Tim Kitchen 11:09 am on March 12, 2018  

Big Day In – Wagga

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The Big Day In events for 2018 commenced in rural NSW at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga (CSU) last Wednesday 7th March.

About 600 students from around the NSW Riverina region (and beyond) listened to a wide range of presenters from the IT industry, all with a similar aim to encourage the young audience to consider a future in IT and develop their digital communication skills.

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The BiG Day In is an IT careers conference designed by students for students. It is designed for both high school (Years 9-12) and University students interested in careers in technology and I have had the pleasure of being a regular presenter at these events throughout Australia over the past four years.

Jason Howarth, Associate Head of School of Computing & Mathematics at CSU welcomed the students and encouraged them to consider doing a CSU course when they finish their schooling.

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Councillor Greg Conkey OAM, Mayor of the City of Wagga Wagga, also added his welcome to the 600 students and their teachers and officially opened the event with some comments about the exciting opportunities that are available in his city within the IT industry.

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My presentation was titled Preparing for the Future Workplace. Key points included:

  • Workout what your passions are and think entrepreneurially and turn those passions into a job while you are still and school and university.
  • The World Economic Forum rates creativity as the third most important skill required to thrive in 2020 and beyond.
  • Creative problem-solving is critical in the age of automation.
  • 47% of jobs are at risk of being automated over the net 20 years
  • In the age of automation, more jobs will demand 21st-century skills such as interpersonal skills entrepreneurialism and creative problem-solving
  • According to a recent study by Innovation and Science Australia, 92% of future jobs will need digital skills, and 45% of jobs will need people who can configure and work confidently with digital systems and technology.
  • People will also change jobs more frequently. An Australian student leaving school today is likely to have five careers and 17 jobs over there working life.
  • According to recent Great Place to Work surveys, information technology companies dominate as the best workplaces
  • Learn the skills that help you stand out from the crowd and brand yourself creatively for others to notice.
  • Take advantage of access to the industry standard Adobe creative digital technology applications that you have at school to help prepare yourself for the future workplace.

My personal assistant, Rob the Robot featured several times throughout this presentation. Here is the special welcome that he gave the students.

This animation sequence was made in about 15 minutes thanks to the amazing face recognition feature within Adobe Charter Animator.

Clickhere to see the resources I shared during this event.

The local Win TV News sent out a crew to capture the day. I was featured in their story showing the wonders of Character Animator to some students from Wagga Wagga High School.

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Special thanks to John Ridge and Kerrie Bisaro from the Australian Computer Society Foundation for the great work they do in managing the the Big Day In events.

The next event goes over two days in Sydney at UTS on 20th & 21st March.