In November, over 150 Google for Education Champions, from over 30 different countries arrived at Google’s European Headquarters in Dublin for a three-day adventure at the Google Champions Symposium... And what an adventure we had.
In 2023, Google decided to host seven Champions Symposiums globally to celebrate the incredible work of Google Certified Coaches, Trainers and Innovators around the world. Here at Canopy Education, we were honoured to be invited to be on the organising team of the Dublin Symposium.
Each day of the Champions Symposium had a unique theme:
🙌 Day 1 - Personal Growth
🔌 Day 2 - Technology
🔮 Day 3 - The Future of Education
And we were thrilled to be joined by a host of incredible workshop leaders and keynote speakers. Not only that, but the entire event was hosted by the vivacious and exuberant Brittni Bowering, who helped everyone to feel welcome and kept us all on our toes, as well as running a fascinating masterclass on Building Your Authentic Brand.
Our other day 1 Masterclasses were hosted by Neil Mullarkey talking about Creative Communication, Jackson Ogunyemi sharing his thoughts about Motivation in Leadership, Lesley Powell on Leading Change Without Authority and Ash Rama talking about Running Your Own Race, and we were so grateful to be joined by such incredibly talented people.
Another day 1 highlight for everyone was a keynote entitled If You Can’t Stand Up, Stand Out from Izzy Wheels (If you’ve not heard of Izzy and her sister Ailbhe look them up) talking all about their incredible adventures.
After a luxurious meal on the top floor of the Google office, including a chocolate tasting table and live Irish folk band, everyone was ready for day 2 of the Symposium, which included hearing from students at Google Reference School- Dominican College Griffith Avenue in Dublin and attending workshops on Duet AI, accessibility, student progress, practice sets and screencast.
Day 2 highlights included a fireside chat with three of our Champions, Lawrence Tijjani, SJ White and Kaylah Holland, as well as lightning talks from Rosa Liarte Alcaine about her #WomenDeserveAStreet movement and Priscilla Battini Prueter getting the entire auditorium singing before everyone headed off to museums in Dublin and spent the evening at Token, an exciting games arcade in the city.
The final day was tinged with sadness as everyone knew that before long they would be saying goodbye to friends new and old and heading back to separate corners of the world. Attendees were treated to special top-secret NDA workshops with Googlers who had flown in from the US to talk with them about upcoming product updates and to get ideas on what features would be most useful moving forward.
As well as taking part in workshops, masterclasses and experiencing incredible keynote speakers, the Symposium was an incredible opportunity to connect, reconnect and renew friendships. We are so grateful to everyone who joined us in Dublin!
Get in touch to find out how Canopy can help you to become a Google Champion!