This post was originally published on the Thoroughly Good Blog where you'll find the full post including Jon's reflections on the evening.

On Thursday evening I hosted a session for YPIA spotlighting the Southbank Centre’s Chief Executive Elaine Bedell.

During the session she discussed her career and provided advice on how to get on in TV and the arts. I’ve captured some of the points that really resonated for me below.

1. Say yes to people always; be someone people want to be with, always
    
2. A negotiation depends on both parties having a shared need or want – anything less isn’t a negotiation
    
3. Be your truest self; don’t try and be what you think people want you to be
    
4. Wanting to work in the arts isn’t enough now – you need to look with ingenuity and for business opportunities
    
5. There should be a closer relationship between media and the arts
    
6. Appointing TV people in arts management is a good thing – TV could do with recruiting more arts people
    
7. Knowing early on in your life what it is you want to do is possibly the greatest help you can give yourself
    
8. Pitch two ideas, not three
    
9. Pitch with confidence – start by pinning your shoulders back – pitch with energy
    
10. Avoid complexity when pitching
     
11. Pitching is a leap of faith – it may not work – knowing how to pick yourself up from a rejection is key
     
12. Live performance is ‘where it’s at’ right now – its an escape from our on-demand world, offering real-life social interaction of the kind of that digital denies us

Read Jon's full post here.