Stuart Aitken, the IAB's editorial manager, reports from the first Digital Talent University Roadshow.
With the price of education rising by the minute, it's tempting to think of today's university students as disgruntled nihilists preparing to face a bleak future of crippling debt and unemployability.
Judging from the IAB's first Digital Talent University Roadshow held at Bournemouth University last week however, this picture could not be further from the truth.
A packed audience of 140 media students filled a lecture hall to hear presentations from New Media Age, the COI, AKQA, Mindshare, Chinwag and the IAB's own Kieron Matthews.
Aside from the individual presentations, what was most intriguing about the day was the enthusiasm of the students who had all come to learn more about the digital industry - and how to go about gaining a foothold in the industry.
Yes, the employment market may have gone through a dip in the last year or so, but that does not seem to have dampened students' enthusiasm to get involved. Even the repeated warnings about long hours and hard work which came from all the presenters could not quell the enthusiasm.
Speaking to individual students during the break out groups it was heartening to hear them discuss their interests in depth. One student I spoke to explained that she “really loved search” before going to outline her love of algorithms and Google Analytics. Coming from someone who appeared to be otherwise a perfectly sane and well rounded individual, this was more than a little surprising.
Another student touched on the issue of the £25,000 worth of debt that he was accruing by choosing to study at university. “It forces me to remain focused on getting a job at the end of the course”, he argued.
AKQA’s Nick Turner pointed out during his presentation that by 2012, no first year university student will have experienced life without the internet. This new digital generation is certainly very different to the generations that came before – and they face unique challenges and issues that many of us were lucky enough to escape. Having said this, if the experience of Bournemouth is anything to go by, they also offer a promise of a bright future for the digital industry as a whole.
You can watch a video of edited highlights of the day, including discussions with the students by visiting the IAB’s new MySpace profile.
