Georgia Rudder kicked off her career in the world of audio visual in 2021 at ICC Sydney. Among her responsibilities, she manages the content for the digital signage on over 350 screens across the venue. As part of the AV team her role also includes supporting the technical delivery of events with her graphic design skills and sometimes even operating a room when required.
How long have you worked in AV?
I started in April 2021, so 12 months now.
How did you get started in AV?
Can't say I'd ever imagined working in AV. I finished my degree in graphic design and was applying for any and every junior design role I could find. With 40+ applications sent through and 5 responses back it didn't take long for me to feel disheartened. So I started applying for positions with 5 year minimum experience, including a position at ICC Sydney that I knew I would never get, but hey I was getting good application experience.
Not long after I got a call from a HR representative from ICC Sydney. It took me a second to remember what position I had applied for because I had applied for so many. Thankfully she refreshed my memory and it all came back to me. I didn’t think I’d ever hear back from a position that had 5 years’ experience as a prerequisite. After a quick discussion about what I wanted from my role it was suggested I apply for a more entry level role, in AV. I was so excited that I was offered an interview that I didn’t really know what job I had actually applied for.
At the time of my interview, I had two promising job offers on the table, the second was for as a Junior Designer at a Design studio, which, when I first started looking for jobs, was my dream position. There was something about the role at ICC Sydney that ‘spoke’ to me. The idea of combining my design skills with a more technical and challenging role is what swayed me to accepting the offer.
What does your current role of Digital Signage & Graphic Design Coordinator involve?
My day-to-day role involves managing and coordinating content on all of our internal and external digital signage, but I’m in no way limited to that. I am also involved in any creative/design work both our clients and internal events, assisting in the build of our virtual event platforms, and the design of creative assets. During one of the COVID lockdowns I became a motion graphics designer and operator for our virtual events which to quote my director “wasn’t exactly written on your job description, but it does say ‘…and anything else we need from you’”.
What do you love most about working in AV?
There isn’t a day that I’ve worked in AV where I’ve been able to predict what’s going to happen and that’s probably what I love most about it. It was always a worry going into full time work that I would be stuck doing monotonous work that wouldn’t challenge me. In AV every day is a new challenge and problem to be solved. To add to that, the skills that I’ve learned in a such a short time is exponential. I love working with industry professionals with decades of experience under their belts. There definitely isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t learn something new.
What would you say your greatest achievement to date is?
I was fortunate enough to be recognised by my colleges at our annual Extraordinaries Awards ceremony by receiving the “Star of the Future’ award. Starting full time work is daunting enough, but starting a position where you had to learn and adapt as you went, whilst building relationships with a diverse team was challenging at times and made me question if I was doing my job right. It was an achievement in itself knowing I had been accepted in my team and the wider company and gave me a great sense of confidence in my position moving forward.
Is there anything else you’d like to share
It’s been an incredibly rewarding start to both this job and my full-time career and I can’t wait to see what else lies in my future with AV.
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