SARA hosts African first conference in SA

17 Apr 2015

In an effort to gather relevant stakeholders, professionals and practitioners in the events, technical, production and education sectors, along with international market leaders, to discuss the need for a critical upgrade of skills development, sector training and skill interventions, the South African Roadies Association (SARA) is hosting Africa's first-ever Live Event Technical & Production Conference (LETPC 2015) from 13 to 16 May, during Africa Month, at the Sunnyside Park Hotel in Parktown, Johannesburg.

SARA hosts African first conference in SA

Currently, the sector's skill qualification is only at matriculation level and urgently needs to increase to at least NQF 5 in order to match international standards.

The conference is supported by the Department of Arts and Culture, the event's anchor sponsor.

"We encourage all other departments and organisations to support this first-of-a-kind conference," said Chief of Staff, Nicholas Maweni, for the Ministry of Arts and Culture.

The conference keynote address will be delivered by the Minister of Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa.

SARA President, Freddie Nyathela expressed the organisation's gratitude towards the department:

"It is with great respect and appreciation that SARA acknowledges the vision and ground-breaking support from the Department of Arts and Culture for what is anticipated as an annual conference that will make an indelible and ongoing contribution to the development and transformation of the education, event, technical and production sectors in South Africa."

SARA officials hope that the conference will have the following impact on the events, technical and production sectors in South Africa:

Increase skills qualifications to NQF 5
Job creation
High level of entrepreneurship
Equity creation
Public-private partnerships
Foreign equipment manufacturer training and investments in SA
Entry level on-the-job training programme management
Sector development

Industry topics will be addressed by international and local market leaders.

International speakers who have confirmed their attendance at LETPC 2015 are:

John Botham OBE from Semperior LTD (UK)
Adrian Brooks from Backstage Academy (UK)
Pauline Tambling CBE from Creative & Cultural Skills (UK)
Randell Greenlee from VPLT, the German Event Technology Association (Germany)
Frank Andrewartha from Quest Engineering (Australia)
Andy Lenthall from Production Services Association (UK)

LETPC 2015 is open to practitioners, professionals and stakeholders serving in the events, technical, production and education sectors.

Registration opens at midday on 15 April 2015. To register, visit www.letpc.co.za. Register before 20 April 2015 to qualify for the early-bird reduced fee.

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