A crowdfunding campaign to pay for a young creative to attend the world’s largest interactive conference has been kicked off by Bristol Media.
It wants to raise £6,000 to pay for an apprenticeship at renowned South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. 
Bristol Media is working with city-based youth empowerment social enterprise Babbasa on this latest initiative to support the growth of the city’s creative sector from the ground up and to develop the professional aspirations of local young people, irrespective of their backgrounds.
Bristol Media director Chris Thurling, who is championing the campaign, said: “Bristol, Bath and the UK at large has a skills shortage in the creative sector.
“If we want to stay competitive we have to commit to identifying talent and growing it. This is a hugely exciting sector to work in and so it makes sense for us to launch this commitment with a mind-blowing apprenticeship to show we mean business.”
Over the coming weeks, Bristol Media will be promoting the crowdfunding to its 600-strong membership across the digital, TV, animation, design, marketing, PR, publishing, film and advertising sectors in the city.
It will be working closely with them to secure pledges to offer mentorships, internships, training and skills development, apprenticeships and entry-level positions.
All of these opportunities will be formalised and announced on November 14 at the international conference Social Media Week Bristol and the winner of the bursary will be revealed at the closing party two days later with a live link to a representative from SXSW.
The crowdfunding campaign went live this week on www.fundsurfer.com. All contributions will be rewarded and up for grabs are discounted Bristol Media membership, Vision and Social Media Week Bristol tickets, advertising on the Bristol Media website and SXSW merchandise including T-shirts, tote bags and copies of the SXSW Scrapbook.
The apprenticeship to SXSW, which takes place next March, will be the culmination of five months of mentoring by two of Bristol’s leading creative industry figures.
The apprentice will be expected to produce ‘live’ content during SXSW and a larger piece of curated content post event.
They will also get the chance to learn from the inspiring international industry figures that speak at SXSW and hear about cutting edge trends in the sector.
In the past speakers have included Barack Obama and Al Gore. The apprentice will be supported and accompanied by a 20-strong delegation of Bristol Media members attending SXSW.
Bristol Media is working with Babbasa to ensure the programme is as inclusive as possible. Social enterprise Babbasa supports the professional aspirations of young people and will provide a channel through which to ensure the programme of activity reaches young people regardless of their nationality, ethnicity, gender, race, sexuality and faith.
The apprentice will be someone who is already passionate about all things digital and applicants will be asked to write 500 words or produce a video stating why they want to go to Austin and provide a link to their creative portfolio or examples of their digital experiences to date. A panel will then decide who to shortlist for an interview.
