Future of Work Exhibition Student Article Winners

The Marlborough Weekly was proud to be a part of the Future of Work Exhibition and have some great chats with Marlborough’s youth about career options in media and communications – we challenged interested students to write an article on the day alongside an accompanying photo.

Congratulations to our chosen winners, Imogen Brophy and Dylan Kirby, for some great reporting!

Future of work, not just a clerk!

Dylan Kirby

The Future of Work conference was held Wednesday the 14th. Students and Whanau around Blenheim enjoyed a wide range of careers to indulge in.

Schools including MBC, Redwoodtown, St Marys and more came to the brilliant Future of work conference. This was taken place at the events centre near the ASB theatre.

This event was created to give the youth ideas on what they can do in the future, work on jobs that we didn’t even know existed! The people there were amazing, along with the whole experience.

I personally as a 13-year-old found the whole experience quite fantastic, with massive amounts of choices and ideas on display, I would definitely come again. It really did give me new ideas, especially journalism (why I'm writing this currently.)

If you want to come next time, I happen to have advice. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty, just go on in, and have fun!

I interviewed people to see what their thoughts were. “I really loved this future of work programme because we got so much useful information that was engaging and hands-on. The speakers were amazing with their talks that were well thought out and super informative. In my opinion, this was fantastic” says Josh Kalan.

In conclusion, this event is great to bring your family along and just dive into conversations about work.

The future's bright

Imogen Brophy

On Wednesday the fourteenth of July, Marlborough students attended the Graeme Dingle Foundation’s Future of Work Conference; the fifth and biggest version of the event.

All secondary schools attended, with a handful of primary. Inspirational speakers included social media star, author and director Jazz Thornton, CEO of the media company Sh*t You Should Care About Lucy Blackiston, Pasifika youth supporter Rikki Welsh, and Te Amokura consultant Te Wehi Wright.

Workshops were held by Thornton and director of Attention Seeker, Stanely Henryand over fifty interactive workstations were set up, involving businesses, polytechnics and universities.

Employers had the opportunity to sell their business. Tahryn from Villa Maria says the conference is a great opportunity to do so, more passionately than in a job advertisement.

He believes the event is vital in order to “Retrain young people,” in the region and slow Blenheim’s aging population. He was excited to see interest from students and says he would attend next year, as it is an amazing opportunity, one he never had as a teenager.

Year 13 Marlborough Girls’ College student Anika McPhee says it provided her with contacts for work experience. Everet Dorr, a year 12 Queen Charlotte College student says it is a “Great opportunity,” that gave him a “Different perspective,” on the work opportunities located in Blenheim.

Likewise Bohally Intermediate students Daisy Lindstrom and Kaitlyn Ross, believe it is interesting to see a range of businesses. Ross says that before attending she was not aware of Marlborough’s diverse work industry. She says that she would definitely attend again, finding it a “Stepping stone towards the future.”

The event provided the young people of Marlborough with inspiration for future career prospects. Employers gained connections with students passionate about their line of work. It provides hope to maintain a young workforce in Blenheim.