Smelly Lunch Stories to spark honest conversations at live panel

Smelly Lunch Stories returns with a live event that aims to tackle the uncomfortable truth behind DEI progress on Australia’s marketing, advertising, and media industry.

The lunch and panel, called Navigating the Stink, will be held on Thursday, 7 August at the Ace Hotel Sydney.

It will examine the findings from Smelly Lunch Stories’ first DEI survey, conducted in partnership with Urban List and new sponsor Ideally, which revealed that one in three industry professionals have “felt overlooked for roles, promotions, and projects due to their background.”

Smelly Lunch Stories aims to take a deep dive into the representation of culturally diverse talent in senior roles across the industry and explore why almost half of industry respondents say they’ve felt pressure to downplay their cultural background at work to fit in.

The panel will feature Christina Aventi, Chief Strategy Officer at BMF and Gruen Panelist; Eugene Healy, Independent Brand Strategy Consultant, Educator and Creator; and Mark Echo, Executive Manager of Channel, Performance and Effectiveness at IAG; with Smelly Lunch Stories co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Mediahub ANZ Linda Fagerlund moderating.

Through warm and open conversation, the panel will delve into the industry’s stalling progress, its impact on everyday experiences, and where we go from here; all while sharing their own personal Smelly Lunch Stories.

When asked what people wanted from the next event, more than two- thirds of respondents said, “honest conversations”.

This upcoming event promises to be just that and invite those of all backgrounds and levels to the table.

Smelly Lunch Stories launched last year by senior industry leaders Graham Alvarez-Jarratt, Michelle Miroforidis, Linda Fagerlund and An Le, and aims to increase the number of people from culturally diverse backgrounds in executive management positions across the industry.

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