Two days. Loads of ideas. One very enthusiastic facilitator who may have literally bounced around the room.
Jilly, probably.
That pretty much sums up our time at the first Barnsley Digital Symposium - a brilliantly organised gathering of students, educators, local partners, and the next generation of digital thinkers.
For a region with proper grit and ambition, the Symposium wasn’t just another careers event - it was a stage for creativity, curiosity, and real-world thinking. And Jilly got to be right in the thick of it, running two sessions on “Thinking Outside the Box” that saw 60+ student ideators exploring ideas, spotting opportunities and - yes - building confidence in asking "what if?" and "could we?".
Here’s what we took away.
Creativity First - Not Just Skills
One of the things we love about Bravand’s work (and Fresh Meet’s mission alongside it) is that we focus on how people think, not just what they can do with tools. Barnsley Digital Symposium leaned hard into that idea too.
Across workshops and sessions you could feel a consistent message:
“Digital isn’t just coding - it’s creativity, problem-solving and making things happen, changing things, this stuff matters.”
From discussions about AI and automation to game design, audio production, cyber simulation sessions, construction tech and beyond, the underlying theme was all about thinking and doing.
Remote Control Ducks & Why They Matter
If you were in Jilly’s sessions, you’ll know this already. If not - here’s the gist:
"What has a decoy duck got to do with creativity and solution design? …Everything!"
When Jilly was ten, she and her dad built a remote-controlled duck. Not because anyone asked for one - but because she wondered why not?
That story is now part of how she frames creative confidence: curiosity, imagination, and turning quirky ideas into real prototypes.
It’s a cheeky example (because yes - there was a duck called “Dick”), but it’s also a powerful metaphor for the kind of thinking that gets you unstuck and into possibility. And students leaned into that, generating ideas that were fun, smart, and sometimes downright excellent.
Next Gen Talent? You Bet!
One of the best bits about events like this is getting to see where young people are at - and where they could go.
From tech and games to media and digital health, the breadth of interest was genuinely exciting to see. And the confidence those young thinkers showed - pitching, questioning, remixing ideas - was testament to both the event organisers and the encouragement students get from educators locally.
A big shout-out to Barnsley Council, Barnsley College, and everyone who made the Symposium feel like a proper launchpad for ambition.
Why This Matters to Us
At Bravand (and through our work with Fresh Meet), we’re passionate about challenging assumptions in digital careers - especially around who gets access to meaningful employer encounters. Our work with organisations like Ductu and Changing the Face of Property has shown just how transformative early engagement can be for young people. And Symposiums like this expand that impact exponentially.
It’s one thing to talk about skills. It’s another to create environments where:
- young people feel seen
- their ideas are valued
- and they leave with tools to build, not just believe.
That’s the kind of stuff that changes trajectories.
Final Thought
If you asked the students what they’ll remember most from Barnsley Digital Symposium, we’ve got a hunch it won’t be all the slides or the sessions. It’ll be the spark. That moment when something clicked. That idea they couldn’t let go of.
And honestly? That’s what thinking outside the box is all about - finding the edges of possibility and stepping right over them.
So thank you Barnsley.
Here’s to more curious minds, bolder ideas, and maybe - just maybe - more remote-controlled ducks.
