The Academy shared an exhibition space with specialist live events insurance broker Doodsons at The Royal Armouries Museum Centre, where the team spoke to students and those working in the entertainment industry about its roster of short courses in backstage skills and its Live Events Production Foundation Degree.
"We had an overwhelmingly positive response from students keen to hear more about our Foundation Degree in Live Events Production," said COO Robin Watkinson. "Many of them could see the benefits of studying in such close proximity to a real working environment as offered by the LS-Live rehearsal studio facility."
Backstage Academy's Live Events Production Foundation Degree, which is validated by The University of Bolton, launched last November and is a 16-month course designed to provide an overview of all aspects of working on live events, with optimum hands-on experience. The Academy also runs a wide-ranging roster of short courses in different backstage and technical skills.
"We are pleased that the effort we have put in over the last few years to create a degree that's more than just a piece of paper, a degree that's about practical, relevant training dictated by industry demand and current trends, has paid off and we are starting to see real demand for this course," said Watkinson.
Students currently on the first ever FdA also attended the show to talk to prospective students and do some valuable networking. Said FdA student Harry Harrison, "Over the two days I met a huge number of people from lots of different businesses, all that could be vital to my future; the words 'It's not what you know, it's who you know,' keep popping up."
Backstage Academy's panel session, The Big Training Debate. Less Talk More Chalk, put a spotlight on speculative shortfalls in current live events training and featured discussion on how, by bridging the gap between education and employers, we can create a cohesive strategy for raising standards and delivering up graduates that match the industry's expectations.
(Jim Evans)
