Creator Sessions

Meet marketing maven Katie Golding, Chief Marketing Officer of the Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG). We had a blast chatting with her on the podcast about everything from her passion for trail running, women’s empowerment in the region, and many anecdotes from her illustrious career.

Introducing: Create Echo 📢

This bi-weekly mini-podcast is your new go-to scoop on all things Create (plus the latest in tech, innovation and much more to keep you in the know)!

In this episode, Tala gives us updates about the latest Whatsapp features, some special Emirati Women's Day Episodes of the Creator Sessions, and some developments over at Create.

In the final Emirati Women’s Day episode, Tala invited artist and illustrator Aysha Al Hamrani to the podcast. You may know her as @mnawrah online, and her charming illustrations have been featured in everything from cosmetic campaigns to children’s books.

They spoke about Emirati culture, Aysha’s highly self-reflective journey as an artist from the days of yore on Flickr & MySpace, and where she is today as a pioneer in her domain. 

Find her on Instagram: @mnawrah

Fellow artist and friend Maitha Hamdan’s Instagram: @maithahamdan

In the second episode of our special Emirati Women’s Day series, Tala had a fascinating conversation with Aida Al Busaidy—a woman who’s worn many hats (or should we say sheilas?) in her career. 

Aida’s impressive journey through the marketing and communications sphere has spanned close to 2 decades and has taken her from journalist to TV presenter to managing campaigns against 30 markets in consumer marketing, featuring everyone from key opinion and community leaders to celebrities. She’s not only the AVP of Consumer Advocacy at Dubai Economy and Tourism but also founded and runs two consultancy firms. She’s a columnist at Harper’s Bazaar too. 

Her illustrious career has been recognised through her nominations in the prestigious Ahlan Hot 100 People to Watch in 2011 and Promise of a Generation in 2015. She was also recently recognised as a “Marketing Game Changer” by Campaign Middle East last year.

Aida is also a very passionate advocate for women’s rights and social issues.

Find her on Instagram: @aidaalbusaidy

It’s Emirati Women’s Day and this is episode 1 from our three-episode series to celebrate this special day.

Here, Tala Mukaddam sat down with Mariam Al Meraikhi, the Communications and Media Consultant for the UAE Year Of team, for a chat about Year of Sustainability, COP28 and Mariam’s own journey in her life and career.

Mariam has many titles to her name outside of Consultant, including CEO and co-founder of Astrocloud Studios, National Experts Program Fellow, and UAE 51 National Day committee member. She’s also a passionate sustainability advocate, artist, and storyteller.

Find her on Instagram: @mariam.meraikhi

Follow UAE Year Of: @UAEYearOf

In this episode of the Creator Sessions, Tom & Dia visit Coca-Cola Arena with General Manager, Mark Jan Kar, in the 17,000-capacity venue to talk about everything from absurd rider requests from artists to how the live entertainment landscape has evolved and changed leading up to the establishment of the impressive arena.

About Mark: 

Mark Jan Kar is the General Manager at Coca-Cola Arena, spearheading the team in bringing some of the biggest acts and live performances from across the world to Dubai’s home of live entertainment.

Having held a number of positions within the senior management team at Coca-Cola Arena, Mark joined as Commercial Director in November 2018, and shortly after took on the role as Head of Commercial and Live in June 2021, overseeing all elements of commercial business and live shows at UAE’s first multipurpose indoor events venue – before being appointed to General Manager in 2021.

For this episode, we were joined by Richard FitzGerald , CEO & Founder of Augusts Media. He’s the man behind all your favourite Lovin’ platforms! 😍

Tune in to hear all about the struggles and wins of rapid growth, how to succeed in the content creation industry and a lot more.

We got three of our production superstars—Dia Hassan, Shona Royston and John Hassan—together for a chat about the rise of new tech in production. 

They spoke about the potential and challenges around AI, VR and AR, and the best tools you need in your production tool belt.

Tune in and keep an ear out for our next episode!

We gathered some of our performance, strategy and social experts for a fun chat about what’s coming up in their fields. 

Is influencer marketing the way forward? Are dedicated content creators the key to personalising brands? And how can we all stay on-trend when things keep shifting so rapidly?

What did you think? Message us on IG (@creategroup.me) for a chat!

Ever wonder how AI will shape the creative process over the next few years?

Earlier this month, we let AI behind the wheel of our social channels in a week long experiment, every visual posted, every word you read—it was all AI. So we invited a few of the creative minds behind the project to talk us through the process and share their thoughts on how AI is already having an impact on the industry.

Tune in to hear how it went.