United Way Winnipeg Youth

This year, those in attendance at the United Way Canada – Centraide Canada Conference in Quebec City were in for a knowledgeable and exciting surprise. That surprise came in the form of Max Valiquette, a youth culture expert and president of Youthography, the Canadian youth marketing experts.

Max spoke very well and provided the attendees (most of them not part of the youth market themselves) with a ton of information about what youth feel is important and how they communicate. I found myself chuckling out loud because many of the things that he brought up were true. He relayed the Big 6, which described the young person’s priorities and revealed that youth today are super tech-savvy, and that speaking via technology is youth’s “Native Language.”

After his speech to the entire conference, a few of us were fortunate enough to attend a workshop with him. This workshop just discussed further the topics he brought up and made suggestions as to how United Way across the country could engage youth. As one of the youngest people in attendance, I felt that it was important to let everyone know that Max was dead on in most of what he was talking about. I had a great time, and would count Max as one of my personal conference highlights.

For more information about Max, Youthography, and youth culture research, check out Youthography.com.

Michael Champagne
Youth Relations Council
United Way Winnipeg