenty of networking time. Recruiters will be on site. Agencies and publishers have bought tabletops for the event, and as of late last week, there were more than 350 people registered, 270 are job seekers (students, freelancers, etc.).

212 promoted the event online, through mailings to college placement officers, ads in college newspapers, and even hired street teams to distribute fliers on college campuses. After talking to Griffin and Brian Quinn, director of Eastern region ad sales for the Dow Jones Online Network, the Minute is impressed with just how much the interactive community has contributed to make 212 a success. Friday's event looks like a slam-dunk and best of all, it's free to students and job-seeking attendees, thanks to support from the sponsors.

"It's the biggest thing we've done and the most important thing that we've done. This is really addressing a need," Griffin says. Next up, she hopes to have 212 facilitate a mentor and internship program with agencies.

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