Industry Event Reflection

The Industry Engagement event held Wednesday 21 April was set up to expose UC students to a number of designers working across a broad range of fields. I believe the idea was for us to meet all the designers and be inspired as to where our future careers could take us.

When I arrived, I was a little unsure of the structure of the event and was waiting for direction, for someone to start the proceedings with a speech or welcome. By the time I realised that was not happening, I had wasted about 20 minutes which was disappointing.

Mingling over lunch allowed us to move about the space and meet the designers, giving us a brief opportunity to talk to them. It was only a very brief time because all students were keen to speak to the guests and fair play was to move on quickly. Lots of people talking in a smallish space made hearing a little difficult and although I didn’t get individual one-on-one time with all, I was still able to make my way around and meet a few.

I was glad of more structured question time after lunch, when we were invited to a lecture hall for a Q&A session. This meant we could all hear the answers from the designers which seemed to make a lot more sense to me.

The designer I related to the most was Dan Armstrong, and while I did not get to spend too much time with him, it was enough for me to get a sense of who he is and the journey that he has travelled to get there. Like me Dan was unsure of his choice of course at the start of university but gradually found his way. He was also lacking a little bit of confidence when he began which I can also relate to.

Next time, I will get involved right from the start, so I do not miss opportunities to learn from industry professionals. I would also ask for business cards so I could follow up on my questions and interest by looking at their online presence and seeing how they have structured their portfolios.

The Industry Engagement event was a success, and while it was difficult to have meaningful and in-depth conversations with the designers over lunch, the Q&A session provided me with the motivation to stick it out and try to succeed.

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