40 leading executives from a wide range of broadcasting organizations gathered together for the second Women Executives in Media (WEM) meeting hosted by Danish public service broadcaster DR and organized by the European Broadcasting Union.

EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre welcomed participants from 19 countries to the WEM network, which is geared towards women CEOs, directors general, and directors of TV and radio stations. It offers a forum for women media executives to network, share professional experiences, and work towards achieving greater influence in their sector.

Leading DR News anchor Tine Gøtzsche moderated the event and prepared 2 strong panels on Leadership and Danish Drama.

The first panel included an inspirational keynote speech by Maria Rørbye Rønn, Director General of DR. She explained her personal thoughts on how to establish trust within the media. “It starts with the board. If your values stay the same, they will understand that you are doing your job. It is also important for the employees.” She also talked about staying enthusiastic: "It is crucial to give a direction in your leadership. Keep telling the public why we are here and always focus on the audience.”

As well as Maria Rørbye Rønn, this panel debate included Helen Boaden, Director of Radio at the BBC and Vyara Ankova, Director General of BNT, who shared their views on the importance of making difficult decisions whilst remaining transparent with the public.

In the second panel, the conversation was steered from leadership and politics to drama production. DR celebrates 15 years of successful Danish drama production with the likes of The Killing and Borgen which have proved hugely popular with mainstream European audiences.

Piv Bernth, Head of drama at DR who oversaw the major productions The Killing, The Bridge, 1864, Borgen and The Legacy explained that the Danish model is based on a strong strategy defined by DR about 2 decades ago, where the focus is on the scriptwriter playing a vital role in developing the programme around the storyline.

DR has been known to break down the barriers between scriptwriters, actors and directors, and hence change the way modern programming works: “Everyone is important in the project production and it's essential to work together. It's all about trust.“ Piv went on to explain that arguing is part of their working culture: "Scandinavians are straightforward, they have good self confidence and freely give their opinion when asked.”

This panel debate was moderated by Tine Gøtzsche and included: Piv Bernth, Sofie Grabøl, Lead actress of The Killing and Maya Ilsøe, Scriptwriter of The Legacy.

The women had a beautiful end to a successful day of debates with a trip to the Concert Hall in Copenhagen.

If you are interested in joining the next WEM meeting join our group on LinkedIn to find out more.