What They Didn’t Teach You in School (Richard Etienne – Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS))

Hi, I’m Laura and these are my interviews with some of the best people working within digital and social media. I only finished school a few years ago and what I found out since leaving was the amount of opportunity within the digital communications world. I wrote a blog post addressing ‘how I wasn’t made aware of pursuing a career in digital and social media’, which is why I am on a mission to do these interviews. I want to make young people more knowledgeable about career options and hopefully these will leave them feeling inspired and excited by what can be achieved. Also, hopefully someone within the education sector will read these to help with career advice.

Name: Richard Etienne

Company:  Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS)

Job Role:  Copyright Licensing Executive

Follow Richard on Twitter: @retienne

What is a usual day like for you at work?

No day is ever the same. I could be waking at 7am to speak with clients abroad wanting to secure copyright licensing for a Picasso reproduction, then overseeing an auction at the world-famous Christie’s auction house just after lunch and ending the day with an evening private view for a contemporary art range on Cork St (London). On another day I could be answering emails from Tracy Emin’s studio or Henri Matisse’s Estate from 10am to 4pm – all whilst organising seminar content during the ‘quiet periods’.

You have been working in social media for a number of years. Is that the career you always wanted to be in or did you just fall into it?

Social media is a passion of mine which developed during my time working for MySpace and JumpOff TV. I keep a keen eye on blogs like TWKS and Mashable to keep abreast of developments and have cultivated a culture of social media awareness at the companies I’ve worked for ever since.

How did you get into your current role?

 I was headhunted by my current employers whilst I was working as a Broadcast and Online Licensing Consultant at PRS for Music. I was hired with the purpose of creating a robust copyright licensing tariff that covered all of the new, digital ways visual art could be publicly exploited.

How hard would your role be without social media? 

As my job is more of a legal nature now, the absence of social media would have a minimal impact at this stage. That being said, the way I communicate with my clients and those interested in copyright law has been enhanced with the introduction of Twitter. Evidence of this has been the increased attendance to copyright law seminars our company hosts – with many of the subjects discussed trending highly on Twitter as a result.

How do you think social media will change and develop?

I remember once being asked: ‘if everyone is writing, who is doing the reading?’ Couple that with the fact many regular web users only visit the same 2 or 3 websites a day, social media will develop in an aggressive way which will see the more popular sites striving for collaborative deals that will ultimately gain more subscribers and click-throughs.

What is the best advice you have to give someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?

Keep open-minded and stay focused. Never restrict your options by following the masses. Leaders in innovation have gone on to be some of the most successful people on the planet. Above all, remember: #nodaysoff!

To find out more about Richard you can reach him on his linkedin. 

Before Christmas I interviewed Jennifer Davis, a Content Manager at Make It Cheaper and she told me about:

• Different ways to get into the industry
• How the future could lie within “immediate sharing”

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