One aspiring digital creative can win a dream apprenticeship with the ultimate prize of attending the biggest festival of its kind – the world famous annual conglomerate SXSW.
The apprenticeship, offered by Bristol Media, takes place in March 2017 and will be the culmination of five months of mentoring by two leading creative industry figures in Bristol. Then, the apprentice will be supported and accompanied by a 20-strong delegation of Bristol Media members attending SXSW.
Idea generation
The Texas-based festival has an international reputation as a breeding ground for new ideas and creative technologies. It includes a trade show, a startup accelerator, and boasts an amazing line-up of speakers, such as President Barack Obama, Al Gore, and Elon Musk.
Working with Bristol-based, youth empowerment social enterprise Babbasa, the apprenticeship is just one of the initiatives that are part of Bristol Media’s aims to support and develop the professional aspirations of young people in the city’s creative sector. And in true creative digital spirit, the bursary for the apprenticeship is being crowd funded!
“It makes sense for us to launch this commitment with a mind-blowing apprenticeship to show we mean business”
Chris Thurling, director at Bristol Media (pictured left), who is leading the campaign, tells us, “Bristol and Bath (and the UK at large) has a skills shortage in the creative sector. If we want to stay competitive we have to commit to identifying talent and growing it.
“This is a hugely exciting sector to work in and so it makes sense for us to launch this commitment with a mind-blowing apprenticeship to show we mean business.”
Send me on my way
The apprentice will be someone who is already passionate about all things digital. To be in with a chance, you must complete the online registration form by Monday 24 October. You will be asked to write 500 words or produce a video stating why you want to go and provide a link to your creative portfolio and give examples of your digital experience.
During the apprenticeship, your skills will be honed and prepped ready to be fully immersed in Austin. You will be expected to produce ‘live’ content during SXSW and a larger piece of curated content post-event.
Help crowd fund a future creative
If you’d like to help raise the money for the bursary you can see The South by Southwest Apprentice crowd-funding campaign here.
All contributions will be rewarded and up for grabs is discounted Bristol Media membership, Vision and #SMWiBristol tickets, advertising on the Bristol Media website and SXSW merchandise including t-shirts, tote bags and copies of the SXSW Scrapbook.
The winner of the bursary will be revealed at the closing party of Social Media Week Bristol (#SMWibristol) on Friday 18 November with a live link to a representative from SXSW in Austin, Texas.
To support the crowd-funding campaign you can find out more information on the South by Southwest Apprentice FundSurfer page. To apply to be the apprentice, you must register first, at this SXSW Conference 2017 Online Application page. Good luck ???? ???? ????
