IM3 Mobile Academy For Indonesian Students

To fill in the school holidays, telecommunications company Indosat is holding the IM3 Mobile Academy 2011 program to seek out the brightest and most talented teenagers throughout Indonesia. In auditions in 30 locations across the nation since May, 150 high school students have been selected to attend the Mobile Academy camp for five days.

“Through this event,” explains Devimaz Gusmal, Division Head of Brand Maintenance at Indosat, “participants can self-learn, sharpen their talents, and develop their hobbies into something ‘profitable’ through online media.”

For five days the Mobile Academy participants will be guided in sharpening their skills and talents. They are encouraged to develop their hobbies and interests to devise creative concepts for potential online entrepreneurs. They will also participate in various workshops, fun games, and meet with Indonesian public figures and celebrities. At the final event, the participant judged to have the most potential will win the mantle of an Ambassador for IM3 in their respective regions, and with that will get scholarships, cash, fully-paid holiday packages, and a few of the latest gadgets.

Twitter Battle

Each participant is also encouraged to use Twitter to share their camp experiences with the hashtag #im3academy. The committee will select the most interesting tweets, also taking into account the number of tweets and followers that the participant has. The winner will be the ‘Young Nonstop Online Stars King & Queen,’ winning BlackBerry devices and a free vacation to Singapore as bonus prizes.

This IM3 program has proven a successful and popular event since it was first held in 2008. This year is the fourth Mobile Academy, and the number of participants is growing annually. Recently Telkom also held an entrepreneurship coaching program, so it’s promising to see this trend in youth-oriented events continue. The Indonesian start-up world should have a bright future if these initiatives to foster growing talents keep coming.

via Chip