After much haranguing from my communications team I’m writing about how the Talent Unleashed Awards came about and why I am so passionate about encouraging tech talent all over the world.
I’ve been on both sides of the talent procurement table from starting my career as a software developer to becoming an IT&T recruiter and eventually heading up Talent International.
Along the way I’ve met many innovative, self-starting technology professionals who, I believe, were not getting the recognition they deserved or did not have the belief they were developing something that could change the way people lived or improve a business (I still believe this).
Often they’ve simply not had a forum to discuss ideas or known of a platform to shine. Sometimes these guys just don’t know how to take their idea to market or realise the value and full potential of their project, whatever it is.
I really want these extraordinary people to stand up, be bold, be brave and believe in themselves. I want them to know they can make a difference.
So while I’m thinking this, the difficulty is that, in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, there is a communications gap between venture capitalists and start ups.
It’s basically hard for local venture capitalist groups to identify credible, innovative companies when these worthy start ups are not promoting themselves and their businesses.
I saw a need especially in the APAC start up scene for a meaningful technology platform for people to share their ideas and see them grow, so I set out to create an awards program to address these issues and so the Talent Unleashed Awards began.
Although originally named the Big Bang Award with just one award category – Community Impact and only covering the Australian and New Zealand region, The Awards got the attention of Sir Richard Branson who joined the team as a judge with his Virgin group as a sponsor.
After a successful inaugural year in 2013 The Big Bang Awards transformed to the Awards as we know it today but now we’ve added six new categories including a people’s choice awards and the search for great talent now extends into Asia and the UK.
In terms of where the awards and Talent International progress into the future, I’m very clear on what we have to do and I know where the heart of this program is:
Our passion is the technology industry – and the people who work in it – that’s our business.