Sixteen A-Level media students recently travelled to Disneyland Paris for the annual Media Live! Conference, where they listened and interacted with successful industry leaders.

Through a series of educational talks, the three-day excursion sought to broaden the student’s understanding of the media industry and the many different career paths available. Guest speakers included MediaCom’s OBE Karen Blackett and Cally Beaton, vice-president of Viacom International Media Networks, as well as speakers from The Walt Disney Company and the British Board of Film Classification.

Pembrokeshire College media lecturer, Andrea Hughes, accompanied the students and commented: “The trip provided students with an invaluable first-hand experience of the media industry in practice. It offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to engage with top industry leaders as well as perfectly accompanying the A-Level curriculum to support the student’s learning in the classroom.

“During the conference, the girls in particular felt incredibly empowered due to the abundance of strong, female business-women who gave presentations.”

The representation of women in the media plays a critical role within the student’s studies, and this experience has proved that change is on the horizon for young women in this industry.

For many of the students the conference provided an exciting life experience, especially for those who had not previously travelled independently without their families.

“Having this shared experience has brought our students much closer together, and has certainly improved their working relationship within the classroom,” added Andrea.

Due to the success of the event, plans are already being made to return in 2019.