Speaker Spotlight: Stephanie Gauld

Stephanie Gauld (Head of Digital) heads up digital strategy and product at Wonderborn. Prior to this, she headed up digital strategy for EMMY award-winning children's property, Bing. Steph previously worked at Egmont as Digital Publisher, developing new IP and stand-alone digital products, including a no 1 app in 28 markets, and at Disney where she set up the EMEA virtual worlds team, including launching the leading virtual world Club Penguin in Europe.

Why are you passionate about digital?

First of all I’m passionate about creating content for children – it's an endlessly imaginative and curious audience and one which is rapidly changing and evolving as they progress through the various ages and stages of development. I’m passionate about digital because it’s a brilliant and ever-changing means to meet the demands and needs of this audience and help them to grow, be entertained and be inspired.

Name a hero of yours and why.

I love George MacDonald. I’m a massive fan of stories, especially to communicate ideas in a clear, meaningful and memorable way. Through his Christian, allegorical stories, he not only created a range of brilliant novels within themselves but also inspired a generation of brilliant authors, including C S Lewis and J R R Tolkein.

What can people expect from your session?

In my session, Faith in Children’s Media, I’ll be giving a snapshot of what children are consuming and where the trends are heading in terms of digital media. Then, taking the Little Worship Company as a test case, I’ll look at how we can build upon what is popular to help inspire a future generation of faith-filled individuals.

What most excites you about #PremDAC19?

Although I’ve worked in mainstream children’s media for over 20 years, I’m relatively new to faith-based media, so I’m excited to meet people who have been creating products in this space for much longer than I have.