On February 17th 2014 Social Media Week takes over Africa for the second consecutive year. The conference and festival will last a week, and is held concurrently with different cities around the world in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Social Media Week aims to (according to the website) ‘help people and organizations connect through collaboration, learning and the sharing of ideas and information.’ The bigger picture mainly is to discover the social, cultural and economic impact of social media.
A CONNECTED AFRICA IS THE FUTURE is the theme of the conference and festival. Rightly so because (according to socialmediatoday.com), compared to all its global counterparts, Africa has the highest increase in internet usage. Socialmediatoday.com also list other statistics and projections of social media users in Africa as having a 191% increase from 2011 to 2017. Social Media Week Lagos is set apart from all the others happening globally because all the events are free and open to the public, which in my opinion makes it that much more exciting.
All of this will be made possible by the five pillars of the conference; Namely; events, research, news, education and branded content. The organization will host hundreds of events throughout Lagos; which will see start-ups, agencies and individuals with distinctive ideas interact with experts, iconic brands and thinkers to exchange ideas. The research pillar will focus mainly on reporting trends in emerging technology and social media. News will be centered on opinion pieces, interviews and leading influencers across the Diaspora. Education and branded content will be about showcasing the best practices and industry case studies.
Some of the celebrities include:
- Musicians – Sean Kuti, Banky W, Eldee and 2Face
- 2013 winner of the Coca-Cola sponsored economics and business category of the CNN/Multi Choice African Journalist Awards, Tolu Ogunlesi
- Luvvie Ajayi a popular veteran blogger and Gbemi Olateru Olabeg
- IrokoTV, Alder Consulting, Red Media Africa and the Future Awards, NOI Polls, UK Trade & Investment, Jumia Nigeria, IGroove Radio, House of Tara International, African Artists’ Foundation etc.
Did you just read all those big deal names? Take a minute and process. They will ALL be contributing and participating in Social Media Week Lagos 2014, I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t miss it for the world!
Photo Credits: Socialmediaweek.org
