AFKInsider: Social Media Week is now being held in Johannesburg as well. What steps are being taken to ensure that SMW Lagos remains the best in Africa?
Vaz: Let’s be clear, whether it’s a posh university student in a coffee shop in Victoria Island on her Macbook Pro, an up and coming digital radio DJ from Johannesburg, tech geek out of Nairobi or tomato merchant on the roadside browsing from her mobile – Africans are using and revolutionizing technology. SMW Lagos paved the way in proving that there is an African market, African talent, African audience and homegrown African ability to produce an event of this magnitude. It is only natural that the SMW concept would spread to other African cities. With that said, we are very proud of the SMW JHB Team.
SMW Lagos Executive Director Ngozi Odita, Frankline Ozekhome of TINK Africa, blogger Olori Supergal, a few others from the Nigerian tech and media community and myself had the pleasure of attending in September and it was simply fantastic. I look forward to receiving and reconnecting with the Johannesburg team in Lagos next month!
AFKInsider: Let’s talk about the partnerships this year
Vaz: As always we have some major partnership announcements in the works. Our team is meticulous with details and we’ve learned that in Nigeria, you don’t promise something and not deliver so we are holding tight until all the final details are sorted.
I will confirm that we are very excited that our good friends at BEAT 99.9 FM are back to co-host the popular #SMWLagosMusicDay. Mr. Chris Ubosi, GM Deji Awokoya and the entire BEAT 99.9 FM team have outdone themselves with programming this year! Without giving too much away I will say this, #SMWLagosMusicDay is one for the history books!
Our #SMWTravelAfrica Day is back and shaping up very nicely as well. We received a lot of encouragement from people in the tourism, hospitality, hotel/airline industry that last year’s Travel Day was very valuable so we thought it would be good to have it back for 2015. Many travel enthusiasts, travel bloggers and Diasporans are already using SMW Lagos as a good excuse to finally visit — or revisit — Nigeria, so #SMWTravelAfrica Day is a perfect fit.
Lastly — and brand new — is #SMWLagosFootball Day which is being organized via a partnership with EkoFootball and Ayo Alli, who is both one of our esteemed board members and CEO of online football platform, Gbamm!
AFKInsider: People pay to attend SMW New York. Are there plans to monetize SMW Lagos this year or later on?
Vaz: We strongly believe this growth can only happen if our conference is democratic, open and accessible to all. By sheer attendee numbers alone Social Media Week Lagos is the largest conference on the continent of Africa — and we are only getting started. We have set a goal of 50,000 physical attendees by 2017 and I believe that as long as we keep our thumb on the pulse of the Nigerian upwardly mobile and digital community we are poised to reach it.
With that said, we recognized that there was a demand for a more exclusive, or for lack of better words, ‘luxury’ SMW experience. In 2014 we introduced a paid VIP option that was well received but needed some work in terms of value. This year I believe we got it right with our Executive VIP badge. The Executive VIP badge has additional perks and benefits including reserved seating, open bar cocktail mixers and Executive VIP Masterclasses, breakfast and lunch sessions. The overwhelming majority of Social Media Week Lagos events are still and will remain free and open to the public.
