Skills Factor meets the X factor

Hi there, our recent Young Chamber event at The Indig02 last week actually achieved the Wow Factor that I  was looking for. Schools and business people from across the country met up for a day of fun and celebration at the Skills Factor 2011 Final.

The first surprise of the day was discovering that the X Factor was also at The 02 recording one of their future shows. It was really good to be sharing the same venue as Young Chamber and it was great to see our branding on display alongside theirs. I must say our promotional materials looked fantastic, promoting both the Skills Factor and the Battle of the Bands.

The day started with the final school presentations from the six finalists which were all excellent and made it very difficult for the Judges to make their final decisions.

As I had previously mentioned we also had in attendance a few surprise Guest Speakers all telling their stories of how they became successful within their chosen careers. The first one up was Scott Mills from Radio 1, followed by Alexis Conran from BBC 3's the Real Hustle and then finally making the stage, just before the Skills Factor Winners were announced,  we had former BBC 1 Blue Peter presenter,  Zoe Salmon. Everyone found their different stories fascinating and the headline message from all of them was to not give up, if you get knocked back in pursuit of your chosen career, get up dust yourself down and try again, until you do succeed.

In the afternoon we were treated to some top quality musical performances from our Battle of the Bands finalists which would have easily rivalled anything that was going on next door in the X Factor, the winner of which was the 'super' Kerensky Offensive.

The winners of this years Skills Factor Final for 2011 were from Maltby Academy in Rotherham, well done to Maltby and all of this year's Skills Factor Finalists.

We have already started work on next year's Skills Factor 2012 competition which will be launched to schools this September, so if you missed out this year make sure your school or college gets involved for next year. It will be great and full of enthusiastic young people who will provide numerous examples of the many talents that young people possess from across the country and who will provide the future backbone of the UK economy. We will also have more surprise guest speakers to inspire everyone in attendance, more details will be announced on the Young Chamber website in the very near future.

Best Regards
5th Matrix

The Scene is Set

Here we go then, the scene is set and the second annual Skills Factor competition is now only days away. We have the venue the Indig02 London; we have the finalists already for action; we have the Battle of the Bands waiting to take the stage; we have supporters all ready to cheer and support and encourage their teams throughout the day; we have the judges all set to challenge the finalists and we have some very special guests who will share with all attendees their stories about how they have made it to the top of their chosen careers. Now if you are not attending this years event you are going to miss something really special, a celebration of all that is good about our young people in the UK today, a small sample of which will be in attendance to demonstrate the qualities and skills that will look after and protect the UK economy for many years to come. This event is not just the Skills Factor it will also become known as the Wow Factor. For those attending I look forward to seeing you there, for those who are not you have missed something spectacular.
   

Only two weeks to go until the 02 Skills Factor Final 2011

OK there are only two weeks to go until the Skills Factor Final 2011, where we will have a range of presentations from the Skills Factor finalists and the Battle of the Bands finalists. My team have been busy putting together the finer detail of the day which promises to be an enjoyable experience for all of the young people involved plus those school supporters coming along to the event to show and demonstrate their support.

Don't tell anyone but I am also planning  to have a few surprises on the day with a number of celebrity guest appearances to talk about how they got into their careers and professions; everyone has a story to tell and I think that those who attend on the day will very much enjoy what they see and hear.

If you want to come along and see for yourself what Young Chamber is all about please contact the office to register your attendance.

Skills Factor 2011 Finalist

I would like to thank all the schools and teams that have entered this years Skills Factor Competition 2011 and a big well done to the semifinalist winners who now go on to the National Finals to be held in London at the 02 Indigo on July 6th. The semifinalist are: King James's, Knaresborough; Maltby Academy, Maltby; The Cherwell School, Oxford; The Heathland School, Hounslow; The Henry Cort Community College, Fareham; The Otherwise Club, London.

I would also like to congratulate this year's finalists for the Battle of the Bands competition who will also be competing at the same venue on the 6th July for the title of overall Battle of the Bands  2011 winner. The finalists are:  Megan Hitchcock; The Kerensky Offensive and Broken Way . We had 3898 individuals all taking part in this years on-line vote to get these three talented acts to the final and remember their compositions are all their own work.

Well done once again and I look forward to meeting and seeing you all at the final on July 6th.

Best Regards

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.