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
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.
I am super bummed, I though it was by invite only.
looking forward to the slides and other information on the event.
Thanks Mike – fantastic to have had you speaking today, and appreciate the good press!
Cheers
Noel (RAMP & White Wall Web)
I agree… it was top class!
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 :P
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!
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.
@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
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/
11/10
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. ;-)
Ok now I am TOTALLY PISSED that I missed this, and I am ‘just around the corner’! Looking forward to the links.
@Mike : Thanks Mike. I really appreciate it. :) Very cool new template, by the way. :)
I just posted a summary on http://www.startupafrica.com – Enjoy all.
@mike – thanks alot for your insights… I wont forget them!
I was honored to be a part of NET Prophet 2009; this industry is taking ground in SA
It is indeed a very Disjunctive Moment and especially difficult to see from afar. I happen to believe the Mobile Phone [The Pipe now includes Mobile Banking and the Internet] has been the Catalyst for an extraordinary Bottoms up Rising Tide at the Bottom of the Pyramid. It is a very recent Phenomena, there were 15,000 Phones 10 Years ago in Kenya and this year there will be one per Adult on average.
Three Years ago My car broke down halfway between Mombasa and Nairobi. It was the Early Evening and We were a little nervous. This Boy comes to the Car and he must have been Eleven and he said he had taught himself Latin. I knew Latin and I tested him and he had done as he was telling me. Like in A House for Mr. Biswas, this Boy was just watching cars go by. He was disconnected from his CountryFolk and the World.
The Arrival of the Phone is the Silver Bullet. It is his Entry Ticket into the c21st, this extraordinary Information Century. He is in the Game and he comes in at zero. Thats a low base effect. And this is happening all across the Continent, it is a late cycle convergence with the c21st.
It is a very disjunctive Moment. And with this Demographic Bulge You have swathes of Young People who are entirely open to change.
Africa is surfing a Technology Wave. Its very interesting.