I recently wrote about the Tech4Africa Conference, which actually turned out to be amazing. More awesome than the conference itself were the organizers, who gave me an all-access blogger pass. Emerging Media and the Tech4Africa team are rockstars.

We interviewed some of the speakers, delegates and Seedcamp participants.

The Tech4Africa Special

In this NetwebTV special, we spoke to:

• Gareth Knight, the founder of Tech4Africa, about how it was received and whether the change he foresaw ago when we spoke was achieved.
• Gareth Ochse – the founder of iSigned and one of the competitors in Seedcamp Africa. I heard they are also one of the companies who qualified to attend Seedcamp Week in London

Speakers and delegates

We also caught up with some of the speakers and delegates who gave us their views on development in Africa as a whole.

Erik Hersman, the co-founder of Ushahidi spoke their development and how it’s changing lives. It is also one of the most talked about projects on the web.

Mark Kaigwa, a Creative Director and Entrepreneur shares his views about the conference and what it means for Africa. Kenya is 4 to 5 countries away from where conference was, so Mark came a long way.

Clay Shirky was the keynote speaker at the conference and he also took a moment to speak to us. In a nutshell – Clay is a professor, speaker, thought leader and an icon in all things economics, community and open source.  He is the author of 2 books and shares his expert views on how social phenomena were started small and grew globally.

Take a look at the video below and share some of your views with us in the comments.

This episode of NetwebTV was probably the most debated. The concept of Viral Marketing is seemingly dying out in its most organic form. At least for me it seems it is.

The way I thought about it was – someone records a video of some or other mishap and it spreads on YouTube. Then marketers and big corporates caught on to it and invested money, which later transformed that initial perception.

To not only satisfy my own curiosity – but also to find whether viral marketing and spreading ideas can be planned – we had to out and find some black belt ninjas to speak to us.

Change of perceptions and new knowledge:

In this episode I spoke to an entrepreneur who spread the idea of education, furtherance and growth in the lives of young people. Yashivan Govender, is the founder of FristStep.me that was built around the idea of developing oneself. And they have been growing in leaps in bounds – long before the now known hype of Social Media.

You Make Joburg Great connects people who want to be connected

We also went out to Penquin International, the company behind one of the most popular campaigns in Johannesburg if not South Africa. You Make Joburg Great is based on the simple idea that a city should be about how its people are and the change they are part of.

Guy Orsmond, the account executive behind the campaign, shares how they spread this initiative and got the masses so involved people themselves took ownership of the idea.

Seth Godin on the viral spread of ideas

If there is one thing about Seth Godin and how he spreads his thinking widely all over the the globe, it’s how always links a simple idea to his work.

In this episode, he talks about how you can and execute your strategy as an idea. Once you have managed that, then the product related to that simple story spreads among its users.

Take a look at the video below and share your thinking about viral marketing and spreading ideas.

How did you find the video? Let us know who you think we should feature next and what you want hear about.

It seems 2010 brought with it a downpour of work and little distractions that just keep me away from writing. But there will be more reading this winter.

If you have been here before, you would know I had an interview with Seth Godin about his book Linchpin. (If you haven’t – you just might score yourself a free copy. I’m glad you stopped by).

Linchpin is a book about gifts, and art and adding value and being indispensable. If you thought that couldn’t be done where you are right now – in your job or business. This gem blasts that misconception along with the lizard brain that propagates it. Seth describes the ‘lizard brain’ as that part of our minds which holds us back from making real progress. It strikes a balance between being an entrepreneur and a change agent where you currently work.

Lost marbles

By now you are probably thinking I’ve lost my marbles, books that accomplish such balance are watered down and don’t really speak to the one or other person. But it does, in a way that on only Seth Godin can. And I will have you know that my marbles are still intact. Thanks for the concern.

Monthly read

The idea is to share and recommend our latest reads, while giving one book away every month. Yes, you stand a chance to get yourself a copy of Linchpin, because that is what I’m reading at the moment. Leave some ideas in the comments and the best one gets the book. It’s really that easy! We’ll keep expanding on the ideas and probably make it more intricate with your contribution, but that’s not intention.

Terms and conditions don’t apply, but there’s just one small thing

As you might have guessed it, there is one thing that could be a potential challenge. Because this is a self-funded project, I’d like to try keep it as cost effective as possible. So for now, the give-aways will be to our South African readers and we can spread it globally at a later stage.

Why should you get it?

Leave some ideas in the comments and if yours is the best to spread this project to most people, you get the book sent to you.