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.

It is not often that you get appreciated for the hard work you do. The sleepless nights. The pitches you don’t get called back for. But lucky for you, someone out there is watching.

This morning in the mail, I got something that might excite you. At least I thought it would.

Sanlam and Business Partners are giving away up to R100 000 in their Entrepreneur Of The Year Award. It’s also quite easy to apply from what I saw.

The requirements in their three categories are also simple enough. Before you think it’s too good to be true. You have to prove that – by their standards – the three most important financial risks of your business are quantifiable. The application form has more details on that. 

Categories and minimum requirements 

• Emerging Entrepreneur (business younger than three years old)
• Business Entrepreneur (turnover up to R20 million)
• Medium Business Entrepreneur (turnover greater than R20 million

Of course, you are not motivated by the cash prizes. But they are offering those too.

Cash Prizes

• Category winners will receive R20 000.00
• R100 000 in cash for the overall winner along with the opportunity to attend an international conference or trade show, as well as extensive public exposure. That should help in acquiring the much needed sales.

Download the entry forms and more information to enter.

Spread the word as far and wide as possible as well. . . . Good luck!

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Image by : xtrarant on Flickr

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In the third episode of NetWebTV, I was fortunate to interview Gareth Knight. His views on building a business, I have followed since (with a bit of tweaking for context). Now, any opportunity available to hear him speak I cease every time.

The episode is more about how he built a company that got acquired and a project he was developing at the time called Tech4Africa. As he put it then, it was meant to be a conference that brings global viewpoints to the African context. The chicken in me at the time thought it was overwhelming and impossible. Fast forward to over a year later, the idea has spread online and tickets have become more coveted than a black BMW M6 convertible in Soweto.

More accessible than the shiny M6

This conference, being the first of its kind in South Africa and possibly Africa, might have been inaccessible for people in South Africa. Mostly the entrepreneurs who need to attend it. That’s one of the questions I asked Gareth off camera.

Seemingly he gave that a lot of thought to that and worked it into the package. Not to mention having tickets that are discounted to make it even more worth your while. The caliber of speakers and topics they have challenge current thinking. I find that a significant influential force in contemporary business ethic.

Is it for everyone?

No. And like all things that are really worth your time and investment, it shouldn’t.

The conference is very focused. It is about technology and how it affects you as an entrepreneur. The knowledge of speakers like Clay Shirky, is definitely for people who want to make real and rapid progress. Fortunately, not everyone is that person which means there is only a few of you out there. Otherwise there would not be such a great demand for you.

I was meant to tell you more about the learning prospects at the conference.

Tech4Africa Scholarships

One of the major things lacking in Africa is the skill needed to develop globally competitive businesses, but the conference also addresses that. The discounted tickets already make it easier to attend, but in partnership with Old Mutual, the conference also has tickets for people who need to need learn.

Below are some workshops and what they are about:

1. A masterclass in Usability and Accessibility

Gain expert knowledge from a global leader in usability and accessibility

Usability tests are an excellent way of discovering problems with a product or service.

2. Google University

A deep dive into Google Analytics and Adwords

Google Analytics is a powerful web analytics tool, AND it’s free, and Google Adwords is a great way to drive traffic to your site. However, you get the most out of them when you understand how they work, and how to customise for your needs.

3. A Masterclass in Architecting applications and Advanced Javascript

Learn best practice for developing applications that enable you to work fast and agile, whilst being robust and secure; and learn advanced features of the JavaScript language to create complex applications

4. Successful digital projects

A strategic look at the digital project implementation lifecycle, for decision makers and programme managers.

Whether you want to or not, you are now project managing a group of (hopefully) willing people to create a product that you are attempting to get done in an (un)reasonable amount of time, within an (in)sane budget.

For the entrepreneur there is Seedcamp.

Seedcamp is a programme created to jumpstart the entrepreneurial community in Europe, and now Africa, by connecting next generation developers and entrepreneurs with over 400 mentors from a top-tier network of company builders; including seed investors, serial entrepreneurs, product experts, HR and PR specialists, marketers, lawyers, recruiters, journalists and venture capitalists.

The scholarship applications close tomorrow.  Go on, signup and read more here.

