Volunteering Queensland

Earlier in the year, Volunteering Queensland Inc was involved in the2013 Positive Aging Journey Event and Expo. The Expo included an opportunity for a facilitator to present on social media and the aging population, a topic that touches us all in many ways. With social media on the rise and technology developing at an amazing speed, having a training tool that is user friendly to all age groups is very important. Delivering a professional presentation to an audience who has a critical need to understand social media terminology and developing a resource for today's society created a lot of interest here at Volunteering Queensland Inc. After brief discussion with the Queensland Academies of Science, Mathematics and Technology, they took on this worthwhile project as part of their SAAVI program. Their students gave a riveting presentation at the Expo on how to start using social media, largely Facebook and Skype. Their presentation was designed to help alleviate some of the fears that older people may have around using social media, by presenting it as an important tool for them to stay in touch with family and friends. Students also showed how Facebook photo albums aren't all that different from flicking through a physical photo album. 157 students were involved in putting this presentation together - as 10 groups of 15+ team members, students put together 10 different possible presentations that they pitched - with the best ideas being used for the presentation at the expo. The final 20 min facilitation by the select students was to an audience of over 300 people. Students also prepared a supporting 'helpbooklet'. After their talk, the students were inundated with questions and praise of their informative presentation - so many older people took their booklets that they even run out of copies.