Along with Ben Denham, I’m co-founder of TechNoon. The elevator pitch: “TechNoons are brief, free, industry-led, in-person training courses run at lunchtimes for people in technical jobs wanting to improve their skills.” TechNoon courses will usually have four sessions of 2-3 hours each (including homework). We think there is a major gap in technical education for people already in employment.

Why TechNoon is needed

• Tertiary degrees and diplomas are not a good answer for people already in jobs. Even boot-camps are a significant challenge for most people with job commitments. Courses also tend to be too general with hit-and-miss content for people in specific roles.
• On-line courses and individual articles and documentation can’t provide the individualised support and the motivation that an in-person course can.
• Internal corporate training can’t achieve the economies of scale and specialisation of an industry-wide training ecosystem.
• Vendor training doesn’t cover the range of skills required and is not focused primarily on what is good for industry.

What Next?

• Have other people delivering pre-prepared TechNoon training content
• Have courses run outside of Auckland
• Extend the range of technical skills covered
• Consolidate industry support in the form of trainers and venues
• Set up a community organisation to underpin TechNoon and to provide train-the-trainers courses