Aside: No BMWs were dreamt of during the writing of this post.

In July of 2009, I announced the Netweb Event for that month with a video give away sponsored by Missing Link. Little did we know that the prize would go to an amazing project I had been following for a while.

One Matchstick, a concept where the founder is trading a single matchstick till she gets to offices through a series of trades, is a lesson in innovation.

It was simple for us – start a competition that benefits small business and give it to the most deserving company after our delegates have voted. From that simple definition came being an MC at the premiere in Johannesburg, being in Cape Town for another and making interesting contacts along the way.

The lessons

- You are as big or small as you think you are.

It ‘s because one matchstick that I went over 1000 kilometers away and made contacts I wouldn’t thought of on my own.

- Small has to do with efficiency than size.

The size of this project meant all we needed was a notebook, a DVD Player and a room of 30 people for it to be successful.

- Naming is very significant

We called the prize a corporate video when we gave it away, but Telana referred to it as the “One Matchstick Movie”.

You are invited to the “One Matchstick Movie Premiere” sounds better than being invited to the “Launch Of The One Matchstick Corporate Video” any Sunday afternoon. Yes, the Johannesburg premiere was packed on a Sunday afternoon.

If a single matchstick can make it happen, that changes the whole game.

Please view the One Matchstick Movie below.

When Telana called me last week about Ruan a cyclist who aimed to explore South Africa for 60 days. I thought it was an interesting story to follow and bring to you, along with the lessons it would come with.

Little did I know that the lessons would start sooner than he’d leave. I then had a meeting with the guys from Hotel Formula1, who later expressed some interest on following Ruan’s story. Before the week was over we had negotiated sponsorship for free accommodation for 10 days in 7 cities around South Africa.

Some lessons I got during the 5 days:

• Connect people who want to meet.
• Follow-through on an opportunity.
• Help someone without expecting anything in return; it gives you a great feeling.
• Build your reputation as a person of value.
• Have genuine interest in other people than you want them to have in you.
• A connection goes farther than a sale.

On Friday the 13^th, without even realizing it was Friday the 13^th, we met with the senior management team of Hotel Formula1. They all wanted to participate in the handover and you could see the genuine interest in them as well.

Ummm, what does that have to do with anything?

Under normal circumstances I would have been to a series of meetings offering a product and much later got a moment with the CEO, if ever.

Being a connector and finding opportunities to do it places you in a different position. You are no longer a company that is selling to a possible client, but a friend giving your client an opportunity further themselves.

Ruan will be travelling approximately 8 600 kilometers at 25 kilometers per hour over next 54 days. He’ll meet interesting people and along the way and there’ll surely be some more lessons over the next few days. I will be documenting some of the developments for you in the next few days.

Photo by: Ruan on Picassa

So why don’t you attend the BarCamp in Johannesburg tomorrow? The BarCamp is an unconference  where anyone can raise a relevant topic that you think is worth sharing at the session. Besides, geek has been the new cool for a long time long time now.

Some active  and influential online professionals will be attending, sponsoring and presenting over the 2 days of this prestigious gathering. If you want to find out how the movers of social media locally are doing it, this is one of the places to be.

Some of the proposed sessions that will be covered:

• Add your session here, it can be as short as 5 minutes
• Build a quick Twitter mashup using Django & Jquery in 30 mins
• Guitar Hero multi-playa – just to unwind
• OSSA – FLOSS Lobby Group
• JavaFX

Go to the page and proposed your own session, if you have anything to offer. They also welcome sponsorships and other contributions.

Signup here to attend and you’ll be boat-loads more tech-savvy by Monday.

The Netweb Event in Johannesburg this past Wednesday was very informative and got us talking till long after we had to leave. I’d like to thank everyone who made it exciting and worth the long chat we had afterward.

I would like to especially thank:

1. Noto Modungwa of NM Consulting – for delivering a current and relevant talk on knowledge management and how small business can improve the circulation of intellectual property in their companies.
2. Afromedia who sponsored the website we gave away.
3. The great guys at Cappello in Ghandi Square.

To all the remarkable people who attended and made it one of our most remarkable Netweb Events yet, you are all rockstars.

Congratulations to Infinity Learning who won our website give away, as one of 4 finalists.