Teens and Exercise

Is P.E. Failing – by Maggie Ayre personal trainer for youth

Last weekend the Scottish Government was heavily criticised for not meeting its pledge to deliver two hours of physical education to school children, but are both the Scottish Government and its critics rather missing the point?

Hands up if you enjoyed PE at school.

Hands up if school PE lessons led to you living an active life after you left school.

Not many hands are being raised and although my career is dominated by physical activity I have to agree with you – school PE lessons left me cold too.

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Social TV

The socialization of TV

I have long been banging on about social TV and how the future of viewing is changing. Last year’s X Factor in the UK saw the audeince really voicing their opinions on certain things, causing some of the celebrity judges to apologise in real time, which quite an unprecedented thing.

And it seems that people are finally catching up with Google launching its Lean Back service (which, while maybe not mainstream, does give us an insight into how future viewing may be), but the most exciting development is that of Starling, a social platform that will allow TV viewers to share and talk about things in real time. While I cannot really find the ins and outs, it does have some media heavyweights behind it (Fremantle TV’s Declan Caulfield and Kevin Slavin, a leader in the New York technology scene), so you can gauarantee it will get the industry’s attention.

“Another startup has launched around the amorphous social TV space, but this time it’s steered by industry heavyweights and has initial clients, a predecessor and a slick interface, along with a business plan.” April 12th 2010 – Contagious Magazine

Kevin Slavin states that the great thing about social media is that it is adhoc and when it comes to discussing TV shows, this strength is the problem in that, for example, in the World Cup, what hashtag do you use?

While I agree and am looking forward to this product, I also wonder if trying to put a box around it and telling people how to do it will work. Will that lure us away from Facebook and Twitter, or are they so ingrained that it will not budge us?

However, what is clear is that this generation is making TV more personal, more customisable and most importantly, more accountable and for that, I am truly happy.

Youth and technology

Finally we stop ragging on the future of technology

It seems that the tide is beginning to turn when it comes to internet use and social media. For many years now, the mass media has been saying that social media is destroying us all, something most of us know to be untrue, and it looks as if current research may show just that.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project has released its report on Internet-based socialization. The conclusions in The Future of Online Socialization segment of the survey are positive.

The online world, according to most of the Internet specialists surveyed, is going to add to the texture and mood of social interactions, not detract from them.

“The social benefits of Internet use will far outweigh the negatives over the next decade, according to experts. They say this is because email, social networks, and other online tools offer ‘low friction’ opportunities to create, enhance, and rediscover social ties that make a difference in people’s lives. The internet lowers traditional communications constraints of cost, geography, and time; and it supports the type of open information sharing that brings people together.”

It is a pleasant surprise to see information like this beginning to hit main stream and as social media becomes much more localised and useful to us, things can only get better!

Read more The Future is Bright for Online Socialization

How cutting down on graduates is a dangerous game

The skills crisis

As England comes home defeated from the World Cup, it becomes so obvious that there is lack of good talent coming up through the ranks of sport in the UK and it seems that this skill shortage is hitting hard.

My eyes were recently drawn to an article in Construction Manager (my hubby is in the field) entitled, “Industry is storing up trouble over skills shortage, reveals CIOB survey.”

This survey reveals that the industry is laying the groundwork for an on-going skills crisis. A third of respondents said that the recession had resulted in reduction in graduates at their firms, while 20.3% said it had stopped altogether, with 32.9% saying that apprenticeships were down and 17.5% stating that they had stopped apprenticeships altogether.
Lyne Crowe, regional manager of the recruitment consultant Hays Constructions, says that the industry sees graduates and recruitment as a major cost, rather than a long term investment.

While I know nothing about the construction industry, my guess is that this trend is far-reaching and worldwide.

To me, cutting down on employing fresh talent seems totally counter intuitive. Not only do we create future problems for ourselves in terms of skills, but we also cut out the new creativity, energy and enthusiasm that young fresh meat can bring.

As a company, when the going gets tough do you cut your most valuable resource, the young fresh talent? What can you do to make sure this doesn’t happen?

The Innocent Culture

A company that youth want to work for.

I recently wrote an article on Innocent drinks and what they have done to make them a youth friendly company. How they have made their way into the hearts and minds of Generation Y.

Below are some videos which I think give a great insight into why.

Fink supports the Big Lunch

Get talking in your communities

I am so excited that one of my companies is supporting the   2010 Big Lunch by offering downloadable question cards to help conversation flow at Big Lunches across the country. Nine questions are available to download here.

The Big Lunch is a one-day get together with your neighbours on Sunday 18th July 2010. It can be anything from a simple lunch to a full-blown street party with DJs and a hog roast.

Amongst the questions to help you break the ice – who is your favourite superhero and what would be in your ideal lunch box?

Fink Lisa Warner, from Fink explains “We want to encourage people to talk. Fink is all about asking questions that start conversations, because we believe that simple, honest communication builds relationships. Supporting The Big Lunch seems natural to us as our products aim to deepen and strengthen relationships.”

In addition to the resource available to download, we’ll be giving away some free packs of Fink Cards, so keep an eye on Facebook and Twitter for details. What’s more, all Big Lunch organisers are entitled to 50% off any Fink Products – simply visit the FINK site and enter the code PYPO in to the basket.

Join the Fink Big Lunch

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