Starting in Newcastle and finishing in Sheffield, the final week of Gen Up North had arrived. We were excited for what the week had in store but uneasy as we knew this was the final stretch. The two days in Newcastle involved a mixture of workshops and speakers. The most interesting part was the workshop on web presence and branding, which was ran by Ewan McIntosh. It was interesting to see how difficult it was to Google our names and find our own websites (although Zagariko made my own Google search much easier). It led on nicely to the Professional Development Workshop, which was the basis of our Tuesday in Newcastle. The subjects that arose that day included interview skills and CV training. It turns out my CV was very nicely layed out and designed, it just needed more content. That was quickly sorted this weekend. Tim Hoose was very kind to let us email him should we ever change our CV’s and would like some advice. I would go in to more detail about what we learnt that day but that would be giving away all my newly learnt secrets hehe.
Wednesday in Sheffield consisted of speakers that included David Sqiure, Kim Heeamun (who interviewed me in Leeds) and Warren Fearne of Wak Studios. For those of us in New Media and Games Design, this day was the most relevant speaker-wise. Again, it was a fantastic insight in to the industry and expanded our list of contacts. The final day proved to be quite poignant. The first speaker was Emma Cooper from Team Cooper. I personally found this to be quite an informative chat as it was a great to hear from someone who had set up their own company and the pressures they faced. We also got fantastic little business cards, which I now have pinned to my wall.
In a rather ironic twist, the last workshop we participated in was ran by the genius that is Colin Savage. As he was the first workshop we attended those many weeks ago in Salford, it felt like a complete journey having him wrap up the programme. The workshop was on team working and included a rather interesting team building exercise. (Does anyone have a beach SAM?). Next we were the subjects of a simple psychological profile, which determined I sat in the Drivers quadrant, which meant I was the boss! Not that there was any doubt there. The final activity was to label each of our group mates a particular description chosen from a list of words. In what felt like a personal poem from each person, we then were asked to read out the word we had chosen and why. It was rather heartwarming to see how much we cared for each other and I can honestly say there was a few tears. We couldn’t have asked for a more appropriate goodbye.
The rest of the evening consisted of feedback, photos and a few drinks down t’pub. When it came time to say goodbye it really hit us that this was it. Although we would all definitely be keeping in touch, it was a sad moment for us. Having to say goodbye to 8 very good friends was the price to pay for such an amazing few weeks. Every one of us agreed the programme had changed our lives and I for one know exactly how much of an impact it has had on my life. I come away from the programme with a stronger sense of self, a clear idea of where I am going and such a motivation to take on the world.
I can’t express how lucky I was to be part of such an amazing programme and if anyone is considering entering anything similar, DO IT! DO IT NOW! (thanks Arnie)
