Power Profile > Annie Baxter
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Annie Baxter How one woman’s ability to tell a good story has led to a career helping others take their message to the world By Catherine Murray When Annie Baxter began her studies at Auckland University in 1998 she could never have foreseen the path her career would take for one simple reason – her career path did not yet exist. The 32-year-old is a member of the global communications and public affairs team at YouTube headquarters in Silicon Valley, California. She believes that the world is changing so fast that it’s sometimes difficult to make a definitive plan. “Google was founded in the first year I was at University, and when I started working in communications YouTube didn’t even exist,” recalls Annie. “It would have been very difficult for me to plot my course here! However, if I look backwards from the position I’m in now, I can see a lot of elements that came together to lead to this job. The insight I take from this is that remaining open to opportunity is probably the most important thing you can do in your career.” One of the elements that led Annie to YouTube was her gift for telling stories. It’s a talent she’s nourished from her childhood days, growing up in Taupaki in the Rodney District. She says a passion during a person’s younger years often gives a clue to their future occupation. “Looking at what you did between the ages of 8 and 12 is often an indicator of what you’re going to love as a job. For me it was writing and language, and now telling stories and communicating is what I do all day and what I feel most comfortable doing.” In her brief career as a journalist for the Rodney Times Annie built on her flair for communicating. “Some of the jobs I had in that short time were pretty neat. I remember interviewing John Key when he was first standing as the MP for Helensville, as well as other politicians who would come through town. I spent a lot of time with John Law who was the Mayor of Rodney at the time, an impressive individual who was great to get to know. I didn’t realise it at the time, but those experiences were an amazing grounding in terms of telling stories.” After working in public relations for Presence Limited (now Creo Communications) and Telecom, Annie moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2006. While there she furthered her public relations career working as an account manager for Text 100. A shift to Sydney in 2008 to a position with Google made the most of Annie’s qualification repertoire. “They were looking for someone who knew New Zealand really well and had strong media relations there, had worked in technology and who knew Silicon Valley and the Silicon Valley vibe. Unwittingly I’d been gathering these attributes and, again, it would have been almost impossible to tell from the beginning where I would end up. I now have this real trust that things are working out as they’re supposed to. As long as you stay open to opportunities, things are going to happen.” Two years later and Annie returned to the United States to take up her communications role with YouTube. Within two months she was at The White House, helping run a YouTube interview with President Obama. It’s opportunities like this she says are truly remarkable, even though they may be completely unfamiliar territory. “Being at The White House was one of those moments when you’re sitting there thinking how did I get here? The attitude I take to those types of challenges is one of thinking like a beginner. There’s no way I can be expected to know how to do these things, because I’ve never done them before. In many cases, YouTube is so new that nobody has ever done them before so we’re working it all out together as a team. I wasn’t hired because I had done everything before. I was presumably hired because I’m open-minded, I’m smart, I’ll have a go, I’ll work really hard to get the right answer and I believe in the mission of Google and YouTube.” At only seven-years-old, YouTube makes a large impact on the social media scene, with around four billion views per day and 60 hours of video uploaded every minute. “YouTube is a pretty amazing place to be in terms of the magnitude of what you’re dealing with,” says Annie. “There’s also an enormous amount of change in the industry and within YouTube, and it’s our team’s job to keep up with that and work out how to communicate with the 800 million or so people that use it every month.” Part of Annie’s role involves the YouTube For Good initiative, an internal effort with a focus on developing products and features to assist non-profit organisations deliver their message through video. “YouTube For Good is the opportunity to take the scale of YouTube and put it to good use,” explains Annie. “Video is such an amazing tool for influencing people and getting a message across. I think what gets us so excited at YouTube is that it’s such a level playing field. You don’t need to be buying advertisements on television or putting up massive billboards all over the city. If it’s the right video you can get the world’s attention.” YouTube for Good also turns its interest to education, working with a number of the world’s top universities to make their lectures and courses available online through video. “I can easily think back to moments in my schooling where I’ve had a great teacher who has changed my life and set it on a new course,” reflects Annie. “However, it used to be that we just had access to the teacher that happened to be employed by our school. In most cases that was wonderful, but in some cases it was not! Now anyone with an Internet connection is able to go online and see the lectures that a student at university will see – and we’re talking here about establishments like Harvard, Stanford, Princeton and Cambridge. It’s fantastic because it means that access to the world’s best thinkers is no longer restricted to the privileged few that can afford it. New Zealand universities are among the best in the world and we’d love to see more of them on YouTube, so we’re working on that.” The third area of focus at YouTube For Good is free expression. “We’re very conscious that YouTube is a way for people to have their voices heard. This is particularly so in countries where the mainstream media has been silenced and those with a camera on their mobile phone are risking a lot to have their story told.” The power of communication is being placed firmly back into the hands of ‘regular’ people declares Annie, a positive step in her mind. “We’ve seen it so many times in last couple of years where a single tweet or YouTube video has moved the world. Kony 2012 is probably one the most remarkable examples we’ve ever seen of a non-profit organisation getting its message out there to the entire world. Everyone now has access to the same audience, access and power that was once restricted to very powerful interests and large organisations. If we have something important to say, you and I now have the same ability as them to be heard. I think it makes our world a better place.” The instinct to share and the ability to do so through social media is also ensuring our communications online replicate those offline, observes Annie. “When you see something you love, or you read something that is really interesting or thought provoking, you want to share it with people. It’s an instinct that leads to connection and that’s what we crave as people. The ability to say ‘I read this article and thought of you’ is really quite special when you think about it. Sharing is clearly becoming a bigger part of how we consume media, and how companies and individuals communicate.” Annie finds listening to the messages people have to share and the stories they want to tell provides her with an endless stream of positive vibes. “Opening yourself up to people and asking them their story is one of the most interesting things you can do. It’s inspiring, and you get to take a bit of that inspiration with you as you go through your job and your life.” Catherine Murray In September 2011 Annie spoke at the Rutherford Innovation Showcase in Wellington about the ability of individuals and companies to broadcast their message through the medium of video. Here are the key points from her presentation:
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