This week I attended the Omnicom Health Group networking event. The Omnicom Health Group (from here on out abbreviated to OHG) is a collection of marketing agencies which operate entirely in the medical space. Each of their various agencies specializes in different areas of the medical field, and a variety of customers. Some agencies do B2C marketing, some agencies do B2B marketing, and each specializes in specific forms of advertising, marketing, and branding. The event was hosted by the lovely Edward Frankel, and Gena Pemberton, with help from a City Tech alum.
The event was more of a presentation which enlightened us design students to the potential opportunities that lay outside of working for firms that do design for big brands like Nike, and Disney, and other such agencies that typically attract new young talent. While I guessed at what OHG would say when they presented it was still interesting to hear how big the company is and how it seems to always be in flux and pushing designers to where their greatest strengths lay. I personally found it fascinating that such a place existed and it peaked my interest with the possibility of similar firms outside of the medical space.
I found Ms.Gena Pemberton to be a truly remarkable individual. She mentioned forgoing a career in Finance to help diversify white collar workplaces. She said she noticed as she climbed higher and higher in her career there were less and less people of color in the room and she wanted to change that. It is an extremely selfless thing to give up a director position in one of the most powerful firms in the world ( Johnson & Johnson ) to help other members of her community.
Overall I had a good time at the event. The energy was very positive and Mr.Frankel and Ms.Pemberton were extremely warm and engaging speakers. Their presentation didn’t feel stiff and the Q&A session afterwards was lively. I also appreciated Mr.Frankel’s honesty when speaking about potential earnings at OHG. All in all I highly recommend anyone attend this event in future semesters.
