Awards - University of Wollongong – UOW

Nominations for the 2021 awards have now closed. We look forward to announcing the recipients later this year.

Leaders, innovators, game-changers & everyday heroes

Previous winners

Robert Hope Memorial Prize

To celebrate Chancellor Robert Hope's life and contribution, the Chancellor Robert Hope Memorial Prize is awarded to a student who demonstrates:

Exceptional academic performance
Outstanding leadership
Significant contribution to the University and/or the wider community

2021 Alumni Awards: THIS IS YOUR UOW

Through prodigious entrepreneurial skill and innovation, CEO of Nine Entertainment, (former Stan Entertainment CEO) and past Alumni Award winner, Mike Sneesby, turned an idea into a multi-million dollar business that has transformed the way Australians access content and set new global benchmarks for independent streaming services.

00:00

yeah well I'm the CEO at Stan when I

00:04

started Stan I had to explain exactly

00:05

what it is but hopefully those people

00:07

watching today would know that Stan is

00:08

Australia's leading local streaming

00:10

service I did a start-up overseas based

00:14

out of Dubai a joint venture between

00:16

Saudi telecom and Astro Malaysia and

00:18

that was sort of the start of my

00:19

internet TV career and when I came back

00:22

to Australia I'm David Ginjo who was the

00:24

the CEO of channel 9 at the time was

00:26

thinking about what was happening in

00:28

Internet TV what was his Netflix thing

00:29

that was going on and I just come out of

00:31

an Internet TV venture in the Middle

00:33

East those conversations very quickly

00:35

turned into what we have today which is

00:37

which is dancing but the reality is I'm

00:39

the guys at the front there's a huge

00:41

team behind me across technology across

00:44

marketing across our content content

00:47

acquisitions and content creation so I

00:49

think you know if I could put something

00:52

my finger on something which hopefully I

00:54

do well is lead people and inspire them

00:57

to do great things and you know overall

01:00

the outcome of that is a business like

01:01

stem aspiring entrepreneurs I think

01:03

should you know make sure they test the

01:05

water I think when particularly when

01:07

you're young or you're coming out of

01:09

university you sort of end up on a track

01:11

which is driven by you know

01:13

circumstances it's not always the right

01:14

track and sometimes you get locked into

01:17

that track so I would say test the water

01:19

amongst a lot of things find out what it

01:20

is that you love and what you're

01:21

passionate about and give yourself the

01:23

opportunity to discover great things

01:26

that you can be entrepreneurial with

00:00

yeah well I'm the CEO at Stan when I

00:04

started Stan I had to explain exactly

00:05

what it is but hopefully those people

00:07

watching today would know that Stan is

00:08

Australia's leading local streaming

00:10

service I did a start-up overseas based

00:14

out of Dubai a joint venture between

00:16

Saudi telecom and Astro Malaysia and

00:18

that was sort of the start of my

00:19

internet TV career and when I came back

00:22

to Australia I'm David Ginjo who was the

00:24

the CEO of channel 9 at the time was

00:26

thinking about what was happening in

00:28

Internet TV what was his Netflix thing

00:29

that was going on and I just come out of

00:31

an Internet TV venture in the Middle

00:33

East those conversations very quickly

00:35

turned into what we have today which is

00:37

which is dancing but the reality is I'm

00:39

the guys at the front there's a huge

00:41

team behind me across technology across

00:44

marketing across our content content

00:47

acquisitions and content creation so I

00:49

think you know if I could put something

00:52

my finger on something which hopefully I

00:54

do well is lead people and inspire them

00:57

to do great things and you know overall

01:00

the outcome of that is a business like

01:01

stem aspiring entrepreneurs I think

01:03

should you know make sure they test the

01:05

water I think when particularly when

01:07

you're young or you're coming out of

01:09

university you sort of end up on a track

01:11

which is driven by you know

01:13

circumstances it's not always the right

01:14

track and sometimes you get locked into

01:17

that track so I would say test the water

01:19

amongst a lot of things find out what it

01:20

is that you love and what you're

01:21

passionate about and give yourself the

01:23

opportunity to discover great things

01:26

that you can be entrepreneurial with