Mark Solomon, Manager of Aboriginal Student Services at Seneca College, shares in this guest blog his observations of "Blueprint for the Future," a career fair targeting Aboriginal youth, which took place January 14 in Winnipeg.

Since I can’t sleep, I might as well be productive and start the blog. I am sitting in my hotel room in Winnipeg at the famous Portage and Main. You can feel the pain of Neil Young here in January. Winnipeg is the host city for Blueprint For the Future , a National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation event. The National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation is most famous for its Achievement Awards, which reward Aboriginal leaders in a variety of categories, one of which is education. Consider it Canadian Aboriginal Oscars.

Tonight we set up our booths, getting ready for all of the youth coming tomorrow. 1,200 participants are expected, including chaperones. These students range from Grades 6 to 12, their admission is free, and those travelling far will be helped out with hotel fees.

Load-in was uneventful and, as anyone who has hauled boxes of recruiting materials from one side of a huge hall to the other knows, you should follow that with a visit to your local establishment with good friends. Upon doing the rounds and quizzing the staff as to who will be attending the event, York University’s Aboriginal Student Counselor and I hit that establishment with more promises to finish tomorrow there, too.

Tonight there was a major sponsor event for the NAAF staff and students to meet the larger sponsors. Given the hefty $550 booth fee plus travel and accommodations, I am sure I didn’t see any post-secondary people able to make the major sponsor list, which is too bad as even the booth fee is a real barrier to most institutions. So, you ask, what is the point of travelling to Winnipeg to recruit Aboriginal students for a school in Toronto? Well the point is that statistics show that Aboriginal youth is the fastest growing population segment in Canada.

Event Day

Well, it has been about two hours since I hit the hotel room and all I can say is, WOW. The National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation totally outdid itself. I have never seen such an amazing event. I read at breakfast that one out of every four youth in Manitoba is of Aboriginal descent and in the next few years, it will be one out of every three. That is a great way to start a recruiting fair.

The event started on a very low note; well, actually it was the thermometer. Word spread that school buses were cancelled, as most of them could not be started, and that attendance would be down. As the event progressed, it turned out that schools had been shut down, and students still attended the event. The students who were in the trade show were not simply there to wander through the booths, and most actually stopped and asked questions. It really was a worthwhile event, regardless of the weather.

The opening ceremonies were amazing. I walked into a darkened room with dance music playing and a light show that you might see in your local club. I was so impressed that the event organizers made an opening ceremony very cool and hip (by saying cool and hip, does that make me old?) Shaneen Robinson walked out on stage and was broadcast on 4 very large screens. Shaneen spoke Cree right off the bat, which set a very powerful tone. An elder also came out and blessed the event. This was such a great way to start an event, and caused me to laugh as I was just listening to rave music, then Cree, then a prayer song sung by an Elder. What should follow that? Well, that would be Team Rez Official of course.

The trade show had members of various corporations who were recruiting to build their Aboriginal employee base. It made me wonder as I passed by TD Bank’s zap banner, which was very minimal and simply said diversity -- literally just that word and the TD logo – whether they were serving their own needs to diversify or serving the needs of the Aboriginal community.

Post-secondary was very well represented, with participating institutions ranging from the University of Victoria to Sault College. Due to the weather, a lot of displays had trouble making it to the event, thus most out-of-town vendors had to give out cards or take names to forward info as needed. No booths really stood out as being innovative, as most were little more than giveaways with a zap banner and viewbooks.

Students broke into multiple smaller groups, cycling through the trade show and various presentations by industry and post-secondary. Lunch closed all sessions down and had vendors and students mixed up and sitting at tables. Burnt Project performed with the usual speeches over lunch.

After lunch we got back to the business of recruiting. By far one of the most awesome things that happened was having Roberta Jamieson drop by all of the booths and shake the hands of the vendors. Roberta Jamieson has done a lot for her community and showed others what it takes to succeed, and just by doing this simple thing showed what a class act she is.

So all things must come to an end. The vendors were all VERY happy with the turnout. As we tore down, the rap music went back up, and I thought “Wow, they know how to throw a party -- I mean career fair.”

For more information about the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation and their scholarships for students, please visit the foundation's website, and stay turned for their awards show to air on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. As for me, I am hitting someplace warm, hoping my car starts in the morning, and getting back to sunny/smoggy Toronto. Thank you to Academica for this opportunity to spread the word about Aboriginal recruiting and the need for more institutions to attend these events.