Gary Spink Email & Phone Number

Melbourne, Australia

The Victorian School Building Authority is a new government body helping deliver the biggest education reforms the state is likely to see for a generation.We are managing an education construction boom, with record funding being invested to build, expand and modernise schools and kindergartens so they can better prepare students to thrive in the fast-evolving 21st century.My role is to tell that story, and help others do so - online, in print, via digital media and in public presentations.My key responsibilities are:• speechwriting for ministers and the VSBA CEO• copywriting for posters, pamphlets, web stories, video scripts and social media• editing materials drafted by other communications professionals and staff involved in community engagement programs• developing a key message and language style guide that evolves with reform progress and ensures consistency across all our channels• providing other communications advice and guidance.

Sydney

Responsible for developing and delivering communications across a broad range of media platforms to build and promote the CuriousWorks brand and help the organisation achieve its artistic, cultural and social objectives.CuriousWorks is a unique media and performance arts organisation based in western Sydney that gives a voice to individuals and communities in the margins of Australian society, allowing them to tell their stories powerfully through film, theatre and various forms of digital art. It does this through a professional artistic program (often collaborating with major arts companies and festivals) and also through a grassroots program where community members receive training and support to produce their own works and develop cultural leadership skills. I combined this role with my Communications Manager position (see below) for the SCG Trust, undertaking each on a part-time basis.

Corporate writer, magazine editor, communications adviser, social media contributor and producer of a wide range of print and digital products - this role combines the skills and experience I've picked up over 20 years in journalism and PR management.The Trust manages two of Australia's premier sports and entertainment venues - the Sydney Cricket Ground and Allianz Stadium. My role requires collaboration with numerous high-profile sports and commercial partners, keeping the hero worship under control while working towards common aims.It wasn't just sitting around, watching sport and writing about it (OK, sometimes it was and that's great too).

Sydney

I wrote, produced maps and sourced visual material for 15 online and phone app travel guides for Everytrail.com. The company provided a unique model for modern interactive travel guides. Expedia, owners of Tripadvisor, obviously saw the merits of Everytrail too and purchased the company a few months after I began writing for them. I was commissioned to adapt several guides for the Tripadvisor web site following the buy-out.

London, United Kingdom

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition (WPY) run by London’s Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife magazine is the world’s most famous and prestigious competition of its type, attracting more than 43,000 entries from 93 countries in 2009. Millions view the resulting exhibition on its international tour of more than 60 venues. In 2008, I secured a one-year contract to manage the global media campaign promoting the competition and exhibition tour. > Results: the coverage reached an estimated audience of 1.5 billion people worldwide. Visitors to the main exhibition at the Natural History Museum were up 25% on the previous record year (despite the recession). Entries for the 2009 competition were up 33%. > I initiated WPY’s first use of social media for PR purposes.> The role required close coordination with colleagues in marketing, merchandising, touring, sponsorship, exhibition and brand development. > With the Brand Manager, I was responsible for managing relationships with the competition’s co-owners, BBC Worldwide, and corporate sponsors.

London, United Kingdom

The Legal Services Commission was the independent public body that managed legal aid in England and Wales. It had a high public profile with a £2 billion annual budget to help more than 2 million people a year access justice by providing legal assistance for issues ranging from housing and welfare to criminal defence. My main responsibilities were planning the LSC’s media strategy, coordinating its delivery and analysing its effectiveness.> As the Government and the LSC began implementing major, and often controversial, reforms to the legal aid system, my responsibilities expanded to include key stakeholder liaison and communications (with MPs, industry representative groups, law firms and welfare advice agencies). I worked closely with senior Government policy staff to plan consultation and communications at each stage of the reforms. > The role gave me significant experience as a media spokesperson and in issues management. I provided communications advice to senior staff and coordinated their media training.> I managed three press officers and, during my time with the organisation, we generated 65% growth in news coverage to nearly 5,500 articles a year. Strongly negative coverage halved, while strong positive coverage tripled and there was a six-fold increase in the delivery of ‘key messages’. > I managed an annual budget of approximately £100K (excluding salaries) and was part of the senior management team that oversaw other staff working in strategic and corporate communications (print and electronic).

Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

For more than 50 years, the Open University has pioneered distance education and open learning. It remains the world leader in these fields in the era of online and digital communications, with 150,000 undergraduate and more than 30,000 postgraduate students globally.My main responsibilities included planning and implementing media relations and PR activities for the university, and analysing their effectiveness. This ranged from daily contact with national and regional journalists and preparing of news materials to longer-term planning of strategies and campaigns. > I worked with the OU’s senior administration and other external relations teams such as Political Liaison and Marketing to ensure that our communications supported commercial and strategic objectives. > I updated Media Relations Office procedures, including the introduction of student case study and expert commentator databases, which dramatically improved services to journalists and raised the OU’s research profile. I developed an ‘online media office’ which boosted our international media coverage. This was described in a 2004 Guide to Virtual Press Offices as “a best-practice VPO – a fantastic example of how an organisation can really get it right”.> I was a spokesperson for the university, provided communications advice and ran media training for OU academics and senior administrators, and supported regional marketing staff with their PR campaigns. > I managed four media officers, an annual budget of approximately £100K, and commissioned photographers and other freelance staff as required.> I was a member of the university’s Brand Development Group – an advisory team working with brand agency Wolf Olins.> This role made me a Deputy Director of the Communications Group, which had 25 staff working in Publications, Media Relations, Web Development, Event and Exhibition Management, Internal Communications, Visitor Reception and Community Relations.

Melbourne, Australia

Duties included editing, writing, and photographing for a range of Monash publications and web sites ranging from arts magazines to business news journals. I edited the university’s flagship magazine 'Montage', which presented features on research developments in medicine, science, arts, pharmacy, economics, business, engineering and education.I also commissioned freelance staff, assisted with the production of marketing publications, developed communications strategies, wrote media releases and performed other media liaison duties.

Melbourne, Australia

During this time, I wrote for three newspapers within the media group – the 'Herald Sun', the 'Sunday Herald Sun', and 'The Weekly Times'. I began as a cadet sports reporter on the 'Herald Sun', later rotating between general news and features, before finally gaining a permanent round as Environment Writer on 'The Weekly Times'.

Melbourne, Australia

My work was commercial studio and location photography for brochures, business presentations and audio visual productions. In my final year with Slidemasters, I was promoted to company’s senior photographer, responsible for managing the photographic studio, supervising a junior photographer and assistant and training new staff.

Melbourne, Australia

Duties included teaching senior and intermediate Media Studies classes and intermediate Drama classes, coordinating the college Media Studies program, managing a department budget and overseeing the purchase of college audio-visual equipment and materials.I was also responsible for mentoring trainee teachers, and was regularly a member of interview panels for appointing teachers to the Creative Arts Department.

Grad Dip, Journalism, Distinction

Bed, Media Studies, Drama

Social Sciences

One unit, ‘Australia in the World’, completed by correspondence

Commercial Photography

Education record

Advanced Video Production Course