Canon 10D, 85mm, f1.8, 1/125, ISO 400
I really wish I could show you the photographs I took this week at the workshops that Mayo County Enterprise Board have been hosting. Annette Clancy was there as facilitator extraordinaire, she also came up with the format of the workshops, and Frank Fullard is the organiser of the whole thing along with a group of mentors from the area. The workshops are aimed at transition year students, so 16 and 17-year-olds, which can be a scary audience to keep engaged for five hours, and the object of the exercise is to give them all a taste of what it is like to be an entrepeneur. In those five hours they are divided up into groups and given the task of taking something that they are passionate about and turning it into a business idea, at the end of the day they each have 3 minutes to pitch their ideas to the room.
Canon 10D, 85mm, f2.5, 1/125, ISO 400
I had the wonderful job of blending in while everyone was busy working away and capturing the two days. It’s the kind of work I love to do and these kids were a pleasure to photograph. The first day was an all-boy’s school and the second day an all-girls. We had great fun comparing and contrasting the two and Annette commented at one point that we’d all have degrees in psychology by the end of it all. The reason I’d love to show you the photos is because we were all blown away by these teenagers and the way they threw themselves into their task. The ideas they came up with were so brilliant (about 8 ideas each day), many of which would actually work in the real world, and there was such a buzz in the room from both classes. Seeing as how they’re underage, we decided to err on the side of caution and not publish the photos on the internet, so I took a few which were more anonymous but hopefully tell a little of the story.
Canon 10D, 85mm, f2.5, 1/60, ISO 400
Canon 10D, 85mm, f1.8, 1/125, ISO 400
Tomorrow I’ll be heading across to Mayo again for two more workshops this time with mixed schools so it will be interesting to see how that compares to the other two. I also have some interesting photos lined up to post while I’m away so hopefully you’ll check back to see them. Mayo is a fantastic place for photos.
6 replies on “Enterprise Mayo Workshops”
Claire – the photos are fantastic (I’d love to see more of them..). Weren’t those young people really amazing…I get so frustrated when I hear adults talk down to teenagers – they could give all of us a run for our money..
I agree, I was very impressed by their enthusiasm and the way they blew our expectations out of the water. I have my doubts that a group of adults would have done as well.
Good story and great shots. Geez, that 85mm F1.8 lens blows me away!
The Enterprise Bootcamp…
I love the idea of re-introducing scarcity into systems that lack boundaries If too much choice leads to unhappiness then does scarcity lead to something more productive? I’m inclined to think it might after the past week or so. Mayo……
Claire
As always great shots that capture the essence of the moment. Looking forward to seeing the rest of them…
Finola
Claire
Your photos really caught the essence of the workshops. It really is a pity that we cannot publish them on the web as I think anyone looking at them would be blown away – as we who were there were – to see how the young people engaged on the day. I will have to look at some form of hard publication to do them – and you – justice. Hopefully many of the individual participants will put them on their individual Bebo pages.
A belated thanks for your contribution to the success of the initiative.
Frank Fullard