The Camp Digital Rising Stars Fund plans to encourage creative, digital, and tech students from the region’s universities to attend the event; where they will have the opportunity to build on their skills and learn from leading digital figureheads. Camp Digital will also help in identifying potential employment opportunities for young people in the North West digital sector.
The 2015 Camp Digital event welcomed over 60 students from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), Manchester Metropolitan University, and University of Salford, resulting in a number of job offers to students kick-starting their career in digital. Now the team at Sigma are hoping to attract more students and young talent for the 2016 event by launching this new student initiative.
Becky Topps a former student at UCLan who attended Camp Digital joined Sigma as a UX designer, before going on to speak at Camp Digital in 2014. Now working with AbilityNet, Becky said: “After attending Camp Digital and NUX events, I knew this was a career I wanted to pursue. Sigma allowed me to focus on my specific passion of accessibility, a subject I was very proud to speak about at Camp Digital a year after graduating”.
Sigma aims to replicate this year’s success in 2016 and will be offering 100 tickets for the main conference day. Worth almost £200 each, Sigma is encouraging local businesses to get behind the emerging talent fund through sponsorship.
Mark Porter, lecturer at The University of Central Lancashire, added: "I’d like to thank the team at Sigma for their ongoing support for the UCLan web design and development students. The guest lectures, site visits to their office in Macclesfield, and of course the brilliant Camp Digital conference has given the students invaluable insights into the digital industry and helps inform them in their choice of career when they graduate. This type of industry engagement with the university is invaluable to help influence and inspire the next generation of graduates to stay and work in the North West UX and digital scene."
Now in its fifth year, the event will bring more than 500 people from the digital, design and UX communities together for two days of workshops, seminars and discussions.
Confirmed speakers include Julie Dodd, leading digital strategist and author of 'The New Reality'; Tom Loosemore, ex deputy director at GDS and now digital director at the CO-OP; Molly Watt, accessible tech evangelist and co-founder of The Molly Watt Trust; Barry Briggs, senior UX architect at the BBC and organiser of NUX; and Jamie Whyte who heads up the Innovation and Intelligence Lab at Trafford Council.
Camp Digital will take place March 16th-17th 2016, and seminars and workshops are held across Manchester Town Hall and the Manchester Central Library. For more information, please visit: http://campdigital.wearesigma.com/index.html
