Angie Wojak, Director of Career Development, was part of an SVA group that recently traveled to Asia to conduct industry and alumni outreach. She shares this recap of the group’s exciting series of meetings and events:

An SVA team comprised of members of the College’s Office of Alumni Affairs; Office of External Relations; and Office of Career Development traveled to Tokyo, Japan and Seoul, South Korea. Staff met with industry professionals and alumni to foster relationships, while gathering information on hiring trends in the region.

The SVA team visited a variety of gaming, design and animation/film production firms. In Tokyo the group met with Academy Award-winning animation and film house, Robot, Inc. and had productive meetings with Wieden+Kennedy’s Tokyo-based team and with Polygon Pictures; in Seoul, meetings included Big Ant International, Com2uS, LG Electronics and Samsung. These meetings allowed the SVA team to learn directly from art directors, project managers, and company presidents about the current state of Japanese and South Korean visual arts industries, employers’ hiring practices and internship programs.

A particularly inspiring industry visit was the SVA team’s trip to Samsung headquarters where the group discussed the company’s hiring needs and how to connect the company with SVA graduates. During the visit, Samsung hosted a tea for the SVA staff and alumni who are currently employed at Samsung. The SVA graduates who met with the team included graphic designers and computer artists working in areas including mobile communications and media solutions.

The SVA team also hosted alumni and industry receptions in Tokyo and in Seoul. At the Tokyo event, guests included industry professionals from Wieden+Kennedy and Robot, Inc. In Seoul, the large gathering included industry guests from Roi Digital, Prompt, and Atom. The alumni in attendance at both receptions were all very appreciative of SVA coming to visit and pleased to connect with one another. At the Seoul reception, there was a brief program that included an exchange of acknowledgements and appreciation between representatives of the Korean Alumni Association and the SVA representatives.

Images from top down: Angie Wojak (far right) with members of the Korean Alumni Association Committee; Sam Modenstein (Executive Director of External Relations), Carrie Lincourt (Director of Development and Alumni Affairs) and Angie Wojak with SVA alumni at Samsung; SVA reception in Seoul.