Battle of the Bands 2011

Wow!!! you have to have a look at the fantastic range of talented young people that have entered this years Young Chamber Skills Factor 'Battle of the Bands' competition, it is really immense. Not only have these young people composed and written their own material many of them have produced their own promotional videos to support their entries in this years competition. Have a look now at www.youngchamber.com and see for yourself and I think that there will be quite a few where you will want to purchase the CD or download.
Best Regards

An age of discovery

I love it when I find something new which creates an excitement which reminds me of being a very young child. Now a days this can take many forms like finding a new gadget, a new app, a new TV programme or discovering a new band or book that en-captivates you immediately. However what I have discovered today is seeing for the first time the superb presentation by Sir Ken Robinson  on 'YouTube' entitled 'Changing Education Paradigms'. It is funny what excites you as you get older but this is good as it articulates beautifully the work that we have been doing through Young Chamber to try to address the issues that Sir Ken highlights in his presentation. I have long made comment that all children have place in society and have such amazing potential that any future plans for developing global economies and the societies in which they live must have built in a very solid foundation for the development and education of our young people. In Sir Kens speech he talks about the current educational systems being built upon the old industrial model of education, which  I agree but I would also add that the system now needs to evolve reflecting today's society. Of course I do totally understand why such a model was developed in the first place but it has not evolved to sweep up and embrace the vast range of qualities and differences that being human adds to society. So thank you Sir Ken for articulating some of the work that we are trying to do for young people across the country in showing and highlighting the tremendous range of opportunity that exists for our young people post education. The challenge for us all is how we restructure the system to engage with the majority of young people, to give them all the opportunity to develop and shape their own dreams, ambitions and aspirations and then to encourage them to make their ambitions a reality. This is what the YC has already started to try to do.    

Young Chamber in Europe

I have just got back from my European trip to Bordeaux where I was invited to speak by the European Commission  at the Comenius Regio Conference about the innovative work we are doing through the Young Chamber concept. It is interesting to learn that many of the conversations that we have in the UK about how to effectively engage local business and schools in support of a young persons understanding about enterprise/entrepreneurship is also happening throughout Europe. This is a common issue not just in the UK or Europe but around the world as my previous conversations with the World Chamber Federation have concurred.
From my perspective I view this issue to be about effective 'economic development' and how we grow and develop business for the benefit of our communities. This has led to the very logical conclusion that for effective economic development we need to include within our plans and strategies a clear framework of support which includes planning for the future and how we link up with and engage the next generation of employees and employers.
Hence the development of Young Chamber which can provide an easy to understand consistent framework of Business School engagement, working with and through local business networks like the Chambers of Commerce who exist in nearly every town and city across the world. Through this process, we can tap into a vast range of local businesses who can provide young people in their local schools with a greater understanding of business and the fantastic range of jobs opportunities that exist for them post education.

At the conference I made comment that the next generation of men and women entering the world of work will come from a very diverse range of academic and vocational abilities as well as a diverse range of backgrounds. All young people are important and have 'place' in society, our challenge is how we connect with all of these young people at a far earlier age in order to start the conversation about future opportunities post education.
This is what we are trying to do through the concept of Young Chamber setting up local support through existing networks bringing a range of benefits not just to the young people, but to the schools and to the local business communities in which we operate.To date, we know that this framework can work. We now need partners and local communities to work with us to bring benefit to many more young people, not just the few.

Off on my Travels

Travelling to Bordeaux for European Conference to discuss Employer Education engagement. Have been invited by the European Union to inform them about Young Chamber and all the good work that has been going on in the UK.