Tech4Africa raises the networking bar with unique approach to speaker-delegate interaction

The main conference, being hosted at The Forum in Bryanston, Johannesburg on 12 and 13 August 2010, brings luminaries such as Clay Shirky, Andy Budd and Dustin Diaz to Africa to address a gathering such as this for the first time.

"There are very few opportunities for the tech community in Africa to interact with like-minded people, never mind experts who've developed global brands or who are brands in their own right," says Gareth Knight, MD of Technovated, the mastermind behind the event.

"Some of the best international events I've attended have promoted informal interaction with speakers and between delegates, and have proven to be the most valuable. And we are looking to replicate that at Tech4Africa."

In addition to networking events in Cape Town and Johannesburg prior to the conference, the Tech4Africa format and structure have been designed to promote casual 'corridor conversations' and chance meetings.

A key element to this approach is that name badges will indicate the delegate's needs or areas of interest, easily linking funders or investors with start-ups, graduates with companies looking to hire and executives looking for solution providers.

"This facilitates broader conversations, which in our view is where the conference's real value lies," says Knight. "Delegates are therefore able to quickly identify potential partners, and easily strike up conversations with people they might not otherwise have approached. The name badges create context and are a great ice-breaker."

He adds that these types of conversations, as well as the interactive nature of stage presentations, go a long way to helping delegates realise that their problems aren't unique and that many others grapple with similar challenges.

One session designed to address issues of a decidedly technical nature is the Intimate Q&A with Andy Budd, Dustin Diaz, Joe Stump, John Resig and Jonathan Snook during which they will chat about their own personal experiences, particularly their biggest challenges and how they overcame them. A large portion of the session will be dedicated to taking questions from the audience.

"We want delegates to return from the conference feeling that they have gained full value, which these types of interactions are designed to achieve," says Knight. "I can speak from personal experience that this will be the case, having attended my fair share of international conferences where I've had the opportunity to raise my particular challenges with some of the leading minds in the industry."


About Tech4Africa
Tech4Africa runs from 12-13 August 2010 at The Forum in Bryanston. Workshops will be held on 10-11 August. The event is targeted at business professionals and technologists from businesses of all sizes, from entrepreneurs and start-up owners through to professionals working at large organisations. Clay Shirky - one of the world's leading thinkers and writers on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies will be the keynote speaker at the inaugural Tech4Africa Conference. Shirky joins a stellar line-up of international speakers - including leaders from organisations such as Twitter, Mozilla, digg and Yahoo! - and African technologists from companies such as PesaPal, Ushahidi, Obami and many more.


About Technovated
Technovated is a leading Web 2.0 provider in South Africa and London. Technovated enables content management, delivers e-commerce stores and search engine marketing, provides social media management and stimulates growth for foreign markets through authentic user engagement.

http://www.technovated.com/


About Gareth Knight
Gareth is a digital maven and open source evangelist. Educated as a zoologist, he is a veteran of two dot com crashes in London, one web 2.0 acquisition, and runs Technovated.

Previously, Gareth served in London as Director of Product Management for MyHeritage.com, a global family genealogy company based in Tel Aviv.

Before joining MyHeritage, Gareth landed seed funding from London's top early stage investors to co-found Kindo.com, a global family social network with an international team spread around the world. He then led the Product team in London to roll out a localised version of Kindo in 17 languages within 6 months, as well as an aggressive search engine campaign, both of which resulted in users from circa 220 countries and an enviable growth rate.

Kindo was voted one of the top 3 most promising Internet companies in the UK for 2008, and was later acquired by MyHeritage in August that year.


About Tech4Africa partners
Both global and local leading companies from a variety of industries will support Tech4Africa. Delegates will have the opportunity to interact with industry leaders in the vibrant expo environment at the conference.

Tech4Africa foundation partners include:
FNB: - www.fnb.co.za
Internet Solutions: - www.is.co.za

Other Tech4Africa partners include:
Seedcamp: - www.seedcamp.com
Old Mutual: Scholarships Partner - www.oldmutual.co.za
Zoopy: Official Social Media Partner - www.zoopy.com
Digital Edge: Official Podcast Partner - www.thedigitaledge.co.za
Bizcommunity: Offical Marketing Media Partner - www.bizcommunity.com
Memeburn: Official Media Partner - www.memeburn.com
Balancing Act Africa: Official Media Partner - www.balancingact-africa.com
Homecoming Revolution: Official Media Partner - www.homecomingrevolution.co.za
TechCentral: Official Media Partner - www.techcentral.co.za