Teen entrepreneurs reveal ambitious youth-led tech conference

The Northern Ireland Science Park (NISP) CONNECT team has today announced details of Create:2015, an entirely youth-led event for CultureTECH in September, which aims to inspire those destined to work in the digital and creative industries.

Six entrepreneurial students, selected from NISP CONNECT’s Generation Innovation programme, have set out to create an event allowing young people to network and hear from renowned guest speakers. Last year’s event, Create:2014, was given the thumbs-up by none other than cultural icon Stephen Fry on Twitter.

Create:2015, held on the 17th of September at the Playhouse in Derry~Londonderry, will include eight celebrated speakers, including BBC Click Presenter Kate Russell, and four hands-on workshops.

The Create:2015 team comprises Gareth Reid (17), Matthew Carson (19), Jordan Earle (18), all from Belfast, Sarah Semple (17) from Omagh, Niamh McCay (17) from Derry and Anona Weir (18) from Cookstown.

Generation Innovation aims to inspire young people to create their own future – to foster innovative thinking as entrepreneurs. The students who get involved are typically aged 16-18 years, and have inspirational ideas that can drive a future in digital, creative and STEM industries (science, technology, engineering and maths).

Student Gareth Reid, heading up the team, said: “Create:2015 gives attendees a great chance to get creative. We really wanted to focus on audience involvement this year. With a diverse speaker line-up and interactive workshops, we’ve no doubt that Create:2015 will be even better than last year.”

Team member Niamh McCay said: “I’m excited to be joining the Create team this year, as I followed it closely last year. 300 young people walked away from the event full of excitement and eagerness to get stuck in with the creative industries, which is why we’re so pleased to be back again this year.”

A limited number of tickets will be available to the public. They will be announced on the Create and Facebook accounts.

For school groups, the event is completely free. Teachers interested in getting involved can email Gareth Reid for further information at .
The CREATE team is currently raising financial backing from both local and international companies through a range of sponsorship packages to fund the event. Interested parties should email team member Matthew Carson for further information at .

For more information, please visit www.create.to