Pitch Perfect
BIMA Digital Day
This competition is run by the British Interactive Media Association (BIMA), whose purpose is to represent the interactive media and digital content industry in the UK and support the next generation of digital professionals. Students are you listening…
On Wednesday 10th November SCWA played hosts to the digital design agency williamjoseph.com. Rania Nur and her colleague James Gadsby Peet joined I8 Year 10 Media students for a Digital Day to create a winning solution to the potentially devastating carbon footprint issue. Students were given two hours to come up with digital products with the industry professionals giving real world advice and encouragement as student rose to the challenge
The competition was launched to go some way to address a digital skills shortage which is holding back UK growth. The Centre for Economics and Business Research reckons the shortage of tech and digital talent is costing the UK £21.8bn. This competition was developed to inspire students and show them the potential of a digital career.
In a totally unique event the BIMA Digital Day gives 11 -16 year olds an insight into a world of digital careers. Students compete to make a digital product, with a prize of £500 to chase . This year’s topic was ‘Our Carbon Footprint’ and students were charged with developing a digital product to raise awareness, identify or go some way to solving the energy problem. It is the bringing together a real world problem and the digital world of almost limitless possibility that makes for an exciting days work.
And so students got to work.
Digital product number one is a game based on fish where if you take too many you starve and die and if you take too few then the fish all die - this is designed to teach the delicate balance between ourselves and the ecosystem that supports us.
Product two is an app that you can download which will tell you where the nearest water fountain is. These water fountains will have a planet friendly design based on the elephant. These ‘Water of Life’ fountains will also carry small brass plaques with dedications to loved ones, much like benches in and at views of outstanding beauty. These plaques will a help pay for the upkeep and to remind us that we have to pass the planet on to the future generations. Business will also be involved in the sponsorship of the water fountains and the app similar to Santender and the bikes.
Product number three was a series of digital films, adverts and posters which will pop up on TikTok, Instagram and other popular platforms. This is done to reinforce to the target audience that they must take responsibility for the direction the planet is heading and how our every action, no matter how small, increases our carbon footprint. The main aim of these short films is to keep the message simple and direct- all our actions have a consequence so are we going to make a giant crater of a footprint or a gentle impression in the sand?
Product number four was a website which acted as an umbrella for all the various aspects of the carbon footprint: the factual, the science, raising awareness quizzes and games. The site would also have an education section where the most important people can have access to the information. And who are these important people - why you, the future...
We loved seeing the enthusiasm that the students brought to the challenge. Within a couple of hours they covered a huge amount of ground with some genuinely interesting ideas coming out of the process. In a digital agency, communication, the ability to move information between various IT platforms and programs and the use of creative digital media skills are absolutely core to our work. I'd encourage anyone interested in pursuing a career in this area to use opportunities like this, to get as much practice as possible in both. James Gadsby Peet & Rania Nur
Students then had to pitch their ideas to the panel made up from the industry professionals and members of the Creative Digital Media dept. so that one idea can go forward to the national competition. It was hard and each idea had, from an industry point of view its own merit. It was hard but the winner in the end was the ‘Water of Life’ app with it’s specific aim of reducing single use water bottles. So it’s Team Humanity who carry SCWA hopes forward into the national competition
The 'BIMA Digital Day' was an extremely interesting and educational workshop which gave we students not only the chance to learn the various career paths within media but also the chance to engage with a real world practical problem. It gave us an opportunity to use our research skills to investigate and try to go some way to solving a very real and increasingly pressing issue, carbon footprint. It was great to be able to draw on our own knowledge of the digital world and modern technology. This was helped by the presence of two digital agency professionals James and Rania who shared their industry knowledge to create solutions to this problem. Furthermore, I really appreciated the fact that we were not restricted to a certain interpretation of the problem or the digital product we had to create. This meant that across the group there were various solutions ranging from websites, apps and adverts all presented is different, unique ways. This allowed to use our independent ideas and to formulate ideas to solve the issue. It would be good if we could get to work like this more often. Georgia Year 10
