Over 550 High School students from the Riverina Region of NSW met at the beautiful campus of Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga for the first of a series of Big Day In events that are planned around Australia.

The Big Day In events are coordinated by the Australian Computer Society Foundation. They aim to encourage senior High School students to consider a career in the field of Information Technology.

Adobe had been a proud supporter of The Big Day In since 2015. In 2016, there were 11 Big Day In events involving over 6,500 students, 177 speakers, 167 exhibitors, 77 organisations. This year’s roadshow will be run in at least 15 locations nationally so even more people will be involved.

I had the pleasure of being the opening keynote presenter for this event and my message was based around being a life long creator. I encouraged the students to think about what their passions are, to think entrepreneurially and turn their passions into job before they leave school.

I shared some of the agreed perceptions between teachers of Gen Z and Gen Z students themselves that came out of Adobe’s recent Gen Z study.

I also pointed out that half of what were considered the world’s best multinational workplaces in 2016 were IT companies.

Another focus of the presentation was to highlight the recent work of Marc Prensky who has collated the many skills that industry is looking for in young people as they come through the education system.

It was a pleasure meeting hundreds of the students at the Adobe stand during the breaks and encouraging them to learn Adobe software and use it to help brand and promote themselves.

Special thanks to Kerrie Rhodes and John Ridge from the Australian Computer Society Foundation for putting this event together.

John Ridge (ACS Foundation Executive Director) with me at the Adobe booth

The local WIN News did a story about the day. It was great to see the Adobe banners on show in the background. If this interview with John was framed better with the rule of thirds, you would see me in the background demonstrating some Adobe software. Oh well!

Special congratulations to Mitchell from Mount Austin High School, in Wagga for winning a 12 month Adobe Creative Cloud License.