Agencies Launch ‘Universities’ to Help Employees Keep Up With a Rapidly Changing Industry, Reports Adweek

It’s hard to keep track of what people consider to be “the next big thing” in advertising when that thing—be it AI, AR, VR or IoT—is constantly changing, reports Adweek, which added that several “top creative agencies including 72andSunny, 360i and R/GA have launched training programs that cover such emerging trends so their staffers, clients and potential employees can stay sharp, up to date and ready to compete in the marketplace.

“Now, R/GA wants to share those efforts with the world. R/GA University, the IPG agency’s in-house design boot camp, will open to the public for the first time since it launched in 2008.

““Design is changing really quickly,” R/GA global chief experience officer Richard Ting told Adweek. “Design is defined as visual, graphic and how things look. At R/GA, we’ve known for a long time that’s only half the story.”

“Each year, R/GA University holds two three-day internal boot camps focused on design and virtual reality, respectively. In December, it will host two additional programs offering the same materials to 40 students from outside the agency. According to Ting, the shop is looking for applicants with some background in design or development.

““The people who are successful are those that spend time training and relearning,” Ting said. “I wouldn’t say they’re going to learn everything in three days. We want them to learn, potentially stay connected and maybe at some point in the future, we’ll recruit them.””