BIMA Digital Day 2018

At ClarityDX, one of our passions (aside from creating great-performing websites – obviously), is to help in any way possible at bridging the digital skills gap we are currently facing in the UK.

As members of BIMA, and with our founder Alex sitting on the BIMA Young Person’s Council, participating in their annual Digital Day is one of our highlights of the year, as it gives us an opportunity to prove that statement of passion with more than words.

Digital Day is a free initiative for both schools and agencies, and sees digital professionals head back to school for a day to inspire secondary students (13-16 years), give them insight into the depth and breadth of careers available, offer practical advice on how to get into digital, and gets hands-on experience tackling challenges from real brand challenges.

Digital Day is designed around a normal school day. Like last year, in the morning, digital professionals introduce their world of work to the students, sharing their own career experiences and providing insight into the breadth of careers available in digital.

Endless good ideas coming together for #DigitalDay18 @BIMA @BIMADDay pic.twitter.com/mrhwwr6PAd

— Alex Price (@alxprce) November 13, 2018

In the afternoon, students work in teams – with guidance from their digital professionals – to tackle one of our nationwide sponsored challenges. The BIMA judging panel reviews the results to find the BIMA Digital Day Champions – and there are prizes for the best entries. Our MD Alex said about the day,

“This year, we were paired with an ‘alternative provision’ school in Stratford that only has students who have been excluded from their school, usually due to behavioural issues. We spent the day talking about opportunities in our industry and running challenges with the students. The stats show only around 1% of young people in state alternative provision schools receive five good GCSEs, so it was a tough reminder of how hard it can be for some young people to get their start in life, usually due to reasons far outside of their control.

We finished the day with some great ideas and increased awareness of all the opportunities that exist in the digital industry for young people – so whilst it was a challenge, all in all, it was definitely mission accomplished”.