Last weekend marked the second edition of the “Skills of the Future” seminar, aiming to cover interesting and relevant topics related to our present and near future.
This time, we explored several exciting topics that sparked interest, discussions, and questions from the audience. They were related to various areas of our lives: mental health, computer technologies, intellectual property, and business. The event was hosted by four incredible people and great professionals from TechChefs.
The first speaker, Nikolay Nenov, introduced us to the topic of stress: how to cope with it, where it originates from, why it is important, and how it manifests physically. Did you know, for example, that fear, anxiety, and stress have very similar physical manifestations, but of course they are three different states. It turns out that stress is beneficial for us and our bodies if we know how to use it. Its main function is to mobilize us to accomplish a task or overcome a challenge successfully.
The second speaker, Ivan Lefterov, acquainted us with the world of artificial intelligence, or more precisely, the “learning” process of machines: how artificial intelligence knows, for example, how to recognize images of cats or distinguish one animal from another. Did you know that the machine does not recognize images in the full sense of the word? It simply recognizes pixels and color palletes. When there are a certain number of similarities in certain combinations, AI concludes, for example, that both photos are of a cat. Of course, the algorithm learns over time and becomes better at image recognition, but keep in mind that there is always a certain percentage of error possibility!
On the next day, we started the seminar with Teodora Bobcheva, who revealed several practical tips on how to keep our ideas protected. We also discussed why it is so crucial nowadays to be able to protect our intellectual property. We all know about patents, but it turns out there are other ways to safeguard our ideas from theft. For example, a document called a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). Did you know that as of 2022, Apple has 2,285 patents? Some of the significant ones include the company’s name, logo, and design, product design, as well as patents on many of their technology functionalities. This means you cannot use any of those without the explicit allowance from Apple, otherwise they can sue you.
The last lecture, was delivered by Marian Ivanov, who talked about entrepreneurship and how one becomes a business magnate. Marian incorporated several fascinating stories into his lecture to illustrate why sometimes being too people-oriented and neglecting the risks in our business may not be profitable. One that impressed us was the story of the American airline People Express, which existed for only 6 years – from 1981 to 1987. The airline prioritized its customers and refused to raise its flight prices, which were very cheap, until the end of its existence. It achieved this by making all employees owners. What does that mean? For example, the pilot, in addition to their duties, could also be required to assist in baggage handling. However, in the end, the company failed to offset its costs and went bankrupt. This makes us think about how important it is to monitor the risks in our business and seek effective solutions because sometimes low prices alone are not enough to both satisfy our customers and help the business grow.
We thank our speakers from TechChefs for the inspiration!
*Project No. BGLD-2.001-0002 “Establishment of a Youth International Center – Burgas” is implemented under the “Local Development, Poverty Reduction, and Enhanced Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups” program, funded by the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area (EEA FM) 2014-2021.
