Dan Cain
October 11, 2022

Meet our New Aussie Team Members

As part of people week at Spatial Media, we caught up with three of our newest Aussie recruits to learn a little more about their roles, remote working and being part of a team spanning the globe.

As part of people week at Spatial Media, we caught up with three of our newest Aussie recruits to learn a little more about their roles, remote working and being part of a team spanning the globe. From Bendigo (the centre of Victoria) to the breathtaking NSW Blue Mountains to the hustle and bustle of Sydney, Mike, Nicole and Jakob tell us what it’s like to be part of a growing organisation and how their typical day pans out.If you are inspired to be part of our future, check out our career opportunities where we are currently recruiting Visualisers, Designers and Developers to be part of our exciting future.

Mike Atkinson

Where are you based?

I've just moved to Sydney within the last 12 months. I've been enjoying getting to know my way around and discovering what Sydney has to offer. Each area has something new and exciting.

How have you enjoyed life at Spatial Media?

It's been great. I hit the ground running and jumped right into working on things. I've learnt so much since I joined Spatial Media, and there is a lot of room to grow.

What excites you about your role with Spatial Media?

It's great to work for a company that's ready to change things up and try new things. There is always something fresh and exciting around the corner. It's exciting to be part of the process and share in the achievement of each project.

How do you find working remotely?

I find being able to work in your own space gives you the headspace to think creatively. The flexibility is also unreal. Work/life balance is so much easier when you can skip the commute. Working remote also means it's super awesome when we do meet up and get everyone together!

What is it like to work for a global organisation?

I love working in international environments, it's great to get diversity in opinions, cultures, and attitudes. With people all over the world, there is always someone working at any time of day, it really keeps the momentum up and things rolling over.

What does a typical day look like at Spatial Media?

I don't think there is such a thing as a typical day at Spatial! Everyone has different needs, and things change from day to day. Everyone strikes a balance between their work, and whatever may be going on in their personal life. It's all about communication, setting our priorities, and managing our energy.

Jakob J

Where are you based?

I am based in a small town outside Sydney Called Leura. Situated in the Blue Mountains NSW just about 1100 meters over sea level!

What’s the best thing about your hometown?

My hometown is in Sweden and did not really enjoy that at all for various reasons, hence my move to Australia! I’ve been living a bit of everywhere in Sydney and my recent move to Leura was to get into the housing market in Australia!

How have you enjoyed life at Spatial Media?

After just finishing my first week, I am very excited to what the future holds!

What excites you about your role with SM?

Being a project and account manager, it is a varied day to day role. I am looking forward to forge powerful connections with our clients and helping them achieve wonderful digital things!

What is it like to work remotely for a global organisation?

Coming from an agency background, I have been working remotely for a long time so it is almost like second nature. While it can provide challenges such as a lack of face to face contact with the wider team and takes longer to forge internal teams, I could not see myself going back to a full time in an office!

What does a typical day look like at Spatial Media?

So far, it has been onboarding and getting used to the sector in which we operate. I have met a few of our clients in NSW and ACT face to face and started to take over the day to day comms! I expect this too change in time as I get more and more clients and this is incredibly exciting!

Nicole Vaughan

Where are you based?

Bendigo, the centre of Victoria - true fact as of 2001

What’s the best thing about your hometown?

Bendigo is my hometown where I grew up and after more than a decade of inner Melbourne life I’ve returned. The biggest drawcard of Bendigo was an affordable breakthrough to the property market! But also of course, reaping the benefits of living closer to family and still being accessible to my network of friends in Melbourne. Life goes faster than you think so being able to enjoy family time here and balance the quiet with the hustle and bustle is amazing!

What excites you about your role with Spatial Media?

Being in an emerging sector where there is a lot of opportunity for growth is exciting. We’ve only just scratched the surface and the government engagement landscape is shifting (albeit slower than we’d like) in connecting the public to the major investments and future outcomes that will impact our world.

How have you enjoyed life at Spatial Media?

I am enjoying Spatial Media and getting to know everyone internally and building strong client relationships. I’ve ticked over nine months now and learnt a lot.

What is it like to work remotely for a global organisation?

It makes it a lot more interesting having colleagues in different places. I feel there is greater sense of individuality and different perspectives that everyone can bring to the remote workplace in a global setting.

And from a business point of view with the fast-paced nature of our client projects it’s imperative that we can keep things moving quickly so working with global colleagues with different time zones gives us flexibility to meet needs. As a Project Manager we do have the added challenge to always be cognisant of time zones when allocating tasks.

For a global workforce, the company culture must also support the remote workplace in a healthy way. The staff conferences at Spatial Media are important for connections in that regard – and a lot of fun!

Personally, I am also grateful after having worked in corporate office environment for simple perks like working in comfortable attire (no heels in my home office!) and being able to snack whenever with no judgement.

What does a typical day look like at Spatial Media?

In the Project Manager role, there really is no typical day which to me is appealing as I enjoy variety! A day often involves a mix of client meetings and calls, managing accounts, scoping new projects and writing proposals, problem solving and testing, lots of information sharing and communication to make sure everyone is on track and on the same page!

from our clients

Spatial are my go-to for solutions

Spatial are my go-to for solutions nobody has dreamt up yet! They have an incredible knack for combining tomorrows tech solutions with creativity, intuitive UX and analytics. The results are engaging interfaces that are impactful and ultimately bridge the gap between project and stakeholders.
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Kate kernaghan, company director, factotum communications

Airside Driving Simulator an important part of the training program

It can be storming outside. It could be night time. Any time of the day or night we can create these simulations. It’s very flexible.
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Niel Young, Training Coordinator, Brisbane Airport

The final product is polished and professional

KiwRail embarked on developing a virtual training tool to assist with establishing and maintaining route knowledge competency. The final product is polished, professional and feedback from end users has been overwhelmingly positive. KiwiRail are continuing our association with Spatial media as we create virtual training tools to enable the business to manage risk in the rail network.
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John Gousmett - Operations Improvement Manager, KiwiRail

Their product offering is a game changer

I have been working with the Spatial media team for many years now on a number of different projects. Their product offering is a game changer that enables us to create tools and systems that enhance and simplify engagement with communities. No request or task is ever too difficult or a problem for the Spatial team. They have worked with me late a night and on weekends to ensure delivery on time. I would recommend Spatial and invest in their exciting future!
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James Mckenzie

Spatial bring a collaborative and best practice project approach

Nation Partners has been working with Spatial Media for years to help projects share information and engage with their stakeholders in exciting and innovative ways. Spatial bring a collaborative and best practice project approach to design truly user focused digital solutions.
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Nation Partners, Stakeholder Relations + Communications team

Their responsiveness and flexibility was very well received.

Spatial Media delivered visualisation services brought the concept design to life. Their work was instrumental in communicating the complex design elements to stakeholders and ultimately the broader community. From the outset, Spatial Media demonstrated a deep understanding of infrastructure visualisation requirements, proactively engaging with our engineers and project managers to refine inputs and ensure accuracy. The teams ability to incorporate feedback quickly and collaborative approach made the process seamless and efficient.
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Ross Hall, Project Manager, Aurecon

They are our go to tech-savvy experts with huge amounts of creative flair!

COVID19 social distancing restrictions made having our large scale community event nearly impossible, so we decided to take our face-to-face event online. Spatial worked really closely with us to develop the concept, design and platform that would host our virtual community event. The Spatial team are exceptionally creative, with a fantastic ability to bring your idea to fruition in a way you never thought possible. They made our pen on paper scribble into something that over 45k stakeholders visited online, more than what we could have reached in person. Thank you
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Emily Divitaris, Senior Communications Advisor, WestConnex