Programme aimed at those in their late teens to early 20s who are either about to attend, or are attending, university or college
Now a well-established event on the calendar, the ISE Future AV Professionals Programme took place at ISE yesterday. It is aimed at those in their late teens to early 20s who are either about to attend, or are attending, university or college – and is designed to show them the possibilities the AV industry offers for an interesting, exciting and rewarding career.
This year has seen some 60-70 students from the Netherlands and Germany taking part – with some establishments returning for a third time – from a range of academic disciplines. The programme is organised jointly by AVIXA and CEDIA, with assistance of AV professionals from LANG, Adam Hall, Pyramid Group, Electrosonic, Renox and AVOne.
Joseph Valerio, director of workforce development at AVIXA, said: “This year, we’re doing things a little bit differently. We’re helping them interact with some young professionals who do what they do every day, as well as meet with some business owners. Where we can, we’re homing in on their specific interests – we have a group, for example, who are particularly interested in digital signage and content creation and media.”
According to Valerio, participants in the programme are frequently overwhelmed by the size and scale of ISE. “They’re astonished by the quality of companies, the quality of technologies and the quality of the experiences offered,” he said. “More than anything, they’re simply mesmerised by how shiny it is – and also how massive the facility is. Navigating it as a young person is a challenge in itself – and we treat them like adults by asking them to be back at a certain place at a certain time. Even old hands at the show would find that difficult,” he laughed.
For Valerio, part of the value of the session is to show students what lies behind everyday experiences they take for granted, such as digital signage at a bus stop or audio at a football match – and show them how they can be part of creating those experiences.
“We know that students go back home fired up and engaged about what they’ve seen during the day, and ready to pursue their careers in our industry,” concluded Valerio.
