Campaign Collective Member Tom York travelled to Austria in September to lead on the media and communications activity for EuroSkills Graz 2021 – the European Championship of Young Professionals.
Organised by WorldSkills Europe, EuroSkills Graz 2021 saw more than 400 young skilled professionals from 19 countries come together to compete in 38 different skill competitions – all for the chance to be named ‘Best in Europe’ in their individual skills.
Media interest from around the globe
Tom began working with WorldSkills Europe in May 2019 with a focus on communications strategy and campaign development and delivery.
However, following the outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent increased media interest in the postponed edition of the EuroSkills Graz Competition (rescheduled from 2020 to 2021), Tom’s remit was extended to cover leadership of all international marketing, media, and communications activity.
Tom’s role at EuroSkills Graz 2021
Tom’s responsibilities for EuroSkills Graz included: international public relations, hosting media briefings, oversight of media centre and 20 members of staff, supporting member country MarCom teams, developing a crisis communications strategy, creating content for ceremonies and side events, and oversight of all digital, and social media content.
More than 300 journalists from 100 different newspapers, websites, TV and radio stations from 19 countries – including Italy, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Germany, France, Belgium, Russia, Switzerland, to name only a handful – visited EuroSkills Graz to report on the Competition.
“EuroSkills provides an incredible international platform for exceptional young professionals to compete and perform at the highest level,” Tom York said.
“I am proud to play a part in helping competitors at EuroSkills get the media exposure they so rightly deserve, and which will inspire other young people about the success that can be achieved by following a technical and vocational education pathway,” Tom added.
EuroSkills Graz 2021 took place from 22–26 September 2021 in Graz, Austria. The event welcomed more than 25,000 visitors, including 10,000 students, who had the opportunity to try hands-on job-related skills across a huge range of “Try-a-Skill” activity stands.
Skills and trades featured at EuroSkills cover everything from web development to bakery; from joinery to floristry; and from fashion technology to mobile robotics.
See more photos from EuroSkills Graz 2021 in the gallery below.
The next EuroSkills Competition host nation is Russia, presenting EuroSkills St Petersburg 2023, scheduled for 16-20 August 2023.
To find out more about EuroSkills Competitions and WorldSkills Europe, please visit: worldskillseurope.org.
Photography: Copyright EuroSkills2021 (Creative Commons license, Attribution-NonCommericial-NoDerivs).