55 Women Executives from 23 countries and 36 media organizations gathered in London on 2 and 3 February for the third annual Women Executives in Media (WEM) meeting on the topic of developing new female talent and advancing women’s careers.

The EBU Women Executives in Media Group offers a dynamic and lively forum for top public media professionals to network, share on- and off-air experiences, and work towards achieving greater influence in this sector.

It kicked off with a cocktail party at the inspiring Key West Hotel. From the early 70s it was formally the BBC Kensington House recording studio where the likes of David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music and the Kinks all laid down tracks.

A full day of discussions was held the following day in the historic Council Chamber at BBC Broadcasting House in central London.

Opening the meeting EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre reminded attendees about the importance of WEM: “Be stronger together, pick up ideas and best practices to take home and further develop the personal and professional business network.”

Helen Boaden, the BBC’s Director of Radio was the moderator for the day. She brought the day to life as mistress of ceremonies, bringing the best out of the gathered group and adding extremely useful thoughts of her own ensuring everyone took away something valuable to implement within their lives back home.

The first panel of the event looked at developing new talent and learning from BBC best practice with Claire Paul, the BBC’s Head of New talent, Anne Morrison, Chair of BAFTA and Nikki Clarke, from the BBC World Service’s Language Services. Nikki explained how to facilitate and recruit new broadcasting talent to make original news, improve reporting from the field and promote understanding in all languages.

Claire Paul is working to ensure that the BBC attracts the brightest young talent from the broadest range of backgrounds. Claire has led the BBC’s growth in apprenticeships, working with other employers to develop employer designed qualifications. Anne Morrison explained the amazing scheme called “BBC Expert Women Initiative “ which identifies and trains expert professional women to appear on screen to give new voices and new perspectives on history, politics, science, technology, sport, business and medicine, and become specialist presenters or contributors.

The second panel, moderated by Anne Morrison, was about building and sustaining women’s careers. Two Directors General, Cilla Benkö from Sveriges Radio and Maria Ronbye Ronn of DR shared their personal stories.

Kate Kinninmont then presented the WFTV mentoring programme which is designed for women who have more than five years’ experience working in TV, film or digital production. Over six months, selected participants receive six hours of mentoring from an experienced industry figure, combined with an intensive programme of seminars, training workshops and networking opportunities.

The day ended with a personal conclusion from Helen Boaden: “Let’s be generous to each other, be open and share.”