First Tuesday 2.0 kicks off with a look at marketing South Africa

Says Mike Wright, First Tuesday Executive, "After the enormous success of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), South Africa has the opportunity, gained from the enormous positive exposure, to further cement itself as a nation which can deliver - from massive international events to quality manufactured goods, to being a premier tourist destination. We need to benchmark our current brand, marketing and international perceptions. We want to then look at opportunities and analyse innovative ways in which South Africa can move forward in this arena."

Departing from the First Tuesday format known to most, the First Tuesday 2.0 events will now be split into three different sections - each dealing with the topic at hand in a different way. Says Wright, "The events will incorporate a hands-on learning workshop, a keynote address from a leading figure in the industry or a panel discussion of experts, and lastly, an exclusive Thought Leadership VIP networking dinner."

At the event, to be held on the 1st October, the interactive workshop will be hosted by various trade and export organization who will talk participants though all aspects of global marketing, legislation, export incentive schemes and investment opportunities. Following on from this will be the key note address given by Yvonne Johnston, CEO of the IMC (International Marketing Council), who be discussing the actions currently being undertaken to market South Africa to the world, the successes that have been achieved to date and the next steps to be undertaken.

An entirely new element to FT 2.0 is the Thought Leadership dinner, which is a dinner attended by Thought Leaders - made up of opinion makers and captains of industry. They will be asked to contribute their intellectual capital by debating and completing a survey of the issues facing marketing South Africa to the rest of the world, and the future prospects for growth and innovation in this arena. After the event, this will be collated and presented in a summarised format at the end of the evening as well forming the basis of a "Thought Leadership White Paper" on the topic.

A major change to First Tuesday 2.0 is that it has become a members-only organisation. Commenting on this, Wright says, "We believe that the membership should be of the highest calibre and to achieve this we need to provide world class value propositions to our member base."

The affordable annual membership of R275 includes access to all Classic First Tuesday events and workshops as well as selective invitations to Thought Leadership networking dinners.

Over and above the event related benefits, First Tuesday 2.0 is also offering online-based added value in various forms. Citing some examples, Wright says, "A summary of the discussion the following day within selected media, a 'first view' of an in-depth analysis of the Thought Leadership White Paper, and monthly Thought Leadership newsletter are just some of the value added propositions that First Tuesday 2.0 will be offering the member base, over and above the standard global benefits that have been available to date."

Considering the wider audience, and hence networking opportunities, available across a much broader spectrum of the corporate sector; in addition to the online-based added value propositions, First Tuesday 2.0 is now a vital business tool for all across various industries.

With the first event theme being one that has a broad appeal across various industries, First Tuesday 2.0 hopes to showcase the new format via this event to the various sectors.

The first public First Tuesday 2.0 event will be held at the new First Tuesday venue of the Sandton Convention Centre, on the 1st October 2002. For more information regarding membership and future events, visit www.firsttuesday.co.za.