VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015—27
Vibe Web plans digital marketing growth acceleration conference
By Emeka Aginam
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Battle for NCS Presidency: Pre-election polls favour Uwaje
y Friday, July 22, 2015, members of the Nigerian Computer Society, NCS, will head to the polls in Akure, Ondo State during the international conference EDICATED digital marketing to elect the IT icon that will steer consultancy firm, Vibe Web Solutions the ship of the society for the next Limited, has expressed readiness to two years. organise digital marketing growth Whoever wins would become acceleration conference 2015. President of the umbrella The conference Convener, Mr. Tobi organization of all Information Asehinde said that having worked with Technology Professionals, Interest organizations in countries like Nigeria, Groups and Stakeholders in Kenya, Ghana, United Kingdom and United Nigeria. States, with both corporate clients and Early poll indicators have governmental bodies, said that the revealed one very clear direction. Conference is aimed at exposing participants The historical significance of this to modern tools of marketing in the digital election will not be lost on several era. NCS members as this will be the Asehinde, is also the founder of first contest in which the finddigitaltools.com and smedigitalhub.com, Contestants including Chris added that “the main focus of the conference Uwaje, Immediate Past President of scheduled for Friday, 19th June 2015 at ISPON, Vice President of NCS, Prof Protea Hotel, Ikoyi Westwood, Lagos, is to Gani Aderomu, Director, ICT provide insights on how businesses can grow Center at the Obafemi Awolowo their customer base and revenue using University, Ife, OAU, and , Sam digital marketing. Juwe, former 1st Vice President of •Chris Uwaje “It is a full-day conference that will be neatly Technology Association of packed with practical insights on smart NCS techniques, clever strategies, useful tools, Chris Uwaje, according to industry watchers Nigeria, ITAN, President of of Software is favored to win and become the next President Institute as well as lots of learning, sharing and of NCS, based on the antecedents of his Practitioners of Nigeria, networking opportunities. We would like to enormous and proven contributions to the ISPON, champion of IT Policy explore what works and doesn’t work in blue print in 2001 among Nigerian IT Ecosystem. actual real-life projects with you. That’s why The fine lines between the three contestants others. the conference will be focused on practical had already been drawn, according to industry takeaways, workflows and hands-on insights. More strategies to rebuild sources and professional opinion on the caliber The goal is that we will deliver tangible, ICT ecosystem N100 billion of people vying for the post of NCS president. actionable points you can use right away. But in reality, it will be a straight contest as startup transformation fund We will save you a tremendous amount of Meanwhile, amongst others industry watchers have predicted that Uwaje, trial and error, time and money”. from his manifesto, ahead of the the German trained IT priest will win the battle “Already a lot of serious and smart business giving his wealth of experience and pedigree election to be held during owners and marketing executives as well as the12th edition of the NCS in the industry. business development managers that are International Conference, As the battle for the NCS Presidency eager to grow their business have registered intensifies, early opinion by the stakeholders Uwaje said that N100 billion for this great opportunity to learn how to grow in the Nigerian ICT ecosystem suggests that budget was needed as a their business digitally. Some of the Uwaje , a prominent performer at the national startup ICT transformation delegates are coming from Stanbic IBTC, IT Domain, has all it takes to win contest having agenda for the e-Knowledge UAC Plc, BestMan Games, Boulos made his marks as the President of Information Ecosystem. Enterprises Limited, Sunsteel Industries According to him, nothing Limited and many more” short of this amount will work, if the nation wants to see the big picture and engage national rebirth with Technology Retooling process. By Agbolade Omowole @iamagbolade For Uwaje , who has never mixed IT with politics, there was urgent need to retool and restructure the Nigeria IT Ecosystem for Innovation and EARNING is a journey, and not a and incentives to fans on Twitter to validate his competitiveness. destination. I attended the New Media authority. “To jumpstart the Retooling Conference organized by Tosin Olori When you give people a hand, they will find process, there is need to Supergal at the Terra Kulture event center it easy to give you their heart. When Don Jazzy establish a National IT Litmus in Lagos, and listen to various topics related tell his fans to jump, they do just that because package with a seed fund of to social media. I will be sharing what I learnt he has mastered the art of giving. at the event with you. Have a Marketing and Public Relations Team. The speaker is Adekoya Adetola, and he Experts say that Doing business without talked about building an entertainment advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. Our duty is to brand on social media. His 4 tips are: You know what you are doing but nobody else Build yourself a brand: The speaker talks empower does. about popular entertainment brands. “We The most important investments for artiste are them to have the bad guys’ brand – Pdiddy, and Rick innovation and marketing. Innovation means Ross, the pop star brand – Wizkid and Chris doing things differently. The extra you add to innovate and Brown, and the Street Disciple Brand – Da your ordinary performance will make it become create. Grin, Olamide and Meek Miils.” extra-ordinary. Building a brand helps to define who you According to Hubspot, 92% of marketers in Therefore, are in the entertainment industry. If you are 2014 claimed that social media marketing was NCS will an artiste, you must clearly define what you important for their business, with 80% indicating want people to think about when your name their efforts increased traffic to their websites. refocus its is mentioned. Once people know what you And according to Social Media Examiner, 97% strategy by stand for, then you have to be available. of marketers are currently participating in social Be Accessible: The way to connect with media—but 85% of participants aren’t sure what putting the fans on social media is to be available every social media tools are the best to use. other minute. The speaker cited DonJazzy youths in the A report published by Texas Tech University, as one of the most accessible Nigerian brands who engage on social media channels driver’s seat of celebrity on social media. enjoy higher loyalty from their customers. The Do Giveaways. People like free things. the National report concludes “Companies should take Giving fans free gift on social media helps advantage of the tools social media gives them IT Ecosystem to build your credibility. The speaker cited when it comes to connecting with their Don Jazzy who is adept at giving away gifts audience.
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SOCIETY & SOCIAL MEDIA
Lessons from New Media conference L
N100 Billion Naira ($500 million), to restructure and empower the acceleration of employment creation from the potential resources, capacities, capabilities and competitiveness in the Nigeria IT Profession and Industry”, he added. Local content imperative: According to Uwaje, there is an urgent need to ensure that the Nigerian Local Content ACT 2010 is implemented vigorously not only in Oil and Gas, but at all levels of ICT and by extension, a special protection provided for the patronage of Software Nigeria. Currently, we cannot compete in heavy industries but in the IT knowledge and services industry. According to the recent UNCTAD Year 2013 Report on Software development for developing countries, the software domain represents perhaps the last opportunity for developing countries to accelerate their global competitiveness for future survivability, he explained. Youth IT Forum, quarterly IT bazaar That the IT mind of Uwaje is working like a time-clock is attested by his program for Nigerian Youth. For Uwaje who is always passionate about youth empowerment, by retooling the industry, said priority attention must be paid to youth IT forum. All over the world, according to him, the Youth, digital natives are collectively recognized as the rightful owners of IT. “Our duty is to empower them to innovate and create. Therefore, NCS will refocus its strategy by putting the youths in the driver ’s seat of the National IT Ecosystem – and by extension, making them the accelerator in the IT engine room. “This translates to mounting a National IT Innovation Olympiad via the vehicle of National IT Hackathon and indeed celebrating their creativity through a public IT Bazaar – tabled quarterly. “Historically, youths have always been at the centre of communication technologies which have played a key role in the development of human societies. Nowhere is this influence more evident than in the current information revolution. “This has led to new bodies of knowledge such as BioInformatics, Nano-Technology Megatronics and so on. Therefore, the Nigerian Youth must be granted unrestricted access to assert themselves in championing IT innovation for national development at all levels”, he explained.