UK Imagine Cup Finals
On Friday I was honoured to be part of the Judging panel for the UK Imagine Cup competition.
Friday was probably the hardest day of my life for several years, I was mentally drained after the event but want to share with you my "judging experience".
The Judging panel was made up of a broad cross section of industry members, some of the guys on the judging panel are listed here: -
- Brad Tipp – Microsoft
- Mark Quirk – Microsoft
- Gerry McAlister – Higher Education Academy
- Ken Wood – MSR
It was amazing to be in a room with so many talented and highly respected figuires, the arguments we had about entries were heated to say the least! :-)
Everything we do is based on our own personal opinions, what I like you may hate, this very simple factoir of human condition made the day sheer hell for me.
I was torn between what I believed to be really potential projects and the opinions of the other judges, whom more often than not dissagreed with me, democracy is a horrible system - I'm much more in favour of a nice bit of dictatorial leadership, i.e. Me. :-)
Anyway, what I really wanted to say was this: -
To all the teams who took part, well done, your efforts and spark of enthusiasm is what will make you fantastic members of the technical community going forward - I feel invigorated to know that people coming through the university system in the UK have the drive and passion for technology that I know keeps me ticking over.
Congratulations to 'The Seedlings', you'll be represting the enthusiasm, potential and passion of all the students within the United Kingdom, don't let HRH down!
Ta,
One Tired Judge.