Net Prophet 2009 – How Conferences In SA Should Be Run
If you’ve spent any time at all reading anything I’ve published on this blog you’ll know SA conferences companies are my own personal bugbear. They suck. Typically they pick up on a popular trend, and with little to no knowledge of that space, whether it be opencast mining or social media, strive to make as much money by stringing together a bunch of speakers who all say the same thing (because they are ill-briefed) and hope like hell the stars align to make it work on the day.
Net Prophet 2009, an initiative by the RAMP Foundation, blew all of that out the water with a really world-class first attempt today at the Old Mutual Business School in Pinelands, Cape Town. Quite simply Net Prophet brought together some chaps (we lacked girls, must be said) who have at some point in time or another experienced a degree of success building online or mobile businesses, apps, platforms or publications to share insights with tech startups, geeks, entrepreneurs and whoever else wanted to hear.
The conference was free to attend, funded entirely by sponsors (another differentiator), and I have no doubt that based on the overwhelming success of today’s event (must have been nigh on 400 people in attendance) the brand will grow to new strengths and entice bigger and better sponsorship in years to come. As a speaker, I was highly impressed with the organisation leading up to the event, and I gather attendees had just as positive an experience. Talks kept to time, generally, and we finished on time. Unprecedented. Perhaps the only downside was one or two minor technical glitches (really minor) and a shortage in snacks, but that was a testimony to the brilliant turnout.
A brilliant, personal touch was ‘custom’ intro tunes that the organisers played for each speaker as they went up to talk. They actually researched my favourite music to play the right stuff – I was blown away. The presentations will be going up on the Net Prophet website (videos and slides), I will link to them once they’re up. Once again, a huge thank you and congratulations to all involved.
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hey Mike,
I’ve been following this on Twitter all day – sounds like it was a winner in many aspects!
Did manage to get my new MD (Neil Bierbaum, ex FHM editor) into the conference after all, thanks to a generous gesture from an Investec staffer.
Hope the RAMP Foundation guys & gals do something similar soon!
Cheers, Lee
by Lee Stuttaford
on 14. May, 2009
Hey Mike,
Thanks for an awesome presentation at Net Prophet earlier today. I really enjoyed it and found it very interesting.
Agreed re: the conference as well. The organisation was awesome, as was the turnout and speakers list… which, together, made for a thoroughly enjoyable experience. It was also really great that so many people in the online media industries came out together.
Cheers,
Matt.
by Matty
on 14. May, 2009
I am super bummed, I though it was by invite only.
looking forward to the slides and other information on the event.
by Josie
on 14. May, 2009
[...] thoroughly enjoyable day at NetProphet 2009. I enjoyed all the speakers, in particular Dave Duarte, Mike Stopforth, Henk Kleynhans and Andrew Smith. Thanks to everyone involved, all the speakers and to anyone and [...]
by Prophets preach at NetProphet ‘09 » Lost In Mattyville
on 14. May, 2009
Thanks Mike – fantastic to have had you speaking today, and appreciate the good press!
Cheers
Noel (RAMP & White Wall Web)
by Noel
on 14. May, 2009
I agree… it was top class!
by Kevin
on 14. May, 2009
mike, my feeling is that for the first time in sa web, the playing field has been levelled. a conference has provided the space for attendees to catch a glimpse of various elements of the subject we love so much. additionally we now have a benchmark not only for the quality content delivered (thankyou to all the speakers) but of the industry. today. in a snapshot. a clear picture. no matter what the experience level was, i’m sure that everyone who attended left with something valuable. it was fantastic. thankyou to the organisers. oh, and new template noted
by gaby
on 14. May, 2009
it was great having you there, I was the powerpoint guy (technical glitch)
I certainly learnt a lot today – especially having spent much of my “free” time trying to research online opportunities. You guys really inspired me today – keep on going!
by Jeff Pearce
on 14. May, 2009
A big thank you to Mike and the other speakers who brought their A game and really imparted scarce knowledge and valuable insight. I think a testament to the quality of the content was that almost everyone stayed until the end of last presentation. Thanks for taking the risk with us guys, looking forward to collaborating again in the future.
by Rob Gilmour
on 14. May, 2009
@Lee – glad he was there – hope he enjoyed it
@Matty thanks dude – love your blog btw
@Noel, Jeff and Rob – can’t wait for the Jozi edition
@gaby you hit the nail on the head
by Mike
on 14. May, 2009
Guys, WOW, I am still blown away by the turnout we achieved, the quality of the top-class presentations and the awesome vibe at the event. Around 400 delegates from all over the place, NOT just geeks which is what we were hoping for.
The RAMP Foundation is RAMP’s non-profit organisation for educuation and stimulating the tech economy in SA. Check it out http://www.rampgroup.co.za/
by Mark Slingsby
on 14. May, 2009
[...] Netprophet a great success – WhiteWallWeb Blog Netprophet – perfect wakeup call – Marlon parker Netprophet 2009 – How conferences in SA should be run – Mike [...]
by Mark’s Tech Blog » Blog Archive » Post Netprophet 2009 Conference
on 15. May, 2009
11/10
by Cluckhoff
on 15. May, 2009
Stopforth muh’boy, brillig as the poet said. Time indeed for conference organisers to take the ‘con’ out of their process. I’m just troubled by how much you’ve aged in the accompanying pic.
by Clive Simpkins
on 15. May, 2009
Ok now I am TOTALLY PISSED that I missed this, and I am ‘just around the corner’! Looking forward to the links.
by Candice Holgate
on 15. May, 2009
@Mike : Thanks Mike. I really appreciate it.
Very cool new template, by the way. 
by Matty
on 15. May, 2009
I just posted a summary on http://www.startupafrica.com – Enjoy all.
@mike – thanks alot for your insights… I wont forget them!
by Khalil Aleker
on 15. May, 2009
I was honored to be a part of NET Prophet 2009; this industry is taking ground in SA
by Paul Hutchinson
on 18. May, 2009
[...] recently raved about the NetProphet conference I was privileged enough to be invited to speak at, and now the video is up for your [...]
by Video Of My NetProphet Presentation | Mike Stopforth
on 23. May, 2009
[...] year I wrote about how impressed I was with the RAMP foundation and their efforts regarding the 2009 Net Prophet conference, deeply encouraged at the quality of event – I really believed it was world [...]
by The Bookmark Awards – Be Big In Digital | Mike Stopforth
on 13. Nov, 2009