Hedley Swann
Digital Marketing Strategist
What’s your link to Townsville?
I completed a Bachelor of New Media Arts at JCU, specialising in Digital Design. The degree was brand-new when I started and the modern facility was full of eager people who wanted to explore fresh directions available in creative design and communication. Being a new degree, we had a lot of opportunities as the first year of students. This led to life-changing events like participating in a year-long exchange program in Germany.
Where are you now?
I’m living in the Northern Territory and enjoying Darwin’s tropical climate and multicultural diversity. It’s actually quite similar to Townsville in many respects. I’m the co-founder of Dash – a web design and online marketing firm. We help ambitious business owners and organisations engage audiences online. Our clients range from local business owners who want to attract new customers to national organisations who have marketing initiatives Australia-wide.
What’s your next project?
On the business side, right now we’re working with a property developer and builder to create a new web presence that has cool features to help home buyers search and explore home designs, select land in new developments and find house and land packages that suit them. We’re also working with a new initiative called She Flies. They run in-school and community drone education programs to encourage girls to get involved in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, which is really exciting.
What’s happening with your personal life?
My girlfriend Sue moved from Germany to Australia two years ago and we’re currently enjoying our time with friends and family, exploring everything with our ever-faithful companion Jack — an Australian Shepherd dog. He was born and raised in Germany and came over with my partner when she moved here. He comes to work with me each day now and is the Chief Greeter at Dash. Seriously… Jack is more well-known than I am!
How did your time in Townsville set you up for success?
The best part of my education in Townsville was the emphasis our lecturers put on ‘learning how to learn’. The web is a very fast-paced industry and developing good habits for keeping on top of new ideas, trends and techniques is super-important. They also emphasised the concepts that underpin good design. Software, technology and even mediums change but they’re all worthless without the ability to think creatively to solve problems.
Do you still come ‘home’ to Townsville to visit?
Not recently, but Dash is looking into expanding our business into other centres around Australia and Townsville is definitely on that list.
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www.dash.marketing