Damian Ferrar, our sixth judge, is the Global Innovation Director of independent creative agency, Imagination.

As Director of Imagination’s Global Digital offer for Ford Motor Company, Damian leads a global team of strategy, creative and technology experts who create strategically driven, innovative digital experiences across multiple channels and platforms.

Damian joined Imagination to develop pioneering digital experiences for clients including Ford, Guinness, Samsung, Vodafone and Unilever utilising innovative digital marketing initiatives including social media, mobile, film, and interactive installations as delivery platforms and channels.

Our fifth judge is Gary Walker, the multi-award winning Creative Director at the UK’s largest and most awarded advertising agency, Abbott Mead Vickers.

He has been responsible for campaigns for a diverse range of clients from Sainsbury’s to Guinness, from BT to the BBC, from the RSPCA to The Economist.

His twenty-year career has seen his work being recognised at every major international awards show worldwide including a very special honour from The United Nations for an Anti Gun-Crime commercial he produced.

Gary passionately believes that insightful, original creativity is the lifeblood of any brand – without it they will whither and die, with it they can flourish and grow.

That is the responsibility of a creative.

Our fourth judge is again from client side, and this time it’s Adnams – we are delighted to welcome Andy Wood.

As Chief Executive of Adnams, Andy leads one of East Anglia’s most impactful lovemark brands. Adnams is an innovative company, which seeks always to delight its customers through product development, brand application and community engagement. Under Andy’s visionary leadership, Adnams has seen growth even in troubled times, and the Southwold-based company is on course for great things over the coming years.

Andy is the Chairman of a range of boards including the Regional Leadership Team for Business in the Community. He has a Doctorate from Cranfield University, speaks at a number of business schools and has  recently accompanied the Government’s Energy and Climate Change Minister to Washington DC on the UK’s first green trade mission.

Our second judge comes from client side: HSBC. Lisa Walker is their Head of Digital Marketing Communications and has over 20 years experience in client side marketing.

After humble beginnings as a Market Research Executive for Hasbro Bradley, quizzing kids about their favourite toys, she has gone on to help a number of rapid growth businesses.  These include helping to secure the huge growth of Nintendo in the early nineties, including the growth of Nintendo’s first handheld Gameboy and the launch of the Nintendo Super NES.

Lisa then worked for EMI records and promoted the James Bond franchise across Europe for MGM films, before moving on to mobile.  Here at One 2 One (now T-Mobile), Lisa launched the first pay as you go mobile phone, which paved the way for mobiles to go from expensive luxury to a universal necessity.

Lisa then moved on to the internet business, where again she saw the rapid growth of an industry, with the launch of broadband.  Here at AOL, Lisa also helped pioneer the use of social media in marketing, winning a BAFTA TV award in 1995 for ³/discuss², which was one of the first marketing campaigns to invite people to come on line and contribute their thoughts via a social website.  Facebook and Twitter didn’t exist then, so AOL had to build their own messaging site for the campaign.

Now, Lisa is in charge of digital marketing for HSBC.  Here, she continues to strive for innovative, engaging marketing campaigns. This includes the unique HSBC student bursary campaign, where students are asked to compete via a video based facebook application and the public get to vote on which 8 students should win a £15,000 student bursary.

In your final year of a graphic design or communications degree and want to break into the industry? Spring’s inviting East Anglia’s most exciting new creatives to join us for an evening of debate, creativity and introductions.

You’ll meet some of the UK design communication industry’s most talented players, share your ideas with them, get their advice on your portfolio and CV, and get tips on breaking into the agency world.

We’ll be revealing the names and biogs of our creative heroes over the next few weeks so follow this blog for updates.

At the heart of the evening will be GradPitch2012, where the graduate creators of great ideas will have the opportunity to develop them, agency style. You’ll be advised by agency planners, creative directors and client marketing directors about how to make a really great idea fly.

And then you’ll pitch against each other.

You’ll be given just five minutes each to sell your idea into the assembled industry luminaries and each other, and the winner by show of hands will take away some fantastic prizes.

There’ll be hot food, cold beers (and soft drinks) and, more importantly, a future-changing chance for everyone to meet and pick the brains of potential employers, mentors and referees.

When: 6th July 2012

Where: Southwold

Who: We’ll be limiting our invitations to just 12 graduates

So how do you bag an invite?

We’d like you to show us, in the most attention grabbing and effective way possible, how you’d change the design communications world.

What’s your thought that’ll make everyone in the creative industry sit up and pay attention? And how will you communicate it?

We’re living in a transmedia world, so we want to see ideas that can carry across a range of channels.

Apart from that, there is no brief, no rights, no wrongs – surprise us.

The 12 winners will be notified by the 15th June and invited to join us for GradPitch2012.

Please send your future changing concepts to erika.clegg@springagency.co.uk with ‘GradPitch2012′ in the subject line by Monday 11th June. No files over 5mb, please. Postal address is Spring, The Press, 4 Church Street, Southwold IP18 6JG